Egham, a large village, one of the first possessions of Chertsey Abbey.

Here is an Almshouse, founded by Mr. Strode, in the year 1706, for six men and six women. In the centre of the building is a good house for a schoolmaster, with a salary of 401. a year, and some other perquisites, to educate 20 poor boys.

At the end of the town is another Almshouse, founded by Sir John Denham, baron of the exchequer in the reign of James I. and Charles I., in the year 1624, for five poor old women, who, besides an apartment, have each a small orchard behind the house, with new gowns and stockings every Christmas. This learned judge lived in a house adjoining to the church, and upon his death, it was left for the use of the vicars, who now enjoy it.

Sir John Denham, so much celebrated for his poetical genius, and political knowledge, was the son of this gentleman, and his poem on Cooper’s Hill, in this neighbourhood, was wrote while he resided with his father at Egham.

On the left near Egham the road branches off to Runny Mead, the celebrated spot on which King John was compelled to grant Magna Charta, the foundation of English liberty.

"The barons next a noble league began;

Roth those of English and of Norman race,

In one fraternal nation blended now,

The nation of the free! press’d by a band

Of patriots, ardent as the summer’s noon

That looks delighted on. The tyrant see!

Mark! how with feign’d alacrity he bears

His strong reluctance down, his dark revenge,

And gives the charter, by which life indeed

Becomes of price, a glory to be man!"

- Thomson.

The annual races on Runny Mead, are held in September.

On the right of the road, near Virginia Water, is an Observatory, erected by William, Duke of Cumberland, but never finished. On the left is Windsor Great Park, with a noble piece of water, confined by a stout and lofty dam, and a cascade falling down on the side of the road, constructed at a great expence by his late Majesty.

About two miles from Egham, Bagshot Heath commences, which is of great extent.

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EGHAM is an extensive parish in the North Western division of the county, hundred of Godley, Windsor union, Chertsey petty sessional division and county court district, archdeaconry of Surrey, rural deanery of Emly and diocese of Winchester, about 18 miles from Hyde Park corner, 5 south-east from Windsor, and 4 north from Chertsey, with a station on the Staines and Wokingham railway; there is a station on the same line at Virginia Water, which is also the junction of the branch line from Weybridge through Chertsey. The parish of Egham comprises the entire north-west part of the county, including a considerable portion of Windsor Great Park, and is bounded on the west by Berkshire and on the north and east by the river Thames, which separates the parish for about 4 miles from the counties of Bucks and Middlesex, and over which is a stone bridge of three arches to Staines: Runnymede, Egham Hill, Cooper’s Hill, Englefield Green, Virginia Water, and Shrubb’s Hill are all in this parish. The town, consisting of one long street, is situated on the Great Western road; it is lighted with gas by the Staines and Egham Gas Company, and supplied with water by the South-West Suburban Water Company. Runnymede, the celebrated spot where King John signed Magna Charta, is north of the town and bounded by the Thames. From the summit of Egham hill a road diverges through Windsor Great Park to Reading, a distance of 19 miles; north of it are Englefield Green and Cooper’s Hill, the latter affording a view of the river Thames worthy of comparison with the view from Richmond. Virginia Water is 2 miles farther west, on the line of the Great Western road; the surplus water of the lake in Windsor Great Park falls down an artificial cascade into a pool below, and runs into the Thames near Chertsey: the road bounds the park on the north for some distance, and the waterfall is just within the boundary, but partly concealed by the trees. The road from Egham to Shrubb’s Hill is nearly a straight line, bounded on the north by Windsor Park, and on the south by beautifully-wooded hills: by the wayside is the Wheatsheaf hotel; through the grounds admission may be obtained to Virginia Water; and within the boundary of the park, near this house, in a beautifully-secluded corner of the park stand several marble columns with portions of the frieze and other fragments of a temple which 2,000 years ago graced the city of Corinth. Shrubb’s Hill is at the southern boundary of this parish, a mile and a quarter west of Virginia Water: here may be traced for some distance the line of the ancient Roman road from Silchester, in Hampshire, to the metropolis, and near Milton Park a stone was erected by the lata E. W. Edgell esq. marking the position of the road. The parish church of St. John the Baptist, rebuilt in 1817, is an edifice of brick in the later English Gothic style, consisting of small chancel, nave and a western tower containing a clock and 6 bells: in the church is a mural monument to Sir John Denham knt. baron of the Exchequer, and father of the poet; there are two memorials to members of the Gostling family, by Flaxman and Bailey; and one to Sir Robert Forster knt. chief justice of the King’s Bench, ob. 1663; the altar-piece, representing “Elijah Raising the Widow’s Son,” is by Westall: there are 1,200 sittings, of which 250 are free. The register of baptisms and marriages dates from the year 1566; burials from 1592. The living is a vicarage, average tithe rent-charge £31, net income £271, with residence and 50 acres of glebe, in the gift of and held since 1879 by the Rev. William Trevor Nicholson B.A. Trinity College, Dublin. The value of the lay impropriation is £1,130 yearly.

Christ Church, Virginia Water, is an ecclesiastical district, formed in 1839: the church is an edifice of brick with stone dressings in the Pointed style, and consists of chancel, nave, transept and a tower with spire at the south-west angle, facing the Chertsey high road and containing a clock and one bell: there are sittings for 240 persons, of which 80 are free. The register dates from the year 1838. The living is a vicarage, gross yearly value £59, with residence, in the gift of three trustees, and held since 1883 by the Rev. Reginald Edward Molyneux M.A. of Exeter College, Oxford. The population in 1891 was 1,101. There is a Wesleyan chapel; and a Congregational chapel, erected by John R. Mills esq. with a school attached. Near the sandpits is a cemetery of 4 acres, the chapel of ease of SS. Simon and Jude, attached to the cemetery, is an edifice of stone in the Early English style, consisting of nave, transept and a tower on the south side containing a clock and one bell: the east and west windows are stained: there are 530 sittings, 300 being free; there is also a chapel here for Dissenters, a receiving house and a superintendent’s residence. The cemetery is under the control of a Burial Board of nine members.

Here are a school and twelve almshouses, having an income of about £610 from the Coopers’ Company of London, who are the trustees under the will of Henry Strode esq. dated 1703. Edmond Lee, by will dated 12th December, 1705, gave £1,000 to be laid out in the purchase of freehold land and tenements, the rents arising therefrom and now amounting to £130 yearly to be appropriated to apprenticing four or more boys and girls living in the parish of Egham to some honest and efficient tradesmen every year; there is also a sum of £218 14s. 11d. in the Consolidated £3 per Cent. Annuities, standing in the names of the trustees and applicable to the same trust, producing £6 11s. 2d. yearly. Here are also five almshouses founded by Sir John Denham knt. in the year 1624, for five poor widows with a yearly income of £41, and five almshouses founded by Mr. Stewart, for the same number, with a yearly income of £49 14s. 9d. Model dwellings were erected by the late Prince Consort. There are various other charities, amounting to £440 15s. 8d. for clothing and fuel, and £27 for distribution in money: £4 10s. 8d. derived from Chobham Encampment is expended for public uses and Edgell’s gift of £3 19s. 2d. is for apprenticing.

The Holloway Sanatorium, St. Ann’s heath, instituted in 1885 as a registered hospital for the cure and care of mental invalids of the middle and upper classes, was erected at the cost of the late Mr. Thomas Holloway, and is a building of red brick, with Portland stone dressings, in the Gothic style, designed by Mr. W. H. Crossland, architect, of Leeds, and stands on an eminence facing the Virginia Water station of the Staines and Wokingham railway; the principal front presents a facade of 640 ft. with a depth of 250 ft. in the rear of which is a central tower, 150 ft. high; other towers, 60 ft. high, terminating in circular turrets, with domical roofs, are placed at the back of each wing, and a portico, with two tiers of pillared arcades, forms the chief entrance; in front is a terrace 45 ft. wide; the exterior has a stately aspect; and the adjacent grounds extend over 35 acres and are laid out as a promenade: the hospital is designed to receive from 300 to 350 patients; the surplus funds from those paying a high rate being utilised for deserving cases at reduced charges; the sanatorium is managed by a committee of governors, having no pecuniary interest in the institution; and in connection with it is a branch establishment at Brighton.

Egham Dispensary, High street, was established in 1859, and has an average attendance of 1,892 patients.

The Cottage Hospital, Egham hill, built in 1872, contains 14 beds; the number of patients for 1889 was 103.

Here is a Literary and Scientific Institution, which is well supported.

Peace officers are appointed on Whit-Tuesday, at the court leet of Hardoitch, alias Hardwich, which is held at the Swan inn, Chertsey.

The principal seats are Milton Park, the residence of Baron de Worms J.P.; Portnall Park, Rev. Henry Jerome Augustine Fane de Salis M.A., J.P.; Runnymede Park, Col. Montagu; Wentworths, Countess de Morelia; Luddington House, Greville H. Palmer esq.; Alderhurst, Lord Thring, K.C.B., J.P.; Bakeham, Lord Field P.C.; and Kingswood, William Bignall Eastwood esq. but formerly the residence of Sir John Denham K.B.; the view from the grounds extends over eight counties.

Egham comprises five manors. Her Majesty is lady paramount of the manor of Egham; George Simon Chandos Harcourt esq. is lord of the manor of Ankerwyke Purnish; the Master, Fellows and Scholars of Corpus Christi college, Oxford, hold the manor of Milton; the Countess de Morelia is lady of the manor of Trotsworth; and the Master, Fellows and Scholars of St. John’s College, Cambridge, hold the manor of Broomhall: the principal landowners are the Countess de Morelia, Baron de Worms, Baron J. H. W. Schroder, and the Rev. Henry J. A. Fane de Salis M.A., J.P.

The land is undulating; soil, gravel and loam; subsoil, clay; this place is proverbially health. Camomile Hill, on the west, was so called from the herb which grows there abundantly, and was formerly cultivated for the market. In the Thames and its tributaries are numerous eyots, or aits, cultivated as osier grounds.

Cooper’s Hill, an eminence in this parish, has been immortalized in the poem of that name by Sir John Denham K.B. published in 1643.

The area of this parish is 7,624 acres of land and 162 of water; rateable value, £32,351: the population in 1871 was 5,895 and in 1881, 8,676.

The Royal Indian Civil Engineering College, Cooper’s hill.

This College was established under the orders of the Secretary of State for India in Council, in view to the education of civil engineers for the service of Government in the Indian Public Works Department; but it is open, should there be available room, to all persons desirous of following the course of study; attached to the college is a library, laboratories, gymnasium and workshops, and facilities are also provided for the practice of photography; in addition to the regular subjects of study every student is further required to go through a course of military and gymnastic exercises, including the use of the rifle, and if selected for the Indian service, must, before proceeding to India, furnish evidence of his competency in riding: appointments in the Indian Public Works Department are available yearly for the passed students of the college, to the extent of the vacancies in that branch of the service; students are eligible in the order of merit at the final examination, and such as are elected are appointed assistant-engineers, second grade, from the date of their passing out of the college, at a commencing salary of Rs. 4,200; but every assistant-engineer, before proceeding to India may be required to go through a course of practical engineering, and while so employed receives pay at the rate of £150 a year: the prescribed departmental and language examinations have yet to be passed in India, according to the regulations of the service, as a necessary condition for obtaining promotion to a higher grade. Nominations to the Indian Telegraph Department are also made from the college, and students fulfilling the general conditions are eligible, in the Order of their standing at the end of the first year’s course, and those selected go through a second year’s course of special training at the college, on the satisfactory completion of which they are appointed as assistant superintendents, Telegraph Department, at a commencing salary of Rs. 2,400 a year: fifty students are admitted to the college yearly, and candidates for admission must be between the ages of 17 and 21, and must undergo an entrance examination, to be held at the college: the annual charge is £180, together with £2 payable at the entrance examination, and £5 deposited on admission as caution money. Students who pass out of the college with special distinction are appointed Honorary Fellows, and those who pass out in honours receive the diploma of Associate. Chairman of the Board of Visitors, Sir Richard Temple M.P., G.C.S.I. A School of Forestry is added with a view to supplying officers to the Forest Department of the Indian government.

Staff of the College:

President, General Sir Alexander Taylor R.E., G.C.B.

Secretary, J. G. Whiffin esq. paymaster-in-chief R.N. Retired.

Bursar, J. P. Pasco esq. R.N. Retired.

Chaplain, Rev. C. Croslegh D.D.

Engineering & Applied Mechanics’ Branches:—

Professor of Engineering Construction, Calcott Reilly esq.

Mem. inst. C.E Professor of Hydraulic Engineering & Mechanism, T. A.

Hearson esq. Mem. inst. C.E.

Assistant Professor of Engineering, A, H. Heath esq. assoc.

Mem. inst. C.E.

Professor of Surveying, Major-Gen. E. H. Courtney R.E.

Instructor of Surveying, Capt. J. Stewart R.E.

Instructor in Geometrical Drawing and in Estimating and Lecturer in Architecture, T. H. Eagles esq. M.A. assoc. inst. C.E., F.R.I.B.A.

Lecturer in Accounts, J, C. Hurst esq.

Demonstrator in the Mechanical Laboratory, C. A. Carus-Wilson B.A.

Mathematical Branch:—

Professor of Applied Mathematics, G. M. Minchin esq. M.A.

Professor of Mathematics, A. Lodge M.A. Fellow of St. John’s College, Oxon.

Natural Science Branch:—

Professor of Chemistry, Herbert McLeod esq. F.R.S.

Demonstrator in Chemistry, F. E. Matthews esq. ph.D.

Professor in Physics, W. N. Stocker esq. M.A. fellow of Brasenose college, Oxon.

Demonstrator in Physics, W. G. Gregory esq. M.A.

Lecturer in Geology & Mineralogy, Professor P. M. Duncan, M.B., F.R.S.

Forestry Branch: —

Professor of Forestry, W. Schlich esq. Ph.D. inspector general of forests to Government of India.

Professor of Botany, H. Marshall Ward esq. M.A. fellow of Christ’s college, Cambridge.

Lecturer in Chemistry, of Soils and Vegetation, Professsor A. W. Church M.A., F.R.S.

Lecturer in Entomology, W. F. H. Blandford esq.

Instructor in Free-hand Drawing, Russell Dowson esq.

Instructor in French, J. A. Perret Instructor in German, T. H. Dittel esq.

[Forms of application for admission may be obtained from the Secretary, Civil Service Commissioners, Cannon row, Westminster, and Secretary at the College.]

The Royal Holloway College for Women, Mount Lee, Egham Hill.

This building is a magnificent pile of red brick with Portland stone dressings, in the style of the French Renaissance, as exemplified by the Chateau de Chambord, in Lorraine, from the designs of Mr. W. H. Crossland, architect, of London. The buildings were erected during the years 1879—83, at a total cost, including fittings, furniture, and pictures, of £600,000, wholly defrayed by the late Mr. Thomas Holloway, the well-known patent medicine vendor, of New Oxford street, London, who died in December, 1883, leaving, in addition to the amount already specified, a sum of £200,000 for the endowment of the college, which was formally opened by Her Majesty the Queen, June 30, 1886.

The whole building forms a double quadrangle, measuring 550 by 376 feet, each quadrangle being about 250 feet long by 182 feet wide, and consists of two long and lofty blocks, in some places six storeys in height, running parallel to each other, and connected in the middle and at either end by lower cross-buildings: the two long blocks are devoted to rooms for students, teachers and professors, and to class rooms; the connecting block next the road contains the chapel and picture gallery; the central block, the kitchen, dining hall and water-tower, and the block at the further end includes pianoforte practising rooms, musical class-rooms, gymnasium, racquet court, lecture theatre, and on the main floor a museum and library; on two sides of each quadrangle are cloisters, 10 feet wide, with slightly projecting roofs, forming balustraded terraces; the central towers contain several sets of rooms for professors and heads of departments; the water tower provides on its first floor a spacious vestibule for the dining hall, the second floor contains water tanks, and the upper storey consists of eight square piers radiating from the centre to the angles of the tower, and supported on intersecting arches; from these spring an open-worked ogee-shaped coronal, terminating in a massive finial.

The recreation hall, intended for receptions, lectures, balls, and private theatricals, is 100 feet long by 30 wide, and is 50 feet in height; the roof is of open-timber, the floor is laid down in parqueterie, and the walls are adorned with a magnificent collection of modern pictures, about 80 in number, formed by Sir George Martin-Holloway at a cost of upwards of £90,000; these include many well-known works by Turner, Gainsborough, Constable, Creswick, Millais, Landseer, Holl, Riviere, Morland, Frith, Copley Fielding, Ansdell, Fildes, Roberts, Crome, and other distinguished artists; the dining-hall is 100 feet long by 30 wide, and 30 feet high, and has a handsome panelled ceiling; the kitchen, intended to serve also as a school of cookery, is of unusually ample proportions: the museum and library, occupying the entire south-east front, a length of about 250 feet, comprise four rooms, and are very completely fitted; the ornamental sculpture on the facades of the building was also entirely designed and modelled by Sig. Fucigna, and includes some figures of exceptional merit; in the first quadrangle will eventually be placed a marble statue of H. M. the Queen, by H.S.H. Prince Hohenlohe, and in the second quadrangle, a group, in marble, of the founder and his wife: the engine-houses, gas works, coal and wood stores, are for the most part located underground, at a distance of about 300 yards from the main building, with which they are connected by a subway; the principal portions of the college are lighted by electricity, and the building is warmed in part by open fire-places, and in part by low-pressure steam; the sanitary arrangements have been carried out on the most approved scientific principles.

The chapel, a distinct building in the grounds, is profusely adorned with sculpture and decoration in colour, and has an apsidal east end, the half dome of which presents, in high relief, the subject of the “Creation of Eve;” on the north and south sides of the apse are vestries with chapels above, separated from the apse by grilles of wrought iron, gilt; the communion table stands within a lofty and elaborately-designed baldacchino; the main portion of the chapel is divided into five bays, pierced by two-light windows, flanked by niches, over which are figures of Prophets and Evangelists in high relief: the ceiling, designed by the late Sig, Fucigna, is elliptical, and is richly ornamented in gold and colour; at the west end, over the vestibule, is a rose window and a fine organ.

The government and management of the college is vested in a body of 12 governors, inclusive of the three trustees of the property: and they are empowered by the deed of foundation to frame a course of study, and to modify it from time to time in such a way as seems most'suitable to them for the education of women: the religious teaching is to be “free from any sectarian influence,” and “no test of religious opinions” is to be required either from teachers or students; public worship is conducted on Sundays in the college chapel, but “no arrangement is to be made which would identify the college in any way with any particular sect or denomination of Christians.” The students are resident, but the governors may, in exceptional cases, admit non-resident students; 12 foundation scholarships, each value £30 yearly, tenable for 2 years, are awarded in July in each year; applicants for admission must have attained the age of 17, and residence is ordinarily restricted to 4 years; the internal management and discipline of the college is entrusted to the lady principal.

Principal, Miss Bishop.

Lecturers:

In Divinity, The Principal.

In Classics, J. H. Muirhead M.A. Balliol College, Oxford and Miss T. Dabis, Classical Tripos, Cambridge.

In Mathematics, S. L. Loney M.A. Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, B.A. London and Miss C. Frost, Mathematical Tripos, Cambridge.

In Natural Science, G. Herbert Fowler B.A. Keble College, Oxford, ph.D. Leipzig; Miss M. Seward, Natural Science, Final Honours, Oxford; Mathematics, Final Honours, Oxford; and Miss A. G. Corry.

In Mental and Moral Philosophy, J. H. Muirhead M.A.

In English Language and Literature, Miss L. M. Faithfull, English Literature, Final Honours, Oxford.

In History, Miss L. M. Faithfull.

In French, Miss M. Pechinet B.A. London, French Honours.

In German, Miss A. G. Corry.

In Music, Miss E. Daymond, Scholar and Associate of the Royal College of Music.

Gymnasium, Miss Stuart Snell.

Singing and Voice Production, Madame Beati, of the Conservatoire of Milan Drawing, C. W. Carey esq.

Officers.

Secretary, J. L. Clifford-Smith esq.

Principal’s Private Secretary, Miss I. M. Clementson.

Lady Housekeeper, Miss H. Lethbridge.

Organist, Miss E. Daymond.

Curator of the Picture Gallery, C. W. Carey esq.

Places of Worship, with times of services

Parish Church of St. John the Baptist, Rev. W. T. Nicholson B.A. vicar; Rev. J. W. Dunk & Rev. C. T. Eland, curates; 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Thur. 7 p.m.

St. Jude’s Chapel of Ease, Englefield Green, 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Fri. 11 a.m.

Christ Church, Virginia Water, Rev. Reginald Edward Molyneux M.A. vicar; 11 a.m. & 6 p.m.

Wesleyan, Egham, Rev. J. Attwater; 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m. Thur. 7.30 p.m.

Congregational, Egham hill. Rev. J. Lucas: 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Schools

A School Board of 7 members was formed in 1884; J. A. Engall, solicitor, Staines, clerk to the board; H. Kelley, Thorpe road, The Hythe, Staines, attendance officer.

Strode’s Charity, Rev. John Beattie M.A. chaplain & master; Mr. Morris, assistant master.

Hythe Board, built in 1886, for 332 children & enlarged in 1890 for 370; average attendance 102 boys, 97 girls & 99 infants.

National, Englefield green, built in 1864 for 338 children & enlarged in 1885 for 388; average attendance, 336.

National, Virginia Water, built in 1857, for 125 children; average attendance, 90; with an endowment of £6 8s. 10d. derived from investments in Consols.

Egham Parish, Egham, built in 1870 & enlarged in 1888 for 422 children; average attendance, 324.