Virginia Water

For the lake, see Virginia Water Lake.

Virginia Water
Aerial view of Virginia Water
Virginia Water Location within Surrey
Area	5.71 sq mi (14.8 km^2) (2011, Ward)[1]
Population	5,940 (2011, Ward)[1]
• Density	1,040/sq mi (400/km^2)
Protected areas	Metropolitan Green Belt, Thames Basin Heaths
OS grid reference	SU982679
District	Runnymede
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	VIRGINIA WATER
Postcode district	GU25
Dialling code	01344
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Windsor

Virginia Water is a commuter village in the Borough of Runnymede in northern Surrey, England. It is home to the Wentworth Estate and the Wentworth Club. The area has much woodland and occupies a large minority of the Runnymede district. Its name is shared with the lake on its western boundary within Windsor Great Park. Virginia Water has excellent transport links with London–Trumps Green and Thorpe Green touch the M3, Thorpe touches the M25, and Heathrow Airport is 7 miles (11 km) northeast.

Many of the detached houses are on the Wentworth Estate, the home of the Wentworth Club which has four golf courses.^[2] The Ryder Cup was first played there. It is also home to the headquarters of the PGA European Tour, the professional golf tour. One of the houses featured in a headline in 1998—General Augusto Pinochet was placed under house arrest having unsuccessfully resisted extradition, the facing of a criminal trial in Chile.^[3]

In 2011 approximately half of the homes of the postcode district, which is narrower than the current electoral ward, were detached houses. In 2015 Land Registry sales data evinced Virginia Water's single postcode district as the most expensive as to the value of homes nationwide.

Etymology

The village is named after the nearby artificial Virginia Water Lake, which forms part of Windsor Great Park.

History

The Devil's Highway Roman Road, running from London, through Staines-upon-Thames (previously Pontes) to Silchester is thought to run through Virginia Water. Some of the local course has been lost, disappearing at the bottom of Prune Hill, and reappearing at the Leptis Magna ruins in the Great Park.

Nicholas Fuentes has argued that defeat of Boudica's insurrection by the Romans in AD 60/61 took place at Virginia Water, with the landscape between Callow Hill and Knowle Hill matching the battle landscape described by Tacitus, and the battle commencing roughly where the railway station lies.^[4]

The area was for centuries similar to the Strode or (also written) Stroude tything, one of four divisions of the very large "ancient" parish of Egham. Egham the Domesday survey valued at £40 per annum.^[5] Egham was in the original endowment of Chertsey Abbey in 666–75. The manor was included in all subsequent confirmations of the abbey land, and was held until the surrender of the abbey in 1537, since which time all its vestigial rights remained with the Crown, which thus sold much land piecemeal and controlled who could build major developments for centuries.^[5]

Christ Church, in the Church of England was completed in 1838 and established as a parish the same year.^[5]

The Duke of Wellington's brother-in-law lived at the 'Wentworths' house; this building now forms the Wentworth Club. In 1850, the house was bought by Ramón Cabrera, 1st Duke of Maestrazgo, an exiled Carlist general. During the Second World War, plans were put into place to move the government to the house, with tunnels dug underneath what is now the club carpark.

To the east of the lake is the Clockcase tower, a Grade I listed, triangular belvedere built in the Great Park during 1750s.^[6] It is three-storey Gothic style construction.^[6] George III made it into an observatory and Queen Victoria occasionally had tea there.^[6] The building is inaccessible to the public, lying within a private part of the park. It is still owned by the Royal Estate and when listed in 1984 used as a residence.^[6]

Virginia Park

Entrance to Virginia Park

Virginia Park is a gated housing development occupying the site of the former Holloway Sanatorium, a mental asylum constructed in 1885 to the design of William Henry Crossland. This was a private institution where patients paid for their own treatment.^[7] In 1948, it was taken over by the newly established National Health Service, and closed in 1980.

After years of neglect, in 2000 the building and grounds were converted into private sector housing by a developer, Octagon.^[8] Octagon produced 23 residences in the main building and built 190 new houses and apartments on the grounds.^[9] Properties are expensive and typically reach beyond the £1 million mark.^[7]

The main building is Grade I listed, the highest category of recognition and protection.^[10] The sanatorium chapel is Grade II* listed, meaning in a constrained mid-tier of the statutory scheme.^[11] The gated estate includes a spa, gymnasium, multi-purpose sports hall, and all-weather tennis court.^[7]

Wentworth Estate

Main article: Wentworth Estate

A manicured street on the estate

1,750 square kilometres (680 sq mi) of Virginia Water is owned by a members' trustee body, known as the Wentworth Estate. Founded in the 1920s, this estate comprises private sector houses, luxury apartments, woodland, several golf courses and a leisure club. It also includes part of the River Bourne, Chertsey.

The estate, due to its high walls and electric gates, has been compared to a "fortified suburb" found more commonly in South Africa and a place "where money disappears from view".^[12] Famous residents have included Elton John, Bruce Forsyth, Diana Dors and various professional golfers.^[12] Properties on the estate are regarded as "super prime" and have sold for as much as £50 million.^[12]

Geography

Physical geography

The River Bourne runs from the artificial Virginia Water Lake through the long southern half of Virginia Water.

Housing and socio-economic geography

The 2011 census stated that the Virginia Water postcode district (post town) had the following dwellings, thus making up the relative proportions shown: ^[13]

Type	Number	Proportion
Whole house or bungalow: Detached	1,175	49.9%
Whole house or bungalow: Semi-detached	478	20.3%
Whole house or bungalow: Terraced (including end-terrace)	247	10.5%
Flat, maisonette or apartment: Purpose-built block of flats or tenement	346	14.7%
Flat, maisonette or apartment: Part of a converted or shared house (including bed-sits)	52	2.2%
Flat, maisonette or apartment: In a commercial building	33	1.4%
Caravan or other mobile or temporary structure	26	1.1%

Government data in terms of sales of homes from Autumn 2014 to 2015 showed Virginia Water to be the most expensive post town nationally (i.e. excluding any part of London). The recent averaged sold price for its homes was just over £1.1m.^[14]

Transport

The village has a junction railway station, built after the first line opened in 1856 to Ascot. Frequent South Western Railway trains run to London Waterloo, Weybridge, Twickenham, Richmond, Staines, Feltham, Clapham Junction, Vauxhall and Reading.

Education

Christ Church school was built by the National Society in 1843 on land given by Saint George Francis Caulfeild of The Wentworths. He attempted to bind the land with "all buildings thereon erected or to be erected to be forever hereafter appropriated and used as land for a School for the Education of Children and Adults or Children only of labouring manufacturing and other poorer classes". The school was built for £716. 16s 7d. In 2020, due to loss of intake, Surrey County Council set underway closure, moving attendees to consolidated Englefield Green Infant School by 2023.^[15][16][17]

St Ann's Heath Junior School is on Sandhills Lane.

Trumps Green Infant School is on Crown Road in the south of the ward and the postcode district (the only of post town in this case).

Industry

Invicta Cars of Virginia Water Surrey were based in the village between 1946 and 1950^[18]

Notable people

The main career is stated, regardless if the person is or was retired from the career

• Susie Amy - actress^[19]
• Petr Aven - Russian oligarch, banker and art collector, sanctioned during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, owner of Ingliston House in the Wentworth Estate^[20][21]
• Rambai Barni - wife and queen consort of King Prajadhipok of Siam, lived in Compton House between 1938 and 1940
• Qairat Boranbaev - Kazakhstani oligarch, senior football administrator in the Kazakhstan Premier League,^[22] arrested in Kazakhstan on suspicion of embezzling state funds^[23]
• Bill Bryson - writer, resident in the early 1980s^[24][25]
• Ramón Cabrera, 1st Duke of Maestrazgo - exiled Carlist Spanish general and owner of the Wentworth Estate; buried with widow in a Grade II listed tomb by the Anglican church, died 1877^[26]
• Gilbert Cannan - novelist and dramatist, long-term resident of Holloway Sanatorium, where he died of cancer on 30 June 1955^[27]
• Joseph Coyne - American-born vaudevillian and musical comedy actor^[28]
• Ron Dennis - executive and investor, founder of the McLaren Group^[29]
• Diana Dors - actress, some years, between other homes, until her death in 1984
• Joan Adeney Easdale - English Poet, resident of Holloway Sanatorium between 1954 and 1961^[30]
• Sir Nick Faldo - golfer
• Percy Fletcher - composer of classical music and musical director at London theatres.,^[31] resident of Holloway Sanatorium^[32]
• Bryan Forbes - film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor and novelist, until his death in 2013. Ran a loss making bookshop on Virginia Water parade as he thought "it was 'right' to have a bookshop in his local village"^[33]
• Sir Bruce Forsyth - television presenter, some years until his death in 2017^[34]
• Kirsty Gallacher - television presenter^[35]
• Wilfrid Wilson Gibson - Georgian poet, associated with World War I died in the village on 26 May 1962^[36]
• Marina Granovskaia - Russian-Canadian business executive, director of Chelsea F.C.^[37]
• Naseem Hamed - boxer^[38]
• Robert Haslam, Baron Haslam - life peer, industrialist and chairman of the British Steel Corporation and British Coal^[39][40]
• Ted Heath - band leader, died there 1969.
• Joan M. Hussey - British Byzantine scholar and historian^[41]
• Elton John - composer and music performer, some years until 2000.
• Eddie Jordan - racing driver, TV presenter and owner of the Jordan Grand Prix F1 racing team^[42]
• Gulnara Karimova - Uzbek kleptocrat and daughter of Islam Karimov, former-president of Uzbekistan. Acquired hundreds of millions of dollars through bribery, convicted by Uzbek court in "one of the largest bribery and corruption cases of all time"^[43] Resident of the Wentworth estate^[22]
• German Khan - Ukrainian oligarch, "a close associate of Vladimir Putin who has been involved in destabilising Ukraine", sanctioned during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine^[44]
• Arvid Lindblad - British racecar driver^[45]
• Wilnelia Merced - model and Miss World 1975^[46] Lady Forsyth, widow of Sir Bruce Forsyth.
• Reginald Munn - British Indian Army officer and English cricketer^[47]
• Bill Nankeville - runner, 1948 and 1952 [olympian|Olympic_Games], world record holder for 4x1500 metres and 4x1 mile. Ran the "Davro's" general store on the Virginia Water parade, named after his sons David and Robert. Father of Bobby Davro^[48]
• Vaslav Nijinsky - ballet dancer and choreographer, from 1947 for three years (until his death)^[49]
• Paul O'Grady - moved to Virginia Water at age 17, to work at the Wheatsheaf Hotel^[50]
• Alexander Perepilichny - Russian businessman and whistleblower^[51]
• Kevin Pietersen - cricketer
• Augusto Pinochet - dictator of Chile, lived in exile at Everglades in the Wentworth Estate^[52][53] died 2006 in Chile.
• Prajadhipok - King Rama VII of Siam, died in the village in 1941^[54]
• Cliff Richard - singer songwriter^[55][56]
• Andriy Shevchenko - Ukrainian footballer^[57]
• Stephen Sizer - Anglican vicar of the church 1997 to 2017, found guilty of anti-semitism and banned from the priesthood until 2030
• Chris Squire - bassist, died 2015 in Arizona
• Bernie Taupin - lyricist
• Jessica Taylor - singer, television personality and dancer who was a member of the pop group Liberty X
• John Hay Whitney - U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, and president of the Museum of Modern Art. Lived at Cherry Hill house on the Wentworth Estate^[58]
• Joe Wicks - celebrity fitness coach lived in village as a child^[59]

References

1. "Runnymede Ward population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
2. "Virginia Water community website - your source for local information". Archived from the original on 29 December 2003. Retrieved 13 January 2004.
3. "Pinochet retreats to luxury estate". BBC News. 2 December 1998. Archived from the original on 16 July 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2004.
4. Fuentes, Nicholas (1983). "Boudicca Revisited". London Archaeologist. 4 (12): 311–317.
5. 'Parishes: Egham', in A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3, ed. H E Malden (London, 1911), pp. 419–427. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol3/pp419-427
6. Historic England. "THE ROYAL ESTATE, WINDSOR: VIRGINIA WATER (INCLUDING FORT BELVEDERE AND THE CLOCKCASE), Grade I park and garden listing (1001177)". National Heritage List for England.
7. Atkins, David (2 August 2020). "Surrey's former asylums and mental hospitals and what they are now". SurreyLive. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
8. Compton, Nick (5 April 2012). "Welcome to 'Fortress London'". Evening Standard. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
9. Saltmarsh, Abigail (11 August 2009). "In England, a Victorian Town House". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
10. Historic England. "Building at Virginia Park, former Sir T. Holloway Sanatorium (1189632)". National Heritage List for England.
11. Historic England. "Chapel at Virginia Park, former Sir T. Holloway Sanatorium (1119659)". National Heritage List for England.
12. Anthony, Andrew (22 May 2022). "'The haves and have-yachts': on the trail of London's super-rich". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
13. https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/query/asv2htm.aspx Key Statistic KS401EW - Dwellings, household spaces and accommodation type by postcode district
14. Olivia Blair (26 October 2015). "The UK's first 'million pound towns' outside of London". The Independent. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
15. "Virginia Water infant school to close as its no longer financially viable - Surrey Live". 11 November 2020. Archived from the original on 14 January 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
16. "School History – Christ Church Infant School". Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
17. "Archived copy". Facebook. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
18. Display Advertisement: Invicta. The Times, Friday, 11 Jul 1947; pg. 7; Issue 50810
19. "Exclusive interview: Susie Amy on her starring role in Fatal Attraction". Great British Life. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
20. "Oligarchs under EU and US sanctions linked to £200m in UK property". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
21. "Oligarchs under EU and US sanctions linked to £200m in UK property". The Guardian. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
22. "The UK's kleptocracy problem: How servicing post-Soviet elites weakens the rule of law" (PDF). Russia and Eurasia Programme. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
23. "Kazakh tycoon Boranbayev arrested in Kazakhstan". interfax. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
24. Harris, Roy (21 February 1985). "Mizzled". London Review of Books. 07 (3). Retrieved 3 February 2022.
25. Notes From A Small Island: Journey Through Britain: p88
26. Historic England. "tomb of Ramón Cabrera, 1st Duke of Maestrazgo and of the Duchess (1028903)". National Heritage List for England.
27. "Gilbert Cannan : Biography". Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
28. "Deaths", The Times, 28 February 1942, p. 6
29. "Virginia Water: the village where houses cost £1m and up". The Week. Archived from the original on 12 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
30. "Joan Adeney Easdale". Helga Kaschl: Frauen in Virginia Woolfs Hogarth Press 1917-1941. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
31. Obituary, The Musical Times, Vol. 73, No. 1076 (October 1932), p. 944
32. 'Fletcher: Music for Organ', reviewed by MusicWeb International
33. James Wyatt (September 2023). "Virginia Water in the 1960s". Runnymede (North Edition). community-life.co.uk. p. 10-11.
34. "BRUCE FORSYTH ENTERPRISES LIMITED". Companies House. 4 April 2022.
35. "Sky Sports presenter Kirsty Gallacher from Virginia Water, Berkshire, admits to drink-driving on way to Windsor Castle". Slough & South Bucks Observer. 4 September 2017.
36. Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature. Merriam-Webster. 1995. ISBN 9780877790426.
37. "Frank Lampard wanted to be judged the same as any other manager at Chelsea – and now he has been". inews. 4 May 2022.
38. "Naseem Hamed: Prince returns to give the kiss of life". independent newspaper. 28 November 2010.
39. Nicholas Faith (12 November 2002). "Lord Haslam". Obituary. The Independent. Retrieved 2 February 2009.^{[dead link‍]}
40. Geoffrey Goodman, Haslam, Robert , Baron Haslam (1923–2002), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press, Jan 2006; online edn, Jan 2009, accessed 5 Feb 2012
41. Obituary by Julian Chrysostomides, The Independent, 17 March 2006, accessed 31 May 2012
42. "The jet set enclave of Virginia Water". The Times. 14 October 2011.
43. "Gulnara Karimova: How Uzbek president's daughter built a £200m property empire". BBC News. 13 March 2023.
44. "Sanctioned Russian oligarchs linked to £800m worth of UK property". BBC News. 16 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
45. "How Red Bull's next British star earned a fast-track to F3". Autosport. 19 February 2024. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
46. "BRUCE FORSYTH ENTERPRISES LIMITED". Companies House. 13 January 2023.
47. "Deaths". The Times. 15 April 1947. p. 1.
48. James Wyatt (September 2023). "Virginia Water in the 1960s". Runnymede (North Edition). community-life.co.uk. p. 10-11.
49. "From the archives: An obituary of Vaslav Nijinsky". The Guardian. 10 April 1950.
50. O'Grady, Paul (2008). At My Mother's Knee ... and Other Low Joints. London: Bantam Press. pp. 251–270. ISBN 978-0-593-05925-8.
51. "Inquest into the death of Alexander Perepilichny day 7" (PDF). judiciary.uk.
52. "The rich v the very, very rich: The rebellion at Wentworth golf club". TheGuardian.com. 2 March 2021.
53. "BBC News | World | Pinochet retreats to luxury estate". news.bbc.co.uk.
54. "UK mansion once occupied by Rama VII for sale". Bangkok Post. 29 July 2023.
55. "Sir Cliff Richard on why he'll always love Surrey, 50 years in show business and staying in shape". Great British Life. 4 April 2022.
56. "Sir Cliff Richard fails in conservatory appeal". Surrey Live. 4 April 2022.
57. "Ex-Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko says he'll take refugee children from Ukraine into his Surrey home". SurreyLive. 15 March 2022.
58. "An English Estate Asks $40 Million". Wall Street Journal. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
59. "Fitness guru Joe Wicks 'blown away' after collecting MBE at Windsor Castle". The Independent. 4 April 2022.

External links

Media related to Virginia Water at Wikimedia Commons