Christian Missionaries probably arrived in 'Gyldeforda' sometime in the mid seventh century. We know that this pagan settlement was here because in 1929 35 pagan graves from the fifth/sixth centuries were found on The Mount at the southern end of Guildford.

These early christians erected a wooden church on the site of the present St Mary's. The oldest part of the present church is the Saxon tower, which is thought to have been completed in the time of King Edward The Confessor circa 1050.