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History

The village lay within the Anglo-Saxon administrative division of Tandridge hundred. It is built along a stretch of the London to Brighton Way Roman road, which comes through the Caterham Gap and continues southward along Tilburstow Hill Road.

Godstone initially had a different name. The village had been known as Walkingstead, meaning 'Wolcen's place', from the Old English personal name Wolcen (related to modern English "welkin" meaning cloud") and stede "place, homestead", related to modern English stead. A record of the name from 932 as Wuulicinsted proves this. Another record, undated, shows the name as Wolinstede, suggesting the same etymology. In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was Wachelstede.

The name of the village was recorded in 1248 as Godeston, suggesting an etymology of the Old English personal name Goda and tun "farm, village", here in the sense "village" rather than "estate" considering the village size. Thus the suggested etymology is "Goda's farm". Goda was the daughter of Aethelred The Unready. She died in 1055 but the Domesday book of 1086 records the parish as being held by her husband, Count Eustace II of Boulogne.

However, earlier records have the name listed as Cudeston (1153) and Codstune (1173) suggesting "farmstead of a man called Cōd" (pronounced as "code", not cod"), as with the Cotswolds, high-forest land of a man called Cōd. However, if this etymology is proven, then it would almost certainly not be the same individual who gave his name to the Cotswolds.

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