Virginia Water (lake)

History

The lake's site originally held a stream, present from at least the 17th century, possibly named after Elizabeth I. In 1746 William, Duke of Cumberland, then Ranger of the Park, began the lake's construction using his own regiment, the 23rd Regiment of Foot. The lake was created in 1753 by damming Virginia Brook, overseen by Henry Flitcroft, who had been employed for this purpose by Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, in 1749. A new single-arch wooden 'Great Bridge' designed by Flitcroft was built to the west when the lake formed.

The original lake was much smaller than the current form; in 1768 a great flood destroyed the dam maintaining the water level, damaging but not sweeping away the Great Bridge. The lake was significantly expanded in the 1780s after earlier flood damage, and for a time was said to be the largest sheet of artificial water in the kingdom. Earlier, a moated manor house built in 1244–46 by Henry III as a royal hunting lodge stood north of Virginia Brook, its parkland forming the nucleus of Windsor Great Park.

The manor included a chapel with a collegiate chantry established by Edward II, and by 1406 the complex, renovated by Richard II in the 1390s, was known as 'the Manor in Windsor Park', containing three chapels. The building appears on Norden's map of 1607 but no trace remains today; the quadrangular moat partially survives, with north and west arms forming part of a scheduled monument, while south and east sections were destroyed by the lake's creation.

Did You Know?

• The lake was used for lakeside scenes in the Harry Potter films because the Scottish alternative had too many midges.
• It was used for scenes in the 2014 film Into the Woods.
• The park features in a pivotal chapter of Barbara Pym's 1978 novel The Sweet Dove Died.