Virginia Water

For the lake, see Virginia Water Lake.

Virginia Water
Virginia Water  Virginia Water shown within Surrey
Population	less than 3,000
OS grid reference	SU982679
District	Runnymede Borough Council
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Virginia Water
Postcode district	GU25 4
Dialling code	01344
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Runnymede and Weybridge
List of places UK England Surrey

Virginia Water is an affluent village, a lake and, originally, a stream, the village being in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey and the bodies of water stretching over the borders of Runnymede, Old Windsor and Sunninghill and Ascot, England.

The village takes its name from the lake in the nearby Windsor Great Park. The lake's name was transferred from a previous stream, which was probably named after the 'Virgin Queen', Elizabeth I.

The lake

Main article: Virginia Water Lake

Virginia Water Lake lies within Windsor Great Park. It was created from a body of water of the same name: originally little more than a stream, which existed from at least the 17th century and may well be named after Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen. The lake is mostly in Surrey, though the western extremities are in the civil parishes of Old Windsor and Sunninghill and Ascot in Berkshire.

Recently the shores of the lake have been used for lakeside scenes in the Harry Potter films and for the boat scenes in Robin Hood. The lake is also the site of the British record capture of a pike, weighing 58 lb 5oz.

During World War II, the lake was drained, as its recognisable shape was thought likely to provide enemy guidance at night to Windsor and to important military targets in the area.

The village

The 2001 census population of Virginia Water was 6,113. Many of the village's houses are large detached homes situated on the private Wentworth Estate home of the famous Wentworth Club which has four golf courses. The Ryder Cup was first played there. It is also home to the headquarters of the PGA European Tour, the world's second-richest professional golf tour (after the PGA Tour in the US). The estate reached the headlines in 1998 when General Augusto Pinochet was kept under house arrest in one of its houses prior to his extradition. Sarah, Duchess of York is a former royal resident. Many entertainment personalities also have or have had homes on the estate including Chris Squire, Sir Elton John, songwriter Bernie Taupin, Diana Dors, Russ Abbot, Cliff Richard, Bryan Forbes and his wife Nanette Newman and Sir Bruce Forsyth. Golfers who have or have had homes on the estate include Sir Nick Faldo, European Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher, Sam Torrance, Sandy Lyle, Ernie Els and Thomas Bjørn. Ex-formula 1 team owner Eddie Jordan and boxer Prince Naseem Naseem Hamed also live on the Estate. The author and traveller Bill Bryson spent his early married life in the village. Paul Pindar, Chief Executive of Capita lives there.

Edward VIII was a resident of nearby Fort Belvedere.

Virginia Water is also home to many London commuters. It is close to the M25, M4 and M3 motorways. The village has a four track railway station in the middle of the village on the line between London Waterloo, Weybridge and Reading. Heathrow Airport is located eight miles to the north-east. The village has two rows of shops, although many inhabitants travel to the nearby towns of Staines-upon-Thames, Ascot and Windsor for shopping. The towns of Egham, Englefield Green and Old Windsor are nearby. Holloway Sanatorium, an asylum for the mentally ill, where the writer Bill Bryson worked upon first settling in England was located near to the village but closed in the 1980s and was converted to private accommodation.

Gallery

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  Virginia Water

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  Thomas Sandby's cascade at Virginia Water

External links

Media related to Virginia Water at Wikimedia Commons