Honorary freemen, aldermen and officers

Freedom of Entry dates from the Middle Ages. It allowed special armed forces inside the boundaries of other towns as a mark of mutual trust.

Today, Freedom of Entry is granted to military units for noticeable service and who are closely associated with the town.

Guildford had its first permanent barracks after the army reforms of 1871 and 1881. It became home to the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment at Stoughton. The successor regiment - the Queen's Royal Regiment - was granted the Freedom of Guildford in 1945. It exercised its right to march through the town for the first time on 29 September 1945.

The Queen's and the East Surrey Regiment amalgamated in 1959. The civic honours granted to them were extended to the successor Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment. They marched through Guildford on 28 April 1960, and again in 1966 on the formation of the Queen's Regiment.

It was continued in 1992 following the formation of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (PWRR).

On 22 June 1988, the Women's Royal Army Corps, based at Stoughton, was granted the Freedom of the Borough. The Corps was disbanded four years later.

On 6 March 2017, we granted the Freedom of the Borough to the Army Training Corps (Pirbright). Like the PWRR, they have the right to march through the town with "drums beating, colours flying and bayonets fixed".