History

"Recent excavations have shown that first occupants of Bagshot date back as far as pre-Roman, before these excavations it was thought that the earliest settlements in Bagshot were late Saxon. Late Bronze Age settlements have been identified in the area[citation needed], and iron smelting appears to have been a major 'industry' in the locality. Bagshot has had a Royal hunting lodge certainly through Stuart and Tudor times, now called Bagshot Park and is now the residence of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.

In Elizabethan times (late 16th century) Bagshot prospered due to its position on the main London to the West Country road (The Great West Road, now classified as the A30). As with many villages on main coaching routes inns developed to provide services to the stagecoach passengers, and stables to provide the coaches with fresh horses. The prosperity of the Great West Road created its share of highwaymen, one of the most notorious being William Davis, a local farmer who lived near what known local as the Jolly Farmer roundabout. He was eventually caught at the White Hart Inn in Bagshot and hanged[citation needed]. Not one to avoid suspicion he always paid his debts in gold! It was after him that the pub was called the Golden Farmer." from Wikipedia creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

The history links on this site are provided by www.bagshotvillage.org.uk which has a vast amount of information about the history of people and places in Bagshot.

There's some other sources of information online about Bagshot and it's history:

• Wikipedia's entry for Bagshot can be found at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagshot
• Wikipedia's entry for Bagshot Park can be found at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagshot_Park
• Surrey Heath Museum
• Francis Frith sells fascinating old photos and maps of Bagshot