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Godalming Wins Gold: The Pepperpot Town in Full Bloom

Godalming has won Gold at the 2026 RHS Britain in Bloom UK finals. A look at the High Street, the Pepperpot and the town as it used to be.

Here Looks Good · 01 November 2026 · 2 Min. Lesezeit

The Pepperpot on Godalming High Street with hanging baskets, beside our Godalming Town Centre street map print
The Pepperpot with its hanging baskets, next to our Godalming Town Centre street map print. Photo: Mertbiol, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Godalming has won Gold at the 2026 RHS Britain in Bloom UK finals. The award went to Floral Godalming and the town council for the floral displays, the community effort behind them and a town centre that welcomes people in. Surrey Live went further and called it the prettiest town centre in the UK.

Anyone who has walked down the High Street in summer will not argue. Congratulations to everyone who planted, watered and dead-headed their way to it.

The Pepperpot

The heart of the High Street is the Pepperpot, the old market hall with its open arches, clock and cupola. It was built in 1814 and still stands where the main streets meet. In summer the arches are hung with baskets, which is exactly the picture the judges will have seen.

Around it are timber-framed fronts, Georgian brick and independent shops. Step a few minutes away and you are by the River Wey or in Phillips Memorial Park.

How it used to look

Mill Lane, Godalming, photographed by Francis Frith in the Victorian era, beside the Pepperpot on the High Street today
Left: Mill Lane, Godalming, photographed by Francis Frith in the second half of the 1800s (public domain). Right: the Pepperpot today (Mertbiol, CC0).

Francis Frith photographed towns all over Britain in the Victorian era. His view of Mill Lane shows cottages, a horse and cart, and people stopping to look at the camera. The town has changed, but plenty of what makes it pretty was already there.

Godalming on your wall

Four Godalming prints from Here Looks Good: town centre street map, town street map, 1871 old map in night ink, and 1871 old map roundel
Our four Godalming prints.

We have four Godalming prints, from A4 at £14.95:

Got your own photo of the Pepperpot in bloom, or of your street? Turn it into a print.

More from Godalming

See all Godalming prints

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