Farnham Castle was built in 1138 by Henry de Blois, Bishop of Winchester, and served as the residence of the Bishops of Winchester for over 800 years, making it one of the longest continuously occupied buildings in England. The great keep sits on a mound above the town, and the domestic buildings below were used as a bishop's palace until 1927. The town appears in the Domesday Book as Ferneham, already a settlement of some importance.
Waverley Abbey, founded in 1128 just south of town beside the River Wey, was the first Cistercian monastery established in England. The white-robed monks farmed the river valley and built a community that lasted four centuries until Henry VIII dissolved it in 1536. The atmospheric ruins, with their soaring arches reflected in the river, are now managed by English Heritage. Walter Scott is said to have named his first novel "Waverley" after the abbey.
The town became the centre of hop growing in Surrey, and the Georgian prosperity of the hop trade built much of Castle Street's handsome brick frontages. By the 18th century, Farnham was one of the largest corn markets in England. William Cobbett, journalist and author of "Rural Rides," was born here in 1763 at a pub that still stands on Bridge Square. He spent his life campaigning for rural labourers' rights and remains Farnham's most famous son. George Sturt, who wrote "The Wheelwright's Shop" about traditional Surrey trades, worked in the town. Augustus Toplady, who wrote the hymn "Rock of Ages," was vicar at Broad Chalke but had strong Farnham connections. The town holds World Craft Town status from the World Crafts Council, one of only a handful of places globally. The University for the Creative Arts traces its origins to the Farnham School of Art, founded in 1866.
