Local Information

A little bit about Virginia Water

Virginia Water is a large 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, all in England.

The village takes its name from the lake which is 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.

Virginia Water village has an adult population of 4,814. The village’s residents are more elderly and substantially more wealthy, on average, than the nation as a whole, making it one of the wealthiest locations in England.

Many of the village’s houses are large detached homes situated on the private Wentworth Estate close to the famous Wentworth Club which has four golf courses. Wentworth is also home to the headquarters of the PGA European Tour, the world’s second-richest professional golf tour (after the USA’s PGA TOUR).

The estate hit the headlines in 1998 when General Augusto Pinochet was kept under house arrest in one of its houses prior to his extradition.

The village also has a 4 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 supports two rows of shops, although many inhabitants travel to the nearby towns of Staines, Ascot and Windsor for shopping. The towns of Egham, Englefield Green and Old Windsor are also nearby.