Gomshall appears in the Domesday Book and has been a settlement on the Tillingbourne for over a thousand years. The stream, rising from springs on the chalk downs above and flowing westward through the valley to join the Wey, powered a succession of mills along its length. Gomshall's mill was used for leather tanning and other trades for centuries, and the tannery buildings near the stream are an important part of the village's industrial heritage. The leather produced here was traded at markets in Guildford and beyond.
The old mill, positioned where the stream runs alongside the road, has been converted and repurposed over the years. It now serves as a restaurant, but the mill race and the sound of running water remain. The Compasses Inn, a brick and tile-hung building on the main road, has been a public house since at least the 18th century and served as a stopping point for travellers on the Guildford to Dorking road.
The railway arrived in 1849 on the Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway (later absorbed into the South Eastern Railway and then the Southern Railway). The line through the Tillingbourne Valley connected the chain of villages, including Chilworth, Shere (via Gomshall station), and Dorking, to the wider network. The station gave Gomshall a practical advantage over its more picturesque neighbour Shere, which has no rail connection, and commuters have used the line ever since. Netley Park and the surrounding woodlands on the slopes above the village have been managed since at least the medieval period. The steep paths climbing from the valley floor to the ridge of the North Downs offer some of the best walking in Surrey, with views from the top across the Tillingbourne Valley and south toward the Weald.
