Virginia Water#Stroude

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

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.{{cite journal |title=Boudicca Revisited |last1=Fuentes |first1=Nicholas |journal=London Archaeologist |volume=4 |number=12 |pages=311–317 |year=1983}}

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. 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.

Christ Church, in the Church of England was completed in 1838 and established as a parish the same year.'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

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.{{NHLE|num=1001177|desc=THE ROYAL ESTATE, WINDSOR: VIRGINIA WATER (INCLUDING FORT BELVEDERE AND THE CLOCKCASE), Grade I park and garden listing}} It is three-storey Gothic style construction. George III made it into an observatory and Queen Victoria occasionally had tea there. 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.

File:Virginia Park - geograph.org.uk - 134487.jpg

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.{{cite web |last1=Atkins |first1=David |title=Surrey's former asylums and mental hospitals and what they are now |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/surreys-former-asylums-mental-hospitals-18653920 |website=SurreyLive |access-date=11 February 2023 |language=en |date=2 August 2020}} 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.{{cite news |last1=Compton |first1=Nick |title=Welcome to 'Fortress London' |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/welcome-to-fortress-london-6308432.html |access-date=11 February 2023 |work=Evening Standard |date=5 April 2012 |language=en}} Octagon produced 23 residences in the main building and built 190 new houses and apartments on the grounds.{{cite news |last1=Saltmarsh |first1=Abigail |title=In England, a Victorian Town House |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/greathomesanddestinations/12GH-england.html |access-date=11 February 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=11 August 2009}} Properties are expensive and typically reach beyond the £1 million mark.

The main building is Grade I listed, the highest category of recognition and protection.{{NHLE|num=1189632|desc=Building at Virginia Park, former Sir T. Holloway Sanatorium}} The sanatorium chapel is Grade II* listed, meaning in a constrained mid-tier of the statutory scheme.{{NHLE|num=1119659|desc=Chapel at Virginia Park, former Sir T. Holloway Sanatorium}} The gated estate includes a spa, gymnasium, multi-purpose sports hall, and all-weather tennis court.

{{main article|Wentworth Estate}}

File:Wentworth Estate - geograph.org.uk - 140278.jpg

{{convert|1750|km2}} 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".{{cite news |last1=Anthony |first1=Andrew |title='The haves and have-yachts': on the trail of London's super-rich |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/may/22/london-super-rich-serious-money-caroline-knowles |access-date=11 February 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=22 May 2022}} Famous residents have included Elton John, Bruce Forsyth, Diana Dors and various professional golfers. Properties on the estate are regarded as "super prime" and have sold for as much as £50 million.

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

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

https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/query/asv2htm.aspx Key Statistic KS401EW - Dwellings, household spaces and accommodation type by postcode district

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.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/money/the-uks-first-million-pound-towns-outside-of-london-a6707366.html|title=The UK's first 'million pound towns' outside of London|author=Olivia Blair|date=26 October 2015|work=The Independent|access-date=17 September 2017|archive-date=20 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820134810/http://www.independent.co.uk/money/the-uks-first-million-pound-towns-outside-of-london-a6707366.html|url-status=live}}

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.

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. 16{{abbreviation|s|shillings (one 20th of a pound)}} 7{{abbreviation|d|denarii, pence (one 12th of a shilling)}}. In 2020, due to loss of intake, Surrey County Council set underway closure, moving attendees to consolidated Englefield Green Infant School by 2023.{{Cite web |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/virginia-water-infant-school-forced-19263767 |title=Virginia Water infant school to close as its no longer financially viable - Surrey Live |date=11 November 2020 |access-date=13 January 2021 |archive-date=14 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114193757/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/virginia-water-infant-school-forced-19263767 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.christ-church-infant.surrey.sch.uk/school-history/ |title=School History – Christ Church Infant School |access-date=13 January 2021 |archive-date=21 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221025318/http://www.christ-church-infant.surrey.sch.uk/school-history/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/christchurchinfantcofeschoolsos |title=Archived copy |website=Facebook |access-date=13 January 2021 |archive-date=22 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122230713/https://www.facebook.com/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fchristchurchinfantcofeschoolsos |url-status=live }}

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).

Invicta Cars of Virginia Water Surrey were based in the village between 1946 and 1950Display Advertisement: Invicta. The Times, Friday, 11 Jul 1947; pg. 7; Issue 50810

{{more citations needed|section|date=October 2018}}

{{hatnote|The main career is stated, regardless if the person is or was retired from the career}}

• Susie Amy - actress{{cite web|url=https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/people/celebrity-interviews/susie-amy-in-fatal-attraction-at-richmond-theatre-8762052|title=Exclusive interview: Susie Amy on her starring role in Fatal Attraction|work=Great British Life|date=16 March 2022 |access-date=21 March 2022}}
• Petr Aven - Russian oligarch, banker and art collector, sanctioned during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, owner of Ingliston House in the Wentworth Estate{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/02/oligarchs-under-eu-and-us-sanctions-linked-to-pounds-200m-uk-property-ukraine-invasion|title=Oligarchs under EU and US sanctions linked to £200m in UK property|website=TheGuardian.com |access-date=3 February 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/14/tate-galleries-billionaires-ukraine-invasion-us-eu|title=Oligarchs under EU and US sanctions linked to £200m in UK property|work=The Guardian|date=14 March 2022 |access-date=16 March 2022}}
• 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,{{cite web|url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/2022-01-17-uk-kleptocracy-problem-heathershaw-mayne-et-al.pdf|title=The UK's kleptocracy problem: How servicing post-Soviet elites weakens the rule of law|work=Russia and Eurasia Programme|access-date=20 January 2022|archive-date=18 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118102430/https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/2022-01-17-uk-kleptocracy-problem-heathershaw-mayne-et-al.pdf|url-status=dead}} arrested in Kazakhstan on suspicion of embezzling state funds{{cite web|url=https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/76926/|title=Kazakh tycoon Boranbayev arrested in Kazakhstan|work=interfax|access-date=4 May 2022}}
• Bill Bryson - writer, resident in the early 1980s{{cite journal|url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v07/n03/roy-harris/mizzled|title=Mizzled|journal=London Review of Books |date=21 February 1985 |volume=07 |issue=3 |access-date=3 February 2022|last1=Harris |first1=Roy }}Notes From A Small Island: Journey Through Britain: p88
• 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{{NHLE|num=1028903|desc=tomb of Ramón Cabrera, 1st Duke of Maestrazgo and of the Duchess}}
• Gilbert Cannan - novelist and dramatist, long-term resident of Holloway Sanatorium, where he died of cancer on 30 June 1955{{cite web|url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ARTcannanG.htm |title=Gilbert Cannan : Biography |accessdate=2012-03-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718200050/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ARTcannanG.htm |archivedate=18 July 2012}}
• Joseph Coyne - American-born vaudevillian and musical comedy actor"Deaths", The Times, 28 February 1942, p. 6
• Ron Dennis - executive and investor, founder of the McLaren Group{{cite web|url=http://www.theweek.co.uk/uk-news/53873/virginia-water-house-prices-bruce-forsyth|title=Virginia Water: the village where houses cost £1m and up|work=The Week|access-date=11 May 2018|archive-date=12 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180512112310/http://www.theweek.co.uk/uk-news/53873/virginia-water-house-prices-bruce-forsyth|url-status=live}}
• 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{{Cite web |url=https://www.schreibfrauen.at/joan-adeney-easdale/ |title=Joan Adeney Easdale |website=Helga Kaschl: Frauen in Virginia Woolfs Hogarth Press 1917-1941 |accessdate=29 December 2018 |archive-date=25 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625213839/https://www.schreibfrauen.at/joan-adeney-easdale/ |url-status=dead }}
• Sir Nick Faldo - golfer
• Percy Fletcher - composer of classical music and musical director at London theatres.,[https://www.jstor.org/stable/919533 Obituary, The Musical Times, Vol. 73, No. 1076 (October 1932), p. 944] resident of Holloway Sanatorium[http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2012/Aug12/Fletcher_organ_v7_DRD0260.htm 'Fletcher: Music for Organ'], reviewed by MusicWeb International
• 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"{{cite news |title=Virginia Water in the 1960s|work=Runnymede (North Edition) | publisher=community-life.co.uk |page=10-11 |date=September 2023|author=James Wyatt }}
• Sir Bruce Forsyth - television presenter, some years until his death in 2017{{cite news|title=BRUCE FORSYTH ENTERPRISES LIMITED|work=Companies House|url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00660307/officers|date=4 April 2022}}
• Kirsty Gallacher - television presenter{{cite news|title=Sky Sports presenter Kirsty Gallacher from Virginia Water, Berkshire, admits to drink-driving on way to Windsor Castle|work=Slough & South Bucks Observer|url=https://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/15513554.sky-sports-presenter-kirsty-gallacher-from-virginia-water-berkshire-admits-to-drink-driving-on-way-to-windsor-castle/|date=4 September 2017}}
• Wilfrid Wilson Gibson - Georgian poet, associated with World War I died in the village on 26 May 1962{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKNK1YwHcQ4C&pg=PA461 | title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature| year=1995| publisher=Merriam-Webster| isbn=9780877790426}}
• Marina Granovskaia - Russian-Canadian business executive, director of Chelsea F.C.{{cite news|title=Frank Lampard wanted to be judged the same as any other manager at Chelsea – and now he has been|work=inews|url=https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/frank-lampard-sacked-chelsea-manager-premier-league-roman-abramovich-points-per-game-816276|date=4 May 2022}}
• Naseem Hamed - boxer{{cite news|title=Naseem Hamed: Prince returns to give the kiss of life|work=independent newspaper|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/naseem-hamed-prince-returns-to-give-the-kiss-of-life-2145757.html|date=28 November 2010}}
• Robert Haslam, Baron Haslam - life peer, industrialist and chairman of the British Steel Corporation and British Coal{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/lord-haslam-604050.html|title=Lord Haslam|accessdate=2009-02-02|publisher=The Independent|date=2002-11-12|author=Nicholas Faith|work=Obituary}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/77393 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]
• Ted Heath - band leader, died there 1969.
• Joan M. Hussey - British Byzantine scholar and historian[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-joan-hussey-470211.html Obituary by Julian Chrysostomides, The Independent, 17 March 2006, accessed 31 May 2012]
• 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{{cite news|title=The jet set enclave of Virginia Water|work=The Times|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/the-jet-set-enclave-of-virginia-water-zbczwgh3v6s|date=14 October 2011}}
• 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"{{cite news|title=Gulnara Karimova: How Uzbek president's daughter built a £200m property empire|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-64915348|date=13 March 2023}} Resident of the Wentworth estate
• 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{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-61080536|title=Sanctioned Russian oligarchs linked to £800m worth of UK property|work=BBC News|date=16 April 2022 |access-date=20 April 2022}}
• Arvid Lindblad - British racecar driver{{Cite web |date=19 February 2024 |title=How Red Bull's next British star earned a fast-track to F3 |url=https://www.autosport.com/fia-f3/news/how-red-bulls-next-british-star-earned-a-fast-track-to-f3/10576860/ |access-date=9 September 2024 |website=Autosport}}
• Wilnelia Merced - model and Miss World 1975{{cite news|title=BRUCE FORSYTH ENTERPRISES LIMITED|work=Companies House|url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/0QwIFs8imbGXbLFbPjFBqNbv910/appointments|date=13 January 2023}} Lady Forsyth, widow of Sir Bruce Forsyth.
• Reginald Munn - British Indian Army officer and English cricketer{{cite news |title=Deaths |work=The Times |page=1 |date=15 April 1947 }}
• 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{{cite news |title=Virginia Water in the 1960s|work=Runnymede (North Edition) | publisher=community-life.co.uk |page=10-11 |date=September 2023|author=James Wyatt }}
• Vaslav Nijinsky - ballet dancer and choreographer, from 1947 for three years (until his death){{cite news|title=From the archives: An obituary of Vaslav Nijinsky|work=The Guardian|date=10 April 1950}}
• Paul O'Grady - moved to Virginia Water at age 17, to work at the Wheatsheaf Hotel{{cite book |title=At My Mother's Knee ... and Other Low Joints |last=O'Grady |first=Paul |year=2008 |publisher=Bantam Press |location=London |isbn=978-0-593-05925-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780593059883|pages=251–270}}
• Alexander Perepilichny - Russian businessman and whistleblower{{Cite web|url=https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/13-June-2017-Transcript-day-six.pdf|title =Inquest into the death of Alexander Perepilichny day 7| website=judiciary.uk |date =}}
• Kevin Pietersen - cricketer
• Augusto Pinochet - dictator of Chile, lived in exile at Everglades in the Wentworth Estate{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/mar/02/wentworth-golf-club-reignwood-yan-bin|title = The rich v the very, very rich: The rebellion at Wentworth golf club| website=TheGuardian.com |date = 2 March 2021}}{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/225567.stm|title=BBC News | World | Pinochet retreats to luxury estate|website=news.bbc.co.uk}} died 2006 in Chile.
• Prajadhipok - King Rama VII of Siam, died in the village in 1941{{cite news|title=UK mansion once occupied by Rama VII for sale|work=Bangkok Post|url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2619946/uk-mansion-once-occupied-by-rama-vii-for-sale?v=0434|date=29 July 2023}}
• Cliff Richard - singer songwriter{{cite news|title=Sir Cliff Richard on why he'll always love Surrey, 50 years in show business and staying in shape|work=Great British Life|url=https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/people/celebrity-interviews/sir-cliff-richard-on-why-he-ll-always-love-surrey-7090456|date=4 April 2022}}{{cite news|title=Sir Cliff Richard fails in conservatory appeal|work=Surrey Live|url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/sir-cliff-richard-fails-conservatory-4821417|date=4 April 2022}}
• Andriy Shevchenko - Ukrainian footballer{{cite news|title=Ex-Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko says he'll take refugee children from Ukraine into his Surrey home|work=SurreyLive|url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/ex-chelsea-striker-andriy-shevchenko-23390767|date=15 March 2022}}
• 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{{Cite news |title=An English Estate Asks $40 Million |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/an-english-estate-asks-40-million-1511973217 |access-date=2023-04-18 |work=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |publication-date=November 29, 2017}}
• Joe Wicks - celebrity fitness coach lived in village as a child{{cite news|title=Fitness guru Joe Wicks 'blown away' after collecting MBE at Windsor Castle|work=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/joe-wicks-mbe-windsor-castle-princess-royal-india-b2047551.html|date=4 April 2022}}

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{{Commons category-inline|Virginia Water}}

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Category:Borough of Runnymede

Category:Windsor Great Park