{"id":544,"date":"2025-04-13T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-13T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/?p=544"},"modified":"2025-04-13T08:04:33","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T08:04:33","slug":"inside-britains-poshest-village-with-15000000-mega-mansions-and-dog-ndas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/13\/inside-britains-poshest-village-with-15000000-mega-mansions-and-dog-ndas\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Britain\u2019s \u2018poshest village\u2019 with \u00a315,000,000 mega-mansions and\u00a0dog NDAs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"An\t<\/div>
A five-bedroom detached house for sale in Virginia Water, priced at \u00a36.75 million (Picture: Rightmove)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s no graffiti or litter in Virginia Water, darling. And a Wetherspoons?<\/a> No. How about The Wentworth Club instead?<\/p>\n

The Surrey village has been named<\/a> one of Britain’s poshest villages<\/a>, with the prestigious private member\u2019s club and golf course the jewel in its oh-so-glistening crown. <\/p>\n

House prices<\/a> in Virginia Water average a cool \u00a31.2million, with some on the Wentworth Estate \u2014 one of the most expensive<\/a> private residential areas in the country \u2014 reaching as much as \u00a315million. <\/p>\n

A local dog walker, who’s ‘not posh enough to live in Virginia Water!’ visits daily, but has barely met any of the residents who calls it home<\/a>.<\/p>\n

‘You have to stand outside for starters \u2014 and sign an NDA,’ the 46-year-old, who lives five minutes down the road, tells Metro<\/strong>. ‘It’s just the way it’s done around that area.<\/p>\n

‘I go through the gate, I pick up the dog, and often it’s the housekeeper that brings the dog out to me, not the person.’<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\tReady to start your homebuying journey?\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
\n

You can access completely fee-free mortgage advice with London & Country (L&C) Mortgages, a partner of Metro. Customers benefit from:<\/p>\n

\u2013 Award winning service from the UK\u2019s leading mortgage broker<\/p>\n

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\u2013 Access to 1000s of mortgage deals from across the market<\/p>\n

Unlike many mortgage brokers, L&C won’t charge you a fee for their advice.<\/p>\n

Find out how much you could borrow online<\/a><\/p>\n

Mortgage service provided by London & Country Mortgages (L&C), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (registered number: 143002). The FCA does not regulate most Buy to Let mortgages. Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Alas, most of us can only dream of such a life, but isn\u2019t it fun to be nosey? <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the lowdown on Virginia Water for beggarly bystanders and drooling day trippers alike. <\/p>\n

Where is Virginia Water?<\/h2>\n
\n
\n\t\t\"\"\t<\/div>
The perfect triangle with Ascot and Eton (Picture: Created with Datawrapper)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Located in the Borough of Runnymede, northern Surrey, <\/strong>the village itself is just about 25 miles southwest of central London. The village station takes you into Waterloo in under an hour, making Virginia Water a highly desirable spot for city workers who prefer a slower pace at weekends.<\/p>\n

Despite its fast connections, the area is surrounded by beautiful woodland and scenic trails, with Windsor Great Park, part of the royal estate, running into the village. <\/p>\n

Highlights include the two-mile long Virginia Water Lake and The Cascade – a 30ft (9.1m) high waterfall adored by locals and visitors.<\/p>\n

What makes it so posh?<\/h2>\n
\n
\n\t\t\"A\t<\/div>
It’s surrounded by beautiful countryside (Picture: Shutterstock \/ BBA Photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aside from the usual metrics of poshness (low crime rates, high value homes, Waitrose<\/a> and <\/em>an M&S<\/a> foodhall), Virginia Water boasts a number of luxury amenities that attract high-profile individuals.<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy<\/a> is often seen practising his swing at the aforementioned Wentworth Club, with royals including Olympic equestrian Zara Tindall <\/a>known to visit the iconic 1920s clubhouse.<\/p>\n

Famous faces including Elton John<\/a>, Gary Lineker <\/a>and Cliff Richard<\/a>, who are all known to have owned property in the area at some point.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kirsten Whittle, 54, from nearby Ascot, is the owner of Bowood Private Property Management and looks after high-end homes when residents in the village are out of the country.<\/p>\n

\u2018I deal with any sort of problems,\u2019 she tells Metro<\/strong>. \u2018I get the cleaners in and get the houses looking lovely so they don’t return to a cold house, basically, and it’s all beautiful when they arrive home.<\/p>\n

Her clients are ‘busy families, business people from all walks of life’.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"\"\t<\/div>
Kirsten Whittle helps look after the villages high-end homes (Picture: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

‘There’s another couple of properties that I look after that are tenanted as well, but it’s all prestigious and high end,’ she adds.<\/p>\n

Having lived in the area since childhood, does she think it\u2019s posh?<\/p>\n

\u2018That’s such a weird word, isn’t it?\u2019 she laughs. \u2018I think it’s always been a little pocket of people that have done well in their lives.\u2019<\/p>\n

Kirsten once passed King Charles<\/a> twice in one day while driving in the area, though he was just a humble Prince back then.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Wentworth\t<\/div>
Rory McIlroy is often seen practising his swing here (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ascot Racecourse is just 12 minutes away by (chauffeur-driven) car and you won\u2019t struggle to find a high-end restaurant, with Michelin starred Coworth Park nearby.<\/p>\n

Bargain hunters will have to make do without an Aldi<\/a>, and you can forget about Greggs<\/a> sausage rolls. On the plus side, the boutique shops and independent brunch stops do offer Instagram-worthy delights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Did we mention the schools?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Residents’ little darlings have a number of private schools to choose from, such as ACS International School and Bishopsgate School. <\/p>\n

Those not posh enough for you? Eton is less than 20 minutes away, you might have heard of it?<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it really like to live there?<\/h2>\n
\n
\n\t\t\"Five-arch\t<\/div>
The village has had mixed reviews (Picture: Shutterstock \/ BBA Photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Property manager Kirsten says: ‘I like it, because the majority of people have lived here for a very long time. There’s generations that have lived here, same as us. It’s very friendly, it’s very community. <\/p>\n

‘There’s a lot of homes behind private gates that you don’t see, but then they’re also sense of community around here as well, and established businesses.’<\/p>\n

But the dog walker, who needs to remain anonymous to protect her business, offers a more mixed review.<\/p>\n

‘It is a really beautiful area with all of the green spaces,’ says the 46-year-old, who’s lived in a (more affordable) neighbouring village for 14 years.<\/p>\n

‘And you know, most of the people that live in the more down to earth areas are very friendly. But I have read things on Facebook posts where people have been a bit disappointed about the lack of community in Virginia water. <\/p>\n

‘You’ve got a lot of very affluent people that just live in a big gated house. You don’t really see the people that live there.’ <\/p>\n

Do you have a story to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A five-bedroom detached house for sale in Virginia Water, priced at \u00a36.75 million (Picture: Rightmove) There\u2019s no graffiti or litter in Virginia Water, darling. And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":553,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544\/revisions\/553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.merlinscove.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}