Facts about Egham
General Info
Egham is a university town in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately 19 miles (31 km) west of central London. First settled in the Bronze Age, the town was under the control of Chertsey Abbey for much of the Middle Ages. In 1215, Magna Carta was sealed by King John at Runnymede, to the north of Egham, having been chosen for its proximity to the King’s residence at Windsor. Under the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the early 16th Century, the major, formerly eccesiastical, manorial freehold interests in the town and various market revenues passed to the Crown.
History
Egham predates c.670 AD when Chertsey Abbey was founded; one of the earliest Chertsey charters mentions Egeham. The place-name means “Ecga’s farm”. Egham appears in the 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.
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. In the medieval period it was divided into four roughly equal tythings
