In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Egham like this:
EGHAM, a village and a parish in the district of Windsor and county of Surrey; and a sub-district, all in the same district, but partly in Berkshire. The village stands adjacent to the river Thames, and to the London, Wokingham, and Reading -railway, 1½ mile W by S of Staines; has a station on the railway, and a post office‡ under Staines; has also fairs on 6 May and 26 Sept.; communicates with Staines by a fine bridge; consists chiefly of one long street; and, prior to the railway period, was a place of great coach thoroughfare. ...
The parish includes Egham-Hill, Coopers-Hill, Englefield - Green, Virginia-Water, Shrubs-Hill, Runnymead, and a considerable portion of Windsor Great Park. Acres, 7, 435. Real property, £20, 634; of which £251 are in gas-works. Pop., 4, 864. Houses, 1, 020. The property is much subdivided. Egham manor belongs to the Queen; and there are four other manors Portnal-Park, Runnymead-Park, Wentworth, and eight others, are chief seats. Runnymead lies on the north side of the village; extends a considerable distance along the Thames; was the place appointed by King John for his famous conference with the barons, which terminated in his signing Magna Charta; and has a flat race-course of 1 mile and 1, 694 yards, on which races are run in Aug. Charter Island lies opposite this, and is much frequented by picnic parties. Coopers-Hill, reached by a walk of about a mile across Englefield Green, commands a rich prospect, was the subject of Sir John Denham's famous poem, written at Oxford in 1643; and was afterwards celebrated by Pope and by Somerville. Virginia-Water is approached, by permission, through the grounds of an inn by the road-side. See Virginia-Water. Camo-mile-Hill, near the western extremity of the parish, got its name from the herb camomile, which abounds on it, and was formerly cultivated for sale. The living is a vicarage, united with the p. curacy of Englefield Green, in the diocese of Winchester. Value, £400.* Patron, Miss Gostling. The church is modern, and contains some monuments which were in the previous church, two to the Gostling family, and one to Sir John Denham, the father of the poet. The vicarage of Virginia-Water is a separate benefice. There are chapels for Independents and Wesleyans, and a literary institution. Strode's school and alms-houses have £629; Denham's alms-houses, £38; and other charities £140.—The sub-district contains most of Egham parish, part of Old Windsor parish, and two other entire parishes. Acres, 12, 103. Pop., 7, 680. Houses, 1, 567.
Egham through time
Egham is now part of Runnymede district. Click here for graphs and data of how Runnymede has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Egham itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Egham, in Runnymede and Surrey | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/159
Date accessed: 19th April 2024
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