Egham (/ˈɛɡəm/ EG-əm) is a town in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately 19 miles (31 km) west of central London.

Under the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the early 16th Century, the major, formerly ecclesiastical, manorial freehold interests in the town and various market revenues passed to the Crown.

[3] Egham station was opened in 1856 on the line from Waterloo to Reading and services are operated today by South Western Railway.

The campus of Royal Holloway, University of London is 1 mile (2 km) to the west of Egham town centre, close to Englefield Green.

It was held by Chertsey Abbey and kept by that institution after the conquest when its assets were: 15 hides; 12 ploughlands, 120 acres (49 hectares) of meadow, together with woodland, 'herbage and pannage' worth 75 hogs.

[7] In the medieval period it was divided into four roughly equal tythings: The manor of Egham, which includes Runnymede, belonged formerly and in 1215 to Chertsey Abbey, and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries (around 1540) became the property of the Crown, though granted to various tenants (holders) at different times.

[8] Magna Carta was sealed at nearby Runnymede in 1215,[3] and is commemorated by a memorial, built in 1957 by the American Bar Association, at the foot of Cooper's Hill (a small rise adjacent to the Thames floodplain, immortalised in verse by poets including John Denham ("Cooper's Hill") and Alexander Pope ("Windsor Forest")).

A sculpture by artist David Parfitt portraying King John and Robert Fitzwalter in the act of sealing Magna Carta can be found in Church Road in the centre of town.

It has excellent views towards London, Windsor and the Surrey Hills, as well as being a place of quiet contemplation and reflection.

In 1836 the races were presided over by William IV, who gave a plate to be run for at the meeting, which coincided with festivities at Windsor for his daughter's marriage.

[8] Other than two forming the hub of today's Virginia Water (including Wentworth), the principal properties were 'Egham Manor and Park', 'Egham Wick',[9] 'Kenwolde Court', 'Markwood', 'Kingswood' and 'Alderhurst' for a time home of Lord Thring.

[11] Occasional flooding of Runnymede and parts of Egham Hythe have taken place following exceptional Thames Valley winter rainfall.

Egham is also home to CAB International Europe UK, which holds one of the world's largest collections of microorganisms and the HQ of Spectris PLC, a supplier of precision instrumentation and controls with 8900 employees worldwide.

This dates to 1913 and is in Vicarage Road, just south of the railway line and within the Thorpe Lea outlying neighbourhood of Egham.

Two bus routes connect the town and Royal Holloway to Staines-upon-Thames, Windsor and London Heathrow Airport.

[23] Expected to be completed in January 2022,[24] the project is being managed by ‘Places for People’ on behalf of Runnymede Borough Council.

It serves the Parish of St. Cuthbert which includes the Catholic Chaplaincy to the nearby Royal Holloway of the University of London.

On Sundays, it is usually standing room only, filled with local parishioners and students from Royal Holloway.

It provides entertainment, topical, and educational content aimed primarily at young people in the area, and works to develop relations between student and non-student residents of the town.