Overview of Lightwater

Lightwater is a village in the Surrey Heath district of Surrey, England, about 27 miles (43 km) south-west of London. Immediately surrounding towns and villages include Bagshot, Deepcut, Windlesham, Camberley, and West End, Woking. It is bounded to the north-west by the M3 motorway and to the north-east by the Lightwater bypass. To the south-east it is bounded by the Red Road, while to the south-west there are vehicle-testing tracks owned by the Ministry of Defence. Prior to development, the natural vegetation was part of the Surrey heathland as seen in Bagshot and Chobham Common. The region has been inhabited since pre-historic times with tumuli in the heathland to the south of the village. 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 village has full medical facilities and veterinary surgery, a library, pubs, a post office, a bank, a range of shops, and a petrol station. Despite Lightwater being larger in size, the nearest railway station is at Bagshot. 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. Lightwater has grown in size as a dormitory settlement in recent times. In the adjacent 1890s map of the area, Bagshot is a notable town while Lightwater is noted as just a farm.