Egham, Surrey

Description
Egham, a village and a parish in Surrey. The village stands adjacent to the river Thames, 1 1/4 mile W by S of Staines, and has a station on the L. & S.W.R., 21 miles from London. It 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, and has a head post office (S.O.) The parish includes Egham Hill, Coopers Hill, Englefield Green, Virginia Water, Shrubs Hill, Runnymead, and a considerable portion of Windsor Great Park. It comprises 7624 acres of land and 162 of water. Population of the civil parish, 10,187; of the ecclesiastical, with Englefield Green, 8128. Egham manor belongs to the Queen, ami there are four other manors. Portnal Park, Runnymead Park, and Wentworth 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 racecourse of 1 mile and 1694 yards. 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. It is now best known as the site of the Royal Indian Civil Engineering College, which was established for the education of civil engineers in the Indian public works department. The college is a fine building, and beautifully situated; attached to it are library, laboratories, gymnasium, and workshops. The Royal Holloway College for women is situated at Mount Lee, Egham Hill. The building is a magnificent pile of red brick, with Portland stone dressings, in the French Rennaisance style. It was erected in 1879-83 by the late Mr. Thomas Holloway, at a cost of £600,000; he also left £200,000 for its endowment. There is a large recreation hall, and a fine picture gallery containing a magnificent collection of modern paintings. There is accommodation for 250 students. Camomile Hill, near the western extremity of the parish, derived its name from the herb camomile, wliicli abounds on it, and was formerly cultivated for sale. The living is a vicarage, united with Englefield Green, in the diocese of Winchester; net value, £263 with residence. The church is modern, and contains some monuments which were in the previous church, two to the Gosling family, and one to Sir John Denham, the father of the poet. There are Congregational and Wesleyan chapels, a literary institution, a cottage hospital, a free dispensary, almshouse-Sy and other -charities. There are many fine residences in the vicinity. See also VIRGINIA WATEE.