Englefield Green
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Englefield Green | |
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| Population | 7,500 |
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| OS grid reference | |
| District | Runnymede |
| Shire county | Surrey |
| Region | South East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Egham |
| Postcode district | TW20 |
| Dial code | 01784 |
| Police | Surrey |
| Fire | Surrey |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| UK Parliament | Runnymede & Weybridge |
| European Parliament | South East England |
| List of places: UK • England • Surrey | |
Englefield Green is a village of 7500 people in northern Surrey, England. It is near Royal Holloway, University of London, the south eastern corner of Windsor Great Park and the towns of Egham, Old Windsor and Virginia Water. The village was built up in the mid 19th century and was originally known as New Egham, for its proximity to the larger Egham village. More recent inter-war estates are found to the west of the village centre. The village has a number of schools and several churches of different Christian denominations.
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[edit] Air Forces Memorial
On the road towards the Brunel campus is the Air Forces Memorial which commemorates by name over 20,000 airmen and women who were lost in the Second World War during operations from bases in the United Kingdom and North and Western Europe, and who have no known graves. They served in Bomber, Fighter, Coastal, Transport, Flying Training and Maintenance Commands, and came from all parts of the Commonwealth. Some were from countries in continental Europe which had been overrun but whose airmen continued to fight in the ranks of the Royal Air Force. The names in their thousands are inscribed on panels in a courtyard; many are Canadian.
The memorial sits on a hill overlooking an historic part of the Thames Valley where Magna Carta, enshrining basic freedoms in English law, was signed in 1215. The memorial was designed by Sir Edward Maufe with sculpture by Vernon Hill. The engraved glass and painted ceilings were designed by John Hutton and the poem engraved on the gallery window was written by Paul H Scott. It overlooks the River Thames on Cooper's Hill at Englefield Green between Windsor and Egham on the A328 (Priest Hill), 4 miles from Windsor and is well signposted as 'Air Force Memorial'.
The Memorial commemorates by name, inscribed on stone panels, some 20,389 airmen and women (including those of 207 Squadron) lost on operations from UK & NW European bases during WWII; all have no known grave.
[edit] Brunel University Runnymede Campus
Just north of the village is the Runnymede campus of Brunel University. Today this is just Halls of residence for the Main campus at Uxbridge. At Runnymede, the halls of residence built in the Shoreditch College era (i.e before the merger with Uxbridge) were named after staff (Scrivens, Marshall, Bradley, Reed, Rowan). Existing buildings were named in the Royal Indian Engineering College era, such as President Hall (where the College president resided) and College Hall. These fine Victorian buildings were built by Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt, who had been Isambard Kingdom Brunel's architect for Paddington Station in London, and also for the famous Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge (now the Judge Institute). Corridors in President and College Halls were named after prominent British and Anglo-Indian figures, such as George Canning, Warren Hastings, Richard Wellesley and Charles Cornwallis.
Because of Runnymede's Brunel Design graduates' eminence in many new media and web industries in east London (particularly Shoreditch and Hoxton), the term "Shoreditch College" has sometimes become applied as a back-formation nickname for Brunel's Design school, perhaps independently of historical knowledge about the origins of the design school, but probably reinforced by the pre-existence of the name.
Most of the accommodation is currently occupied by students of the much closer Royal Holloway College, who also own the Kingswood campus in Englefield Green. The few Brunel students still living at Runnymede have an hourly bus service to take them to Uxbridge, while another bus service is provided by Royal Holloway to take its students to the main campus on Egham Hill.
[edit] Bishopsgate School
Bishopsgate school, a private school for boys and girls aged 3 to 13, is in Englefield Green. This school was formally known as Scaitcliffe School. The most notable alumnus is Richard Branson founder of Virgin.
[edit] Trivia
The last fatal duel in England took place on Priest Hill in 1852.
Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller spent their 1956 honeymoon in a hotel near Englefield Green, reportedly because of Marilyn's love of bikeriding in Windsor Great Park.
[edit] Famous people
Home to actor Luke Hamill who played Dean McVerry from ITV's The Bill. Hamill has been in a wheelchair since he was eighteen.
[edit] References
- Englefield Green in Pictures, by Graham Dennis (ISBN 0-9524194-0-8) Fernhurst Books (7 Nov 1994)
- Englefield Green Picture Book, by Graham Dennis (ISBN 0-9508234-6-5) Egham-by-Runnymede Historical Society (Nov 1992)
- Hamill interview
