Guildford Library Shut During Modernisation Programme – Register Office To Move In

Published on: 9 Sep, 2026
Updated on: 9 Sep, 2026

Guildford Library closed for refurbishment. Fiona Giles

By David Reading and David Rose

An extensive refurbishment and improvement programme is taking place at Guildford Library, with all services having been put on hold since August 20.

Dates for book loans have all been extended until November. Fiona Giles

The library will partially reopen on Monday, September 21, with a “click and collect” service. People will be able to return items, pick up specific online reservations, or use the “Ready Reads” hand-picked book service.

Surrey County Council expects the newly modernised library to fully reopen by the end of October.

It says all current loans have been automatically extended until Monday, November 10, so people will not incur any late fines during the closure period.

Improvements at Guildford Library include a full refurbishment of the children’s library, new accessible toilets and the creation of four new purpose-built meeting rooms on the first floor.

Library events have temporarily moved. For example, Rhymetime, Storytime, and the Poetry Hub are currently being hosted at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre.

Surrey County Council points out that library users can use other nearby Surrey libraries, including Ash, Godalming and Horsley branches.

Further details from SCC: https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/community/hubs/guildford-library-hub

Alongside refurbishments, parts of the library are being converted into registration offices.

Artington House Closure and a Brief History

Surrey County Council will be closing its Guildford District Registration Office at Artington House on the Portsmouth Road in November.

Once refurbishments are completed at Guildford Library, the public will be able to register births and deaths and give notices of marriage and civil partnerships at that building.

Small interim ceremonies (two to 18 guests) are being hosted on Sundays and Mondays at the Guildford Harbour Hotel until March 29, 2027.

While full register office ceremonies will be available at Leatherhead and Weybridge register offices.

Guildford Register Office at Artington House, Portsmouth Road, St Catherine’s Guildford.

Guildford Register Office at Artington House has been the District Register Office since the 1930s. Perhaps the most famous wedding solemnised there was that of actor Peter Sellers and Britt Ekland in February 1964.

The Victorian house, of Bargate stone and brick, was built in the early 1860s for an insurance broker named Richard Shepard.

This large family residence is typical of the homes being built in the St Catherine’s area of Guildford at that time – as the town was expanding following the arrival of the railway from London in 1845.

Having had many tenants over the years, it appears the last owner of Artington House was a Miss Marion Shepard who sold the property to Surrey County Council in April 1934.

An unknown wedding party photographed in the garden at Artington House in the 1960s. Can you identify them? Photo by Dave Salmon, courtesy of Geoff Burch

Many Guildford people will have memories of being married or attending weddings there, with photos taken outside in the small garden in front of the house.

Once Surrey County Council moves out will developers move in?

Dragon editor Martin Giles comments: I feel some sadness in seeing Artington House close as our local Register Office. Many of us in Guildford will associate substantial old building with important events in our lives and I can I recall proudly registering the birth of our first son there in 1993.

When our second son was born, in 1995, the registration of births had moved, temporarily as it turned out, to College Road off Leapale Lane, because, I was told at the time, the happiness of those registering births did not go well with those registering deaths. Sadly, it was my turn to register two deaths in 2013 and 2015 of my aunt and then my mother.

More cheerfully, I also recall attending the wedding of our next door neighbours there in 1994 before moving on to Loseley for the reception.

Do you have memories of registering births and deaths at Artington House, or perhaps you or one of you family was married there and have photos? Do leave a comment in the reply box below.