| Egham | |
|---|---|
 High Street, Egham | |
  Egham Location withinSurrey | |
| Area | 2.64 km2 (1.02 sq mi) |
| Population | 7,310 (2021 Census: Egham Town ward, see alsoEgham Hythe)[1] |
| • Density | 2,769/km2 (7,170/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | TQ008712 |
| • London | 19.3 miles (31.1 km)[2] |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | EGHAM |
| Postcode district | TW20 |
| Post town | STAINES-UPON-THAMES |
| Postcode district | TW18 |
| Dialling code | 01784 |
| Police | Surrey |
| Fire | Surrey |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| UK Parliament | |
| 51°25′44″N0°32′53″W / 51.429°N 0.548°W /51.429; -0.548 | |
Egham (/ˈɛɡəm/EG-əm) is a town in theBorough of Runnymede inSurrey, England, approximately 19 miles (31 km) west of central London. First settled in theBronze Age, the town was under the control ofChertsey Abbey for much of theMiddle Ages. In 1215,Magna Carta was sealed byKing John atRunnymede, to the north of Egham, having been chosen for its proximity to the King's residence atWindsor. Under theDissolution of the Monasteries in the early 16th Century, the major, formerly ecclesiastical,manorialfreehold interests in the town and various market revenues passed tothe Crown.[3]
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Egham became a stop oncoaching routes between London and many places to the west. The importance of this shrank from the building of theWestern andSouth Western Railways but was for many decades offset by the stark growth in thepopulation of London andthe country at large.[3]Egham station was opened in 1856 on theline from Waterloo to Reading and services are operated today bySouth Western Railway. The town is west of theM25 motorway, accessible via junction 13.
The campus ofRoyal Holloway, University of London is 1 mile (2 km) to the west of Egham town centre, close toEnglefield Green.
Egham predatesc.670 AD whenChertsey Abbey was founded; one of the earliest Chertsey charters mentionsEgeham.[4] The place-name means "Ecga's farm".[5]
Egham appears in theDomesday Book of 1086 asEgeham. It was held byChertsey Abbey and kept by that institution after the conquest when its assets were: 15hides; 12ploughlands, 120 acres (49 hectares) ofmeadow, together withwoodland, 'herbage and pannage' worth 75hogs. It rendered one of the largest sums in Surrey to itsfeudal overlords per year, £30 10s 0d.[6]
The village of Egham was, before 19th-century losses, an ancient parish covering land totalling 7,435 acres (30 km2) in the counties ofBerkshire (briefly) andSurrey; incorporating Egham, Egham Hill, Cooper's Hill,Englefield Green,Virginia Water, Shrubs Hill,Runnymede,Egham Hythe, and a considerable portion ofWindsor Great Park.[7] In the medieval period it was divided into four roughly equaltythings:
Themanor of Egham, which includes Runnymede, belonged formerly and in 1215 to Chertsey Abbey, and after theDissolution of the Monasteries (around 1540) became the property ofthe Crown, though granted to various tenants (holders) at different times.[8]
Magna Carta was sealed at nearbyRunnymede in 1215,[3] and is commemorated by a memorial, built in 1957 by theAmerican Bar Association, at the foot of Cooper's Hill (a small rise adjacent to the Thames floodplain, immortalised in verse by poets includingJohn Denham ("Cooper's Hill") andAlexander Pope ("Windsor Forest")). A sculpture by artist David Parfitt portrayingKing John andRobert Fitzwalter in the act of sealingMagna Carta can be found in Church Road in the centre of town.
Another memorial at the top of the hill in nearbyEnglefield Green, theAir Forces Memorial commemoratesCommonwealth air force personnel killed during the Second World War but who have no known grave. It was the first new-built British building to be listed in the post-war era. The memorial is administered by theCommonwealth War Graves Commission and freely open to the public year-round. It has excellent views towards London, Windsor and the Surrey Hills, as well as being a place of quiet contemplation and reflection.
| Egham Inclosure Act 1814 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Citation | 54 Geo. 3. c. cliii |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 17 June 1814 |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Egham at one time held horse races which took place at the Runnymede meadow, which interfered with the Egham Inclosure Act 1814 and the consequent award made in 1817, which divided up the meadow, as the act stipulated that any enclosures which should interfere with the holding of Egham races at the end of August upon its usual course must be removed every year. In 1836 the races were presided over byWilliam IV, who gave a plate to be run for at the meeting, which coincided with festivities at Windsor for his daughter's marriage. The races ceased in 1884.[8]
Other than two forming the hub of today's Virginia Water (including Wentworth), the principal properties were 'Egham Manor and Park', 'Egham Wick',[9] 'Kenwolde Court', 'Markwood', 'Kingswood' and 'Alderhurst' for a time home ofLord Thring.[10]
Parts of Egham have featured in national and international news in the 21st century. On 12 September 2007 a case offoot-and-mouth disease was found in Egham, 12 miles (19 km) from theprevious outbreak found in early August 2007.[11] Occasional flooding ofRunnymede and parts ofEgham Hythe have taken place following exceptional Thames Valley winter rainfall. Units of the army were deployed to assist with defences and dealing with damage from flooding in the2013-14 winter storms.[12]
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Egham once lay within theGodleyhundred, which lay in the early medieval period withinWindsor Forest in a part of it which was subject to a long-running dispute as to whether it lay within thehistoric county boundaries ofSurrey orBerkshire.[13]
EghamRural District was a Local Government District within theadministrative county of Surrey. It was created in 1894 and replaced in 1906 with EghamUrban District, which was later abolished in 1974. Since 1974, Egham has been part of theRunnymede borough of Surrey.
Egham is situated within theRunnymede and Weybridge (UK Parliament constituency) which has been consistently aConservative Party (UK) hold over the last severalGeneral elections in the United Kingdom.
Nearby areStaines-upon-Thames,Bagshot,Sunningdale,Englefield Green andVirginia Water,Windsor Great Park,Old Windsor andWindsor itself. The area between Egham and Staines town centres is known asEgham Hythe.
North of Egham isWraysbury, home of the British Disabled Waterski Association. South isThorpe Park, a largetheme park of rides and attractions. Also near Egham isAscot Racecourse.
Egham was home to a large research centre forProcter & Gamble, the London Innovation Centre, onRusham Park, formally owned by Shell oils. P&G had over 550 employees in Egham, working on Fine Fragrance, Beauty Care and Health Care brands, such asHugo Boss,Olay, andVicks although in May 2012 P&G announced plans to shed 125 of these jobs. The site has now been purchased by Royal Holloway.[14] Other notable employers include HCL AXON (an information technology consultancy), Belron (parent company of Autoglass), the EMEA Headquarters of Future Electronics, and the European headquarters of Enterprise Holdings; parent company of the Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Alamo, and National vehicle rental companies. Egham is also home toCAB International Europe UK, which holds one of the world's largest collections of microorganisms and the HQ of Spectris PLC, a supplier of precision instrumentation and controls with 8900 employees worldwide.[15]
Egham and the eastern part of its historic parish,Egham Hythe, share connections with the development and enhancement of prestige sports cars. Egham has been Ferrari's spiritual home in theUnited Kingdom in the listed Tower Garage.Lagonda was based here. Egham today contains aFerrari,Maserati, and aPorsche dealership.
Egham has aNon-League football club,Egham Town F.C., who were promoted as Champions from the Combined Counties football league in the 2012–13 season and are now established in the Southern League Central division. Egham Town F.C. plays in the 5,500 seat Runnymede Stadium, Wards Place just beyond the Pooley Green playing field on Thorpe Lea Road.
Egham Cricket Club is a club with several sides and an academy grouped into four age groups from age 11. This dates to 1913 and is in Vicarage Road, just south of the railway line and within the Thorpe Lea outlying neighbourhood of Egham.[16]
Arowing club,Staines Boat Club, is on the Egham side of Staines Bridge in the associated neighbourhood (postally), Egham Hythe.
Egham is home toEgham Fencing Club, a club founded in 1976 dedicated to the sport offencing. The club has members practicing all three weapons (Sabre,Foil andÉpée).
The Egham Royal Show takes place every August. 23–24 August 2014 was the 156th show.[17]
Egham Museum[18] is a small museum based in the Literary Institute,[19][20] telling the story of the region from pre-history to the present day.[21]
Egham railway station is on the railway lines fromLondon Waterloo station toReading andWeybridge. Passenger services are operated bySouth Western Railway. Egham has threelevel crossings. Two bus routes connect the town and Royal Holloway toStaines-upon-Thames,Windsor andLondon Heathrow Airport.
Strode's College is an institution in Egham dating back to 1706 and was a grammar school before being designated a sixth form college in 1975.
Royal Holloway, University of London is south of Egham along the A30 road atEnglefield Green. It provided accommodation forLondon 2012 competitors who competed atEton Dorney.[22]
The Magna Carta School, formerly Hythe County Secondary and Egham Hythe Secondary Modern, is a comprehensive school inEgham Hythe.ACS International Schools has a campus in Egham.
Formally known as "Egham Gateway West", a redevelopment of Egham's town centre is underway with the goal to modernise and rejuvenate the historic town centre.
The development will deliver 34 affordable for rent homes, 67 market rate sale or rent apartments, Student accommodation, retail and restaurant units along with anEveryman Cinema.[23]
Expected to be completed in January 2022,[24] the project is being managed by ‘Places for People’ on behalf of Runnymede Borough Council. While working alongside development partner Graham, which secured a £60 million contract to construct the development.[25] When completed it will offer over 1300sqm of retail space.
St John's Church Egham is on Church Road, the continuation of the High Street, and is an evangelical Anglican church[26] in the Diocese of Guildford. There are approximately 320 members and a usual Sunday attendance is around 300. The incumbent Vicar is the Revd Esther Prior.
TheChurch of Our Lady of the Assumption is a Catholic church at Englefield Green. It is situated on Harvest Road in the village, just off the A30 road. It was built from 1930 to 1931 and designed by Joseph Goldie. It serves the Parish of St. Cuthbert which includes the Catholic Chaplaincy to the nearby Royal Holloway of the University of London. On Sundays, it is usually standing room only, filled with local parishioners and students from Royal Holloway.
The United Church of Egham is a local union of the Methodist Church and the United Reformed church. It occupies a Victorian building in the centre of Egham High Street.
Hythe Community Church meets at The Hythe Centre, Thorpe Road, Egham Hythe, Surrey TW20 8BN every Sunday at 11 am.
Runnymede Christian Fellowship is an international group of people who meet to worship and have fellowship together. They are Pentecostal in nature and part of the Assemblies of God (UK). They meet at Virginia Lodge, Station Road, Egham.
Insanity Radio 103.2FM is a local radio station with studios in Egham. It is owned jointly byRoyal Holloway, University of London and its associatedStudents' Union, and run by students of the university as well as local volunteers. It provides entertainment, topical, and educational content aimed primarily at young people in the area, and works to develop relations between student and non-student residents of the town.[27][28]
| Output area | Detached | Semi-detached | Terraced | Flats and apartments | Caravans/temporary/mobile homes | shared between households[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egham - UK ward | 500 | 932 | 438 | 836 | 1 | 2 |
The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.
| Output area | Population | Households | % Owned outright | % Owned with a loan | hectares[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egham - UK ward | 6,384 | 2,709 | 26.9 | 29.6 | 264 |
The proportion of households in the civil parish who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 5.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 326.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free).
The Egham Museum tells the story of Egham, Egham Hythe, Englefield Green, Thorpe and Virginia Water from pre-history to the present day.
personal.rhul.ac.uk/uhyl/007/
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