The place-name 'Bagshot' is first attested in the Pipe Rolls of 1165, where it appears as Bagsheta. It was the name of a wood, and may have meant 'Bacga's wood'. 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 Bagshot prospered due to its position on the main London to the West Country road. 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. Ann Nelson's "Exeter Telegraph" would stop for 20 minutes at Bagshot on its 17 hour journey to Devon. 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 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, was eventually sold to American Golf Discount Store, who still use the old building.
Bagshot has two multi-purpose sports fields and a cricket field. Curley Park Rangers, the youth football club, meet regularly and play on pitches in both Lightwater and Bagshot. The CPR clubhouse is located at the Bagshot pitch. White Hart Royals, the football team of the White Hart pub in Bagshot village, compete in the Camberley & District Sunday Football League. Bagshot Cricket Club runs a number of adult and under 16 teams and complete in the Thames Valley League, the Three Counties League and the West Surrey Youth League. Bagshot Tennis Club has four floodlit courts and fields teams in the Woking League. Swinley Forest, which borders Bagshot to the north, provides some of the best mountain biking in South-East England, with many off-road 'single-track' trails available as well as plenty of fire roads. Mountain biking is permitted with a permit and walking is free. Swinley Woods was considered as a venue for the mountain biking event of the 2012 Summer Olympics. Other clubs and organisations include Bagshot Concert Band, the Surrey Heath Archaeology and Heritage Trust, Bagshot Gymnastics Club, Camberley and Bagshot Metal Detecting Club and local branches of the Scouts, Royal Air Forces Association, Women's Institute and Camberley Rifle & Pistol Club. It is also a short distance from The National Clay Shooting Centre and the Bisley shooting ranges. Bagshot library is situated on the High Street and in addition to the usual library services provides Story and 'Rhymetimes' for the local toddler community. Lightwater Country Park is accessible by crossing the M3 footbridge.
Today
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. The local borough, Surrey Heath, is mainly a Conservative area and it has held a Conservative council for the past 50 years. Bagshot itself is, however, represented by two Liberal Democrat and one Conservative borough councillors. Bagshot is working on a Village Plan. The Bagshot Village Plan aims to pull together the people of Bagshot's collected hopes and concerns for the community and to set out a plan for making Bagshot an even better place to live and work.
