Egham

Egham
High Street, Egham
Egham Location within Surrey
Area	2.64 km2 (1.02 sq mi)
Population	6,384 (2011 Census: Egham Town ward, see also Egham Hythe) or 25,996 as to Egham Built-up Area including Englefield Green[1][2]
• Density	2,418/km2 (6,260/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TQ008712
• London	19.3 miles (31.1 km)[3]
District	Runnymede
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	EGHAM
Postcode district	TW20
Post town	STAINES-UPON-THAMES
Postcode district	TW18
Dialling code	01784
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Runnymede and Weybridge
List of places UK England Surrey 51°25′44″N 0°32′53″W / 51.429°N 0.548°W / 51.429; -0.548

Egham (/ˈɛɡəm/ EG-əm) is a town in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately 19 miles (31 km) west of central London. First settled in the Bronze Age, the town was under the control of Chertsey Abbey for much of the Middle Ages. In 1215, Magna Carta was sealed by King John at Runnymede, to the north of Egham, having been chosen for its proximity to the King's residence at Windsor. 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.^[4]

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Egham became a stop on coaching routes between London and many places to the west. The importance of this shrank from the building of the Western and South Western Railways but was for many decades offset by the stark growth in the population of London and the country at large.^[4] Egham station was opened in 1856 on the line from Waterloo to Reading and services are operated today by South Western Railway. The town is west of the M25 motorway, accessible via junction 13.

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