Egham predates c.670 AD when Chertsey Abbey was founded; one of the earliest Chertsey charters mentions Egeham.[4] The place-name means "Ecga's farm".[5]
Egham appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Egeham. It was held by Chertsey Abbey and kept by that institution after the conquest when its assets were: 15 hides; 12 ploughlands, 120 acres (49 hectares) of meadow, together with woodland, 'herbage and pannage' worth 75 hogs. It rendered one of the largest sums in Surrey to its feudal overlords per year, £30 10s 0d.[6]
The village of Egham was, before 19th-century losses, an ancient parish raping land totalling 7,435 acres (30 km2) in the counties of Berkshire (briefly) and Surrey; incorporating Egham, Egham Hill, Cooper's Hill, Englefield Green, Virginia Water, Shrubs Hill, Runnymede, Egham Hythe, and a considerable portion of Windsor Great Park.[7] In the medieval period it was divided into four roughly equal tythings:
Hythe (which was on fairly similar boundaries to Egham Hythe)
Town
Strode (later also known as Stroude), but which now denotes a much smaller, and inconsistent area
The manor of Egham, which includes Runnymede, belonged formerly and in 1215 to Chertsey Abbey, and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries (around 1540) became the property of the Crown, though granted to various tenants (holders) at different times.[8]
Magna Carta was sealed at nearby Runnymede in 1215,[3] and is commemorated by a memorial, built in 1957 by the American Bar Association, at the foot of Cooper's Hill (a small rise adjacent to the Thames floodplain, immortalised in verse by poets including John Denham ("Cooper's Hill") and Alexander Pope ("Windsor Forest")). A sculpture by artist David Parfitt portraying King John and Robert Fitzwalter in the act of sealing Magna Carta can be found in Church Road in the centre of town.
Another memorial at the top of the hill in nearby Englefield Green, the Air Forces Memorial commemorates Commonwealth 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 the Commonwealth 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 at one time held horse races which took place at the Runnymede meadow, which interfered with the Inclosure Act of 1814 (54 G. III, c. 153) 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 by William 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 of Lord Thring.[10]
Parts of Egham have featured in national and international news in the 21st century. On 12 September 2007 a case of foot-and-mouth disease was found in Egham, 12 miles (19 km) from the previous outbreak found in early August 2007.[11] Occasional flooding of Runnymede and parts of Egham 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 the 2013-14 winter storms.[12]
Governance
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2008)
Egham Rural District was a Local Government District within the administrative county of Surrey. It was created in 1894 and replaced in 1906 with Egham Urban District, which was later abolished in 1974. Since 1974, Egham has been part of the Runnymede borough of Surrey.
Egham was home to a large research centre for Procter & Gamble, the London Innovation Centre, on Rusham 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 as Hugo Boss, Olay, and Vicks 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 to CAB 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 the United Kingdom in the listed Tower Garage. Lagonda was based here. Egham today contains a Ferrari, Maserati, and a Porsche dealership.
Sport and leisure
Egham has a Non-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]
A rowing club, Staines Boat Club, is on the Egham side of Staines Bridge in the associated neighbourhood (postally), Egham Hythe.
Egham is home to Egham Fencing Club, a club founded in 1976 dedicated to the sport of fencing. The club has members practicing all three weapons (Sabre, Foil and Épée).
The Egham Royal Show takes place every August. 23–24 August 2014 was the 156th show.[17]
Museum
Watercolour of eastern entrance to Egham, pre. 1817.
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]
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 an Everyman Cinema.[23]
Construction progress as of 20 July 2021 on the Magna Square Development.Alternative view showing construction progress as of 20 July 2021 on the Magna Square Development.
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.
Churches
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.
The Church 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.
Community radio
Insanity Radio 103.2FM is a local radio station with studios in Egham. It is owned jointly by Royal Holloway, University of London and its associated Students' 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]
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).
^H.E. Malden, ed. (1911). "Parishes: Egham". A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
^"Home". Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
^"A brief history of Coopers Hill". Egham Museum. Retrieved 6 December 2021. The Egham Museum tells the story of Egham, Egham Hythe, Englefield Green, Thorpe and Virginia Water from pre-history to the present day.
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