In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Virginia Water like this:
VIRGINIA-WATER, a chapelry in Egham parish, Surrey; on the London, Wokingham, and Reading railway, 4 miles WSW of Staines. It was constituted in 1839; and it has a post-office under Staines, a r. station, and an inn. Pop., 877. Houses, 182. Virginia-Water lake here lies in the S of Windsor forest; is the largest artificial sheet of water in England; was formed at great expense, in marshy grounds, for William, Duke of Cumberland, after 1746; sends off its superfluence by a stream making a cascade; and has a Chinese fishing temple, a hermitage, a turretted triangular building called the Belvidere, and a miniature frigate. ...
The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Winchester. Value, not reported.* Patrons, Three Trustees. The church is modern.
Virginia Water through time
Virginia Water is now part of Runnymede district. Click here for graphs and data of how Runnymede has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Virginia Water itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Virginia Water, in Runnymede and Surrey | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/21700
Date accessed: 25th April 2024
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