Virginia Water, Surrey

Virginia Water is a lake that covers about 160 acres of the south-eastern corner of Windsor Great Park on the border between Berkshire and Surrey, England. The neighbouring district that takes its name from the lake is wholly within Surrey.

The lake is an artificial creation that was the brainchild of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, the youngest son of King George II. In 1745 the Duke won fame as the victorious general at the Battle of Culloden and earned the nicknames of Sweet William and Butcher Cumberland, depending on whether you were English or Scottish.

However, he retired from active military life after having thus ended the threat of the Jacobite uprising and concentrated on more leisurely pursuits, which included the damming of a stream in Windsor Great Park to create the lake. The duke had a mansion (Cumberland House) within the Great Park, which is next to Windsor Castle, itself a royal residence.

But why the name Virginia? The answer is that the Duke had formerly been the governor of the American colony of Virginia, so the Water was a reminder of his previous life. Given that the colony was itself named after the “Virgin Queen”, Elizabeth I, it was perhaps fitting that the name returned to the royal territory from where it had started!