Lewis Carroll's connection with Guildford

On 14 August 1868, a youthful-looking clergyman came to Guildford for the first time - he was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, then aged 36, and he was on a house hunting expedition. Probably none of the people whom he met in Guildford that day recognized him as the already famous author of 'Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland', which had been published three years earlier under the name of Lewis Carroll.

The death of his father in June 1868 had left Charles the head of the family, responsible for finding a home for his six unmarried sisters. In 1868 Dodgson brought The Chestnuts, a home for his six unmarried sisters in Guildford just next to the castle ruins. He was constantly in Guildford visiting and wrote the second Alice book, Through the Looking Glass, on one of these stays in 1871.

He lived the last year of his life in Guildford and died on 14 January 1898. He is now buried in the cemetery on The Mount just inside the gates; his grave can be noted by a cross which was erected by his brothers and sisters.

Alices Adventures in Wonderland

The story of Alice’s adventures in Wonderland was first written in 1865 by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson aka Lewis Carroll, it tells a tale of a young girl growing up, facing change and difficulties, by way of sky-scraping imagination and plenty of zany representations.

Alice chases the fretful white rabbit that is clutching an oversized pocket watch and falls into a delusional realm of conceptual characters.

It provides a fun and colourful picture for children to enjoy but the more sinister meanings behind the illustrations can be entertained by adults.