Riverside north bank west of the Tower. Bray Studios
Riverside north bank west of the Tower. Bray Studios
This post describes sites south of the river only. North of the river is Dorney Riverside
Post to the east Dedworth The Willows and Boveney
Post to the north Dornay Lake
Down Place
Down Place. Bray Studios was centred around Down Place which is a country house built in the early 18th and said to be on the site of a Roman town. This is a large house beside the river Thames, now offices for film studios. The building is in brick, with painted render and with battlemented parapets. The front has a battlemented parapet semicircular portico with fluted columns.
Clock Tower House. Toad Hall. This was a Chapel or stables belonging to Down Place. It is an 18th building with a battlemented parapet. It also has a octagonal clock tower with an 18th clock and a weather vane
Bray Studios. In 1951, when it was derelict Hammer Film Productions moved in and a year later decided to build a studio here. . Hammer sold the studios in 1970 and it became a centre for specials effects teams and for pre-production rehearsals by music groups. In 2013 they were sold to a property developer ad being no longer viable. In 2015, it was announced that Down Place itself would be restored for posh flats and the rest demolished for seven “bespoke eco-houses”.
Maidenhead Road
Bullocks Hatch Bridge. This appears to be where a stream crosses the Maidenhead Road. ‘Bullocks Hatch’ may referee to the group of houses now known as ‘The Hatch’.
Eton Excelsior Rowing Club. The club was founded in 1826 and formally established in 1851. The club is open to all and affiliated to British Rowing. The club’s original boat house King Stable Street and leased from Eton College who and in the mid 1990's, decided to build flats on the site. Eventually the Club managed to find and buy the current site funded by the lottery.Construction was completed in 2001
Windsor Road
Oakley Court Hotel. Oakley Court is a castellated and turreted gothic mansion built in 1857 for Richard Hall-Say. altered in the late 20th by Nellist, Blundell and Flint. It has a castellated tower, several chimneys with offset heads and ornamental terracotta pots. There are stair turrets; crow stepped gables with pinnacles and finials, surmounted by heraldic beasts. There are two wings and near the centre of the service wing is a clock tower, a clock face, a spirelet with gables and a weathervane. Inside is more of the same. In the Second World War, it was the home of the Turkish Consul in Monte Carlo and General De Gaulle was a frequent visitor. In 1965 the owner died and it began to used as a location for Bray productions and Hammer Films - 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' Castle, St. Trinian’s School, and Dracula’s Castle. It is now a hotel and conference centre.
Oakley Green Cemetery. This is a new cemetery on the outskirts of Windsor which opened in 1998. It is a lawn cemetery with inter-denominational plots and specific religions. There is a garden of remembrance and a columbarium. Graves are turfed over and maintained as lawn and there is a small chapel
Oakley Court Golf Course
Sources
A b i r architects. Web site
Bray Studios. Derelict Places. Web site
British Listed Buildings. Web site
Eton Excelsior Rowing Club. Web site
Windsor and Maidenhead Council. Web site
This post describes sites south of the river only. North of the river is Dorney Riverside
Post to the east Dedworth The Willows and Boveney
Post to the north Dornay Lake
Down Place
Down Place. Bray Studios was centred around Down Place which is a country house built in the early 18th and said to be on the site of a Roman town. This is a large house beside the river Thames, now offices for film studios. The building is in brick, with painted render and with battlemented parapets. The front has a battlemented parapet semicircular portico with fluted columns.
Clock Tower House. Toad Hall. This was a Chapel or stables belonging to Down Place. It is an 18th building with a battlemented parapet. It also has a octagonal clock tower with an 18th clock and a weather vane
Bray Studios. In 1951, when it was derelict Hammer Film Productions moved in and a year later decided to build a studio here. . Hammer sold the studios in 1970 and it became a centre for specials effects teams and for pre-production rehearsals by music groups. In 2013 they were sold to a property developer ad being no longer viable. In 2015, it was announced that Down Place itself would be restored for posh flats and the rest demolished for seven “bespoke eco-houses”.
Maidenhead Road
Bullocks Hatch Bridge. This appears to be where a stream crosses the Maidenhead Road. ‘Bullocks Hatch’ may referee to the group of houses now known as ‘The Hatch’.
Eton Excelsior Rowing Club. The club was founded in 1826 and formally established in 1851. The club is open to all and affiliated to British Rowing. The club’s original boat house King Stable Street and leased from Eton College who and in the mid 1990's, decided to build flats on the site. Eventually the Club managed to find and buy the current site funded by the lottery.Construction was completed in 2001
Windsor Road
Oakley Court Hotel. Oakley Court is a castellated and turreted gothic mansion built in 1857 for Richard Hall-Say. altered in the late 20th by Nellist, Blundell and Flint. It has a castellated tower, several chimneys with offset heads and ornamental terracotta pots. There are stair turrets; crow stepped gables with pinnacles and finials, surmounted by heraldic beasts. There are two wings and near the centre of the service wing is a clock tower, a clock face, a spirelet with gables and a weathervane. Inside is more of the same. In the Second World War, it was the home of the Turkish Consul in Monte Carlo and General De Gaulle was a frequent visitor. In 1965 the owner died and it began to used as a location for Bray productions and Hammer Films - 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' Castle, St. Trinian’s School, and Dracula’s Castle. It is now a hotel and conference centre.
Oakley Green Cemetery. This is a new cemetery on the outskirts of Windsor which opened in 1998. It is a lawn cemetery with inter-denominational plots and specific religions. There is a garden of remembrance and a columbarium. Graves are turfed over and maintained as lawn and there is a small chapel
Oakley Court Golf Course
Sources
A b i r architects. Web site
Bray Studios. Derelict Places. Web site
British Listed Buildings. Web site
Eton Excelsior Rowing Club. Web site
Windsor and Maidenhead Council. Web site
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