It was founded c. 1275 by Eleanor of Provence, wife of Henry III and occupied a site of around 10 acres (4.0 ha) on the east side of the River Wey.
In 1858, the Chennel family set up a steam-powered flour mill on the site of the friary church and cloisters, which was subsequently purchased and converted to a brewery by Thomas Taunton in the 1870s.
The 10-acre (4.0 ha) site sloped downwards from east to west and levelling in the 17th and 19th centuries buried the remains of the friary buildings to an average depth of around 1 m (3 ft 3 in).
[1] Excavations in 1974 and 1978 showed that the friary was constructed around a central, square cloister, with the nave of the church forming the south range.
There is no mention of the friars being among those who prayed for the soul of her grandson, Prince Henry, who died in 1274 and it is possible that Eleanor founded the friary in his memory.
[9] The work carried out the friars included the maintenance of the royal hunting park on the opposite side of the River Wey and, Henry VIII gave 40 cartloads of wood each year to the friary in exchange for 2 masses per week.
[11] The dissolution inventory of 1538 notes that the friary buildings included a church with choir and nave, two bells, a vestry and two kitchens; there is no mention of sleeping quarters, guest rooms or a refectory.
[13] Stone blocks may have been reused at Loseley Park and some of the stained glass in the chapel of Abbot's Hospital on Guildford High Street may have come from the friary.
The grounds are indicated on an 1841 map of Guildford as the "Barrack Field" and shortly afterwards the area was divided into plots and sold for housebuilding.
[13] In 1858, the Chennel family set up a steam-powered flour mill on the site of the friary church and cloisters, which was subsequently purchased and converted to a brewery by Thomas Taunton in the 1870s.
[16] The combined company was taken over by Allied Breweries in 1963[17] Brewing ceased in December 1968[18] and the site was sold to the developer, MEPC plc.
However, the only authority for the existence of a house of crutched friars at Guildford is Speed's 1611 History of Great Britaine and no other writer mentions this group.