Egham Parish

"EGHAM, a parish and small town in the second division of the hundred of Godley, county Surrey, 1½ mile W. of Staines, 2 E. of Virginia. Water, and 19 from London, being a station on the London and Reading section of the London and South-Western railway. It is situated on the Great Western Road, on the banks of the river Thames, and comprises the north-western portion of the county, including a considerable portion of the Windsor Great Park. This parish is divided by the Thames from the counties of Bucks and Middlesex. It includes Runnymede, Virginia Water, Englefield Green, Egham Hill, Cooper's Hill, and Shrubb's Hill." (There is more of this description).

"COOPER'S HILL, a mansion of Lord Longford, situated on the Thames, in the parish of Egham, near Staines, in the county of Surrey; it forms the theme of Denham's poem."

"RUNNEMEDE, (or Runny Mead), a meadow on the bank of the Thames, opposite Charter Island in the parish of Egham, county Surrey, 2 miles W. of Staines. It is celebrated as being the spot where King John met the barons for the signing of Magna Charts, on 15th June, 1215. Races take place here during the first week of September.

"VIRGINIA WATER, an ecclesiastical district in the parish of Egham, county Surrey, 3½ miles W. of Staines, and 5 S. of Windsor. The Reading branch of the London and South Western railway has a station here. The district in 1861 had a population of 877, and a church called Christ Church. It is situated near the Thames and the artificial lake from which it takes its name. This lake, which is the largest piece of artificial water in the kingdom, extends into the county of Berks, and is shut in among large plantations of beech, pines, ash, and other trees, which constitute the wooded breaks of Windsor Forest. It was formed by Sandby in 1746, for William Duke of Cumberland, by turning several small streams into a natural marshy hollow, and is adorned by a Chinese temple, a model frigate, and imitation ruins, with a fall at the lower end of the lake, where it joins a branch of the Thames."