When James John Hissey, the English topographer and travel writer, passed through the town at the turn of the twentieth century, he was not very complimentary about the town, saying:We reached the town of Godalming. I had an ideahow I came about it I cannot saythat Godalming was a pleasant and picturesque town; my drive through it effectually got rid of that idea. I saw nothing pleasant or picturesque about it, even allowing for the determined and depressing drizzle that dulled the outlook. Perhaps I saw things crookedy on that day, but to me, certainly, Godalming looked a one-streeted affair of commonplace houses and shops, with not even a feature amongst the lot worth noticing, not even its old market-house.