Towns and Villages
 
Main Towns:
 

Runnymede’s three main towns are:

Addlestone - is the Borough’s youngest centre, having only grown into a town in the 19th century. It is now a busy commercial centre and home to Runnymede Borough Council. It has a history of aeronautical industry and has one of Surrey’s finest examples of industrial architecture in the former flour mills at Coxes Lock.

Chertsey - is a historic town which had a famous abbey dating from Saxon times. It is now a thriving modern business centre yet retains its historic character and has benefited from a recent enhancement scheme to the main thoroughfare, Guildford Street which included the laying of natural stone paving.

Egham - lies close to the historic Runnymede Meadow, site of the sealing of the Magna Carta in 1215. Several high specification modern office developments have been built in and around the town. It has an attractive pedestrianised centre shopping centre with a good range of retail outlets and many fine restaurants, pubs and cafes.

 

Other Centres

 

The Borough also contains a number of smaller villages and suburban centres including

Virginia Water – a leafy suburban centre in the north-west of the Borough with an attractive range of local shops and a railway station.

Thorpe – a historic village lying between Chertsey and Egham. The village centre is a conservation area with fine red brick walls giving it a distinctive character. It has a village shop and pub and away from the village is the Thorpe Industrial Estate, home to a variety of businesses.

Englefield Green – a large historic village to the north of the Borough with a good range of convenience and specialist shops as well as pubs and restaurants. The village boasts a large green popular for outdoor leisure.

Woodham and New Haw – an extensive suburban area to the south of the Borough. The main shopping area is The Broadway, New Haw which has a range of convenience and other shops.

Ottershaw – a village in the south-west of the Borough. Originally the area was part of Windsor Forest and later developed as a farming and nursery community. Today it retains its village atmosphere and has a convenient small shopping centre.

The Hythe – The oldest part of the Hythe is the small riverside settlement on the south bank of the Thames close to Staines Bridge. This contains a number of historic houses, and pubs/hotels. In more recent years the settlement of Hythe has been extended to the west and merges into the residential area of Pooley Green.

Lyne – Lyne is a fairly dispersed settlement near the centre of the Borough. It has a church.