Riverside House, Blackwater, Camberley - 01276 33155 info@tbic.org.uk

Recent excavations have shown that settlements 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, and iron smelting appears to have been a major 'industry' in the locality. Bagshot at one time included a Royal forest. It had a Royal hunting lodge certainly through Stuart and Tudor times, now called Bagshot Park, which 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 South West Road, now classified as the A30). As with many villages on main coaching routes, Bagshot developed services, inns for the stagecoach passengers, and stables to provide the coaches with fresh horses.

The prosperity of the Great South West Road created its share of highwaymen, one of the most notorious being William Davis, a local farmer who lived near what is known locally as the Jolly Farmer roundabout in Camberley. He was eventually caught at the White Hart Inn in Bagshot and later was hanged[citation needed] at the gallows in Gibbets Lane in Camberley. Not one to avoid suspicion he always paid his debts in gold! It was after him that the pub was called the Golden Farmer. The Golden Farmer (now Jolly Farmer), was eventually sold to American Golf Discount Store, who still use the old building. Burger King had plans to build a fast food restaurant there but has since been cancelled as the roundabout was considered too dangerous and was near Collingwood School.

Much of the surrounding land is owned by the Ministry of Defence. The area is in the Green Belt that surrounds London.

Pennyhill Park Hotel located at the far western edge of Bagshot is where the England rugby team train. Bagshot Park, home of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex is located on the northern edge of the town. The A30 leaving Bagshot to the southwest for Camberley has a large roundabout on it called the Jolly Farmer after a public house that used to stand in its centre, now used as a Golfing Store.