Bed and breakfast availability
Egham b&b, guesthouse and hotel accommodation

Visit Egham and the surrounding villages and stay in bed & breakfast accommodation:

Egham, Surrey. A historic town skirted by the River Thames and the fields of Runnymede, scene of the signing of Magna Carta in 1215. A not particularly impressive looking town, it is, however, a rewarding one to visit and its setting is pleasant.

On the outskirts of the town stands Royal Holloway College, since 1890 part of London University. The building, constructed between 1879 and 1886, is modelled on the Château de Chambord in France. It is a huge and ornate structure in the form of a double quadrangle, measuring 550 ft in length with a breadth of 376 ft. Thomas Holloway. a Victorian businessman and philanthropist, built it as a college for women (men students were admitted in 1965) where they might study for degrees at any university, and which might one day confer its own. His ideas of accommodation - two rooms to each student -dictated the size of the building.

In the centre of the town is the Red Lion, a busy coaching inn during the 18^th and 19^th centuries with stabling for 70 horses: the inn has many relics of its past. Another former coaching inn is the Barley Mow at Englefield Green, more than 250 years old. About 1½ miles. on the road to Virginia Water is Great Fosters County Hotel, originally a Tudor manor house; restored to its original form, it has mullioned windows, some fine plasterwork ceilings and a handsome fireplace.

At Englefield Green, which, like several villages incorporated in Egham. retains something of its rustic atmosphere, was fought the last recorded fatal duel in England: in a field on Priest's Hill. between two exiled Frenchmen (1845). One of the duellisis. a man named Cournet, was fatally wounded and was carried to the Barley Mow Inn. where he died. lie is buried in Egham churchyard. The victor stood trial for murder but was freed.

The Parish Church of St John the Baptist was built in the 17^th century on the site of a Former Norman church. It contains a fine Georgian pulpit and some Georgian sculptures. There is also a Magna Carta corner which includes replicas of the Surety Barons' coats of arms.

Historic is St Mary's Church in Thorpe, another former village. The church was originally connected with the Benedictine abbey at Chertsey and still has evidence of its Norman origins, including the causeway connecting the church with the abbey (of which no truce remains) and a Norman chancel arch. The church is mainly Early English with a brick Tudor tower.

St Pauls Church. Thorpe Road. is another interesting old church with a modern font, the gift of the children of Egham: next door are the modern buildings of the Magna Carta County Secondary School.

Nearby airports: Heathrow

Nearby towns: Chertsey, Old Windsor, Stains, Weybridge, Windsor

Nearby villages: Addlestone, Colnbrook, Datchet, Dorney, Englefield Green, Eton, Eton Wick, Harlington, Laleham, Longcross, Oatlands Park, Ottershaw, Shepperton, Stanwell, Sunningdale, Sunninghill, Virginia Water, Water Oakley, West Bedfont, Windlesham

Have you decided to visit Egham or the surrounding villages? Please look above for somewhere to stay in:

• a Egham bed and breakfast (a Egham B&B or Egham b and b)
• a Egham guesthouse
• a Egham hotel (or motel)
• a Egham self-catering establishment, or
• other Egham accommodation