Photographer - W Shawcross, Spital Street, Guildford Circa 1880

I purchased this Victorian card, which dates from circa 1880, purely because the photographer was from Guildford and I had never heard of Spital Street.

Some research revealed that Spital Street was an abbreviation for Hospital Street, which referred to the ancient Leper hospital which had stood at the junction of Epsom and London Roads until the 1840's.

It then became known as Upper High Street in 1901. In 1961, the road was formally included in the High Street and the buildings renumbered.