Egham

Egham

High Street, Egham
Egham
Egham shown within Surrey
Area 2.64 km2 (1.02 sq mi)
Population 6,384 (2011 Census: Egham Town ward, see also Egham Hythe)[1]
• Density 2,418/km2 (6,260/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
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament

Egham (/ˈɛɡəm/ EG-əm) is a Town in the Runnymede borough of Surrey, in the south-east of England. It is part of the London commuter belt and Greater London Urban Area and has its own railway station. It adjoins, narrowly, junction 13 of the M25 motorway and is situated 19 miles (31 km) WSW of London. It can be considered a university town as it has on its higher part, Egham Hill, the campus of Royal Holloway, University of London. Not far from this town, at Runnymede, Magna Carta was sealed.

History

Egham predates c.670 AD when Chertsey Abbey was founded; one of the earliest Chertsey charters mentions Egeham.[3] The place-name means "Ecga's farm".[4]

Egham appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Egeham. It was (as mentioned) held by Chertsey Abbey and kept by that institution after the conquest when its assets were: 15 hides; 12 ploughlands, 120 acres (0.49 km2) 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.[5]

The village of Egham was before 19th century losses an ancient parish covering 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.[6] 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
  • Englefield, which is partly Englefield Green, partly Virginia Water[7]

The manor of Egham, which includes Runnymede belonged formerly, and in 1215, to Chertsey Abbey, and after the dissolution (around 1540) became the property of the Crown, though granted to various tenants (holders) at different times.[7]

King John Sculpture by David Parfitt

Magna Carta was sealed at nearby Runnymede in 1215, 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 such luminaries as John Denham ('Cooper's Hill') and Alexander Pope ('Windsor Forest')). A Sculpture by artist David Parfitt portraying King John and Baron Fitzwalter in the act of sealing Magna Carta is also 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 in World War II 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.[7]

Other than two forming the hub of today's Virginia Water (including Wentworth), the principal properties were 'Egham Manor and Park', 'Egham Wick',[8] 'Kenwolde Court', 'Markwood', 'Kingswood' and 'Alderhurst' for a time home of Lord Thring.[9]

During World War II, American author Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, was briefly stationed in Egham as part of his work on the propaganda film Your Job in Germany. He did not settle well in the town, despite the efforts of his RAF host Flight Sergeant Sam Beckinsale to draw the local amenities to his attention. When it was pointed out how green the area was, due in part to its proximity to Windsor Great Park he retorted "I do not like green Egham". Geisel later cited this as the inspiration for his 1960 best-selling book Green Eggs and Ham and the often-repeated line in the book "I do not like them Sam I Am. I do not like green eggs and ham".[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] In December, 2008, Egham was at the centre of a controversy due to possible traffic impact on the three level crossings in the town to be kept in situ under the abandoned Heathrow Airtrack project. 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.

Governance

Egham once lay within the Godley hundred, which lay in the early medieval period within Windsor Forest in a part of it which was subject to a long-running dispute as to whether it lay within the historic county boundaries of Surrey or Berkshire.[12]

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.

Geography

Nearby are Staines-upon-Thames, Bagshot, Sunningdale, Englefield Green and Virginia Water, Windsor Great Park, Old Windsor and Windsor itself. The area between Egham and Staines town centres is known as Egham Hythe.

North of Egham is Wraysbury, home of the British Disabled Waterski Association. South is Thorpe Park, a large theme park of rides and attractions. Also near Egham is Ascot Racecourse - another big attraction.

Economy

Egham High Street

Egham is home to a large research centre for Procter & Gamble, the London Innovation Centre, on Rusham Park, formally owned by Shell oils. P&G has 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. 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.[13]

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.

Egham has many pubs including The Foresters, The Happy Man, The Crown, The Packhorse and The Red Lion. The Spring Rise area of Egham is home to the United Services Club which was formed in 1921 and has recently become well known nationally for the three Real Ale festivals it holds every year.

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. play 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. Egham Cricket Club pages Retrieved 2013-10-01</ref>

A rowing club, Staines Boat Club, is on the Egham side of Staines Bridge in the associated neighbourhood (postally), Egham Hythe.

The Egham Royal Show takes place every August. 23–24 August 2014 was the 156th show.[14]

Museums

Watercolour of eastern entrance to Egham, pre. 1817.

Egham has a small museum based in the Literary Institute hailing the Dalradian metasediments.[15]

Transport

Egham railway station is on the railway lines from London Waterloo station to Reading and Weybridge. Passenger services are operated by South Western Railway. Egham has three level crossings. Two bus routes connect the town and Royal Holloway to Staines-upon-Thames, Windsor and London Heathrow Airport.

Education

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 College, a part of the University of London is south of Egham along the A30 road at Englefield Green. It provided accommodation for London 2012 competitors who competed at Eton Dorney.[16]

The Magna Carta School, formerly Hythe County Secondary and Egham Hythe Secondary Modern, is a comprehensive school in Egham Hythe. ACS International Schools has a campus in Egham.

Churches

St John's Church Egham is on Church Road, the continuation of the High Street, and is an evangelical Anglican church[17] in the Diocese of Guildford. There are approximately 320 members and a usual Sunday attendance is around 300. The incumbent Vicar is the Revd Matthew Thirlwall.

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 that meet to worship and have fellowship together. They are Pentecostal in nature and part of the Assemblies of Matthew Thirlwall (UK). They meet at Manorcroft School, Wesley Drive, 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.[18][19]

Demography and housing

2011 Census Homes
Output areaDetachedSemi-detachedTerracedFlats and apartmentsCaravans/temporary/mobile homesshared between households[1]
Egham - UK ward50093243883612

The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%.

2011 Census Key Statistics
Output areaPopulationHouseholds% Owned outright% Owned with a loanhectares[1]
Egham - UK ward6,3842,70926.929.6264

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).

Notable people

References

  1. 1 2 3 Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density United Kingdom Census 2011 Office for National Statistics Retrieved 21 November 2013
  2. ↑ Grid Reference Finder distance tools
  3. ↑ Kelly, S. E., ed. (2015). Charters of Chertsey Abbey. Anglo-Saxon charters. 19. Oxford: British Academy. p. 89. ISBN 9780197265567.
  4. ↑ Gover, J. E. B.; Mawer, A.; Stenton, F. M. (1934). The Place-Names of Surrey. English Place-Name Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 120.
  5. ↑ Surrey Domesday Book Archived 30 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ John Marius Wilson, depiction of Egham in the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72)
  7. 1 2 3 H.E. Malden, M.A. Magna Carta Commemoration Essays, 1917
  8. ↑ 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles
  9. ↑ 'Parishes: Egham', in A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3, ed. H E Malden (London, 1911), pp. 419-427 Accessed 24 December 2014
  10. ↑ Judith Morgan (1 August 1996). Dr. Seuss and Mr. Geisel: A Biography. Da Capo Press. pp. 207–211. ISBN 978-0306807367.
  11. ↑ Suspected case of foot-and-mouth, BBC News, 12 September 2007
  12. ↑ H.E. Malden, ed. (1911). "Parishes: Egham". A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  13. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 April 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  14. ↑ "Home".
  15. ↑ "Egham Museum". Egham Museum.
  16. ↑ "London 2012 Venues". Archived from the original on 13 October 2008.
  17. ↑ "St Johns Egham".
  18. ↑ "Insanity Radio Key Commitments" (PDF).
  19. ↑ "Insanity Radio About".
  20. ↑ "St Paul's Church, Egham Hythe".
  21. ↑ "City & County Information, Town & Community Information - ePodunk". Archived from the original on 27 March 2012.

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