Egham
Encyclopedia : E : EG : EGH : Egham
- redirect [[Template:Infobox England place]]
It is located 30 km (19 miles) southwest of central London on both the River Thames and on the M25 motorway (Junction 13). Royal Holloway, University of London is situated on Egham Hill, 1 km to the west of the town.
History
In 1086, the Domesday Book recorded that Egham consisted of 15 hides of land and was worth £30 10s 0d.
The 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')).
There is also another, more sizeable memorial at the top of the hill (technically located in the nearby village of Englefield Green) that commemorates Allied airmen killed whilst serving with Commonwealth forces in World War II. This structure is of particular architectural interest as the first new-built British building to be listed in the post-war era. The memorial (administered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) is freely open to the public year-round and offers excellent views towards London, Windsor and the Surrey Hills, as well as being a place of quiet contemplation and reflection.
Business
Egham is home to a large research centre for Procter & Gamble on a site called Rusham Park Technical Centre. 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. Other notable employers include Siebel, Research in Motion (makers of BlackBerry) and the Runnymede Hotel & Spa.
Transport
Egham railway station is situated on the railway lines from Waterloo in London to Reading and Weybridge. Passenger services are operated by South West Trains. Several bus routes connect the town and Royal Holloway to Staines and nearby London Heathrow Airport. Junction 13 of the M25 motorway is nearby.
Nearest places
Egham's neighbouring towns are Staines, Sunningdale, Englefield Green and Virginia Water. Windsor Great Park and the towns of Old Windsor and Windsor are a few kilometres to the northwest.
The area between Egham and Staines town centres is known as Egham Hythe.
Just to the north of Egham is Wraysbury, home of the British Disabled Waterski Association. Just to the South is Thorpe Park, a large theme park of rides and attractions.
Famous residents
External links
- [Egham town website].
- [Magna Carta Essays]
- [Bibliography of local history]
- [Egham Hythe, St Paul's Church and Edward Budgen (see history page)]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.