Behind the Glass: Post War

The Egham Museum tells the story of Egham, Egham Hythe, Englefield Green, Thorpe and Virginia Water from pre-history to the present day.

We’ve divided these stories into six sections.

Pre-Historic Egham
Medieval Egham
Georgian Egham
Victorian Egham
Egham at War
Post-War Egham

Our Behind the Glass series gives you a tour of the items in the cases, you can see them all together in our Museum Tour video below.

Post War Egham

Local Industry

Egham was a centre of small and medium scale industry in the twentieth century. Le Mans winning cars were produced by Lagonda, paints produced by the Paripan works, Petters specialised in high quality engines and Foster Wheeler produced components for the UK’s first nuclear powered submarine, H.M.S Dreadnought.

Lagonda

Founded in 1899 by the American expatriate Wilbur Gunn, Lagonda, named after his home town, was a pioneering motor car manufacturer and winner of the prestigious Le Mans 24 hour race in the 1930s. The factory was on the Causeway (now Sainsbury’s). In 1947, the company was taken over by David Brown, who had also bought Aston Martin, and the firms jointly operated from Feltham.

Stanley Engineering Co.

Stanley manufactured invalid vehicles under the Argson name at Egham from 1926 until 1954 when the business was acquired by Harper Engineering and production was moved to Exeter Airport.

Plaque (MC1216) marking the site of the Lagonda factory.

Dennis Service Agency sign board (MC677), Egham High Street.

Various local road signs (MC708, MC214 A- C, MC707, MC709)

Petters poster

Metal Sign (MC1090) Cyclist Touring Club, from The Coach & Horses Public House

Metal Sign (MC1091) ‘One and All’ Agricultural and Horticultural Association, London.

Albert Want sign (MC1382A)

Egham Hospital Sign (MC221)