Immediately surrounding towns and villages include Bagshot, Deepcut, Windlesham, Camberley, and West End, Woking.

In modern times, Lightwater grew as a place with holiday homes in a chalet style for people living in London.

Since 1960 it has grown rapidly, with housing estates proliferating in the area just north of Red Road and the military ranges around Greyspot.

The town has full medical facilities, a library, pub, a post office, a range of shops and a petrol station.

This reflects the fact that Bagshot used to be a more important town as a staging post on journeys from London to Southampton and the West Country.