Riverside, north bank, west of the Tower. Datchet

This posting relates to sites north of the river only. South of the river is Home Park bathing pond.

Post to the west Datchet Mead and Windsor sport and the castle
Post to the south Windsor Home Park Eastern Riverside and Datchet and Southlea

Buccleugh Road
Datchet Golf Course.  Golf had been played on Datchet Mead for years before the club was set up in 1890. Early on it had a close association with Eton College.

Eton Road
70 St.Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church, this first appears on maps as a chapel after the Great War
St Augustine school, this stood alongside the church and appears on maps in the 1930s and in the 1970s.  It does not appear to be there now.
Eton House. Care home within the grounds of St.Augustine’s Church
Eton End PNEU School, this is a private ‘Preparatory’ Day School taking children under eleven. The school dates from 1936 and was set up for Eton Masters’ children initially in Eton Vicarage under a Miss Johnstone.


High Street
Level crossing. A signal box here which controlled the crossing was removed in 1974 and the barriers became lifting ones controlled by Feltham
10c original meeting place of the Datchet Baptist Church


Horton Road
8 Public Library. Montague House. It was previously a working men’s club which had originally been given by Lord Montague in 1896l, hence renamed after him.


London Road
London Road was   was a narrow lane until 1768 when it was upgraded and widened by the Colnbrook Turnpike Trust as a direct route to the London-Bath road.
Garden wall of Datchet House borders the road for a significant visual distance and is dated to 1748.
Datchet House. The main section dates from the 1748 and the west service wing from the late 19th. There are some additions from the 1920s but use of the site can be traced back to the 1500s. It was built by the Needham family, Earls of Kilmorey and they continued to own it until the late 19th. . It was originally three storeys but the top floor was removed and the roof lowered by film star Laura la Plante in the early 1930s. During the Second World War it was a base for the Home Guard.
Gardeners’ Cottage, this is at the far end of the wall, by the Cricket Club’s entrance.
St Marys Church. The church is on an ancient site.  It is on the highest piece of ground locally and may have been a pre-Christian fortified settlement. There was probably a timber Saxon church rebuilt in stone by the 1200s. Nothing remains from the medieval church although some features of the church may be in the same position. It was largely rebuilt in 1857 although the vicar had hoped to completely demolish and start again. The wall memorials from the old church were replaced in their original positions but the ledger stones, were moved in the 20th
Churchyard. There is a Celtic Cross War Memorial inscribed ‘erected by the women of Datchet to the memory of those from the parish who fell in the Great War 1914-1919; South face, Faithful unto death’.
Mile stone. Square based stone with a triangular top. It says London 20 Windsor 1 Colnbrook 2


M4
London to Bristol Motorway. This section opened in 1963 as part of a bypass scheme.


Priory Way
Churchfield Meadows. In 1650 Churchfield Meadow plot known as ‘Matthews Park’ and had been the site of a house. Two of the Mathews family of landowners and yeomen are thought to have built Church Cottage and the Astracot house in the early 1500s, and it is certain that land here with a house also belonged to one of them. By 1800 it was owned by John Richards, Rector of Datchet. The meadow was then known as Old Plantation. In 1813 a number of valuable trees there were cut down by the ‘Black Datchet’ gang. It was sold to William Good in 1865.
Woodland. The 1876 Ordnance Survey shows a band of woodland around the grounds of Churchmead House. The remains of this still survive in the school grounds.
Churchmead House. This was built in the 1860s. In 1865 Churchfield Meadow was bought by William Good, a barrister to build a family house in a pleasant village, from which he could commute by rail to London. It may have been designed by his architect father, or brother. In 19390 it was requisitioned by the Royal Artillery as a control centre for the anti-aircraft base which was on the old polo ground in Horton Road. By 1945 it was unoccupied and became derelict.
Churchmead School was built in the late 1950s by Buckinghamshire County Architects Department, led by Fred Pooley. It was originally a secondary modern. In 1974 administrative changes to boundaries transferred it to Berkshire County Council, who operated it as a school within Slough's education system which began secondary education from 12 rather than 11. Further changes led to the Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead becoming the Education Authority in 1998 which uses a system with age 8 - 13 children in middle schools. Thus Churchmead became the only 11-18 school in the borough.


Queen Street
This was Back Lane – the way at the back of the complex of 15th and earlier buildings around The Green. It was named for Queen Victoria who used this crossing by preference to the one in the High Street
Level Crossing. Mays Crossing is one of the two level crossings in Datchet, and takes Queen's Road over the railway line to and from Windsor Riverside station.  It is said to have been named for a crossing keeper called William May. A signal box here which controlled the crossing was removed in 1974 and the barriers became lifting ones controlled by Feltham
1-2 houses built by the South Western Railway in the 1860s.


Slough Road
Swallowfield.Before 1810 there were large area of common land where animals could be grazed and fuel gathered, and at Enclosure it was lost but in Datchet some plots of land were left to provide income as support for the poor– ‘Poor’s Land’. ‘Swallowfield’ was the first such plot to be sold for building development – and four houses were built here in the early 1900s. In 1939 all the various bequests were united as ‘Datchet United Charities’.  Eventually the occupants bought the freeholds for themselves.
20 Police residence. There appears to be no permanent police presence currently
Slough Water Works and Water Works Cottages were in the corner of Castle Avenue.  This was probably not the main Slough Water Work and must date from the late 1880s.


Sumptermead Ait
This island is a thin wooded strip separated by a narrow channel on the Datchet side of the river. It was noted as Sondremede in 1263 and given to the prioress of St Helens in London.


The Green
The curve of the Green follows a watercourse which ran through the centre of the village and formed a pool here. It was crossed by a bridge at the top of the High Street which was the responsibility of the Parish. In 1570 a house was acquired which could be leased to provide a repair fund. This house was the present Royal Stag, also known as the Bridge House. In the 1840s the Bridge House Trustees paid to have the watercourse culverted creating the Greens. The whole range of Manorial buildings on the south side of the Green was put up for auction in 1896, the plans and sale details of which are invaluable for village history. It included the Manor House, Manor Cottages and the old buildings further east where the W.I. hall and shops have been built, as well as houses at the top of the High Street.
Manor House - a medieval manor house was thought to be on the Green but near the church
Manor - the Manor House in the late 15th appears to have been the home of the bailiff rather than the lord and later it was rented out to high status tenants.  It is likely there was attached a bake house, brew house, washhouse, outbuildings, cottages and barns along the edge of the pool on the site of the Green.  By the late 19th the Manor House had been used as the post office, the parish school, overspill from the workhouse, and early Baptists. It was then remodelled, with a mock Tudor timbered facade.  In 1896 the Montagu family put it up for auction along with the rest of the range.
Old Council Offices.  Currently an estate agent. The old workshops to the rear are now offices.  The building has a mock Tudor facade added in the 1920s. The new parish council hired the two front rooms as an office from 1895. The 1896 sale plan shows it as part of a complex of workshops including a builder’s yard – and a coal yard continued at the rear in the 20th. In the 20th the ground floor was stripped out and rebuilt revealing the timber frame and a hearth with a bread oven. A section of wattle and daub has been left visible. A well was found in a 19th extension which would originally been in a yard. In 1953 it was bought by a developer but not changed but built a shop on its east side.
'The Old Manor House. This building complex includes the Women’s Institute Hall and the shops adjacent to it. This is a 1955 rebuild of an artisan's house from the 18th or 19th. The hall and shops were built by the developer on the site of old workshops and remodelled the existing house. A house existed here in the 16th but no fabric has survived.  Its footprint may however exist in the current buildings.
Women’s Institute Hall. The Datchet Women's Institute was founded in 1948.  At first meetings were held in St. Mary's school, however, in 1955, the current hall was opened. It was gifted by George Scott, who built extensively in the village.
Manor House. This house has a long standing division into two. It originally dates from the late 16th with mid-17th alterations. The timber on the outside of the building does not reflect its timber frame. Originally it had an open hall with a service room to the west.  Part of this house was used as a shoemaker's from at least 1780. In 1801 some of it was licensed as a Meeting House by local Baptists. In 1896 it was auctioned as two separate houses. From 1906 it was home of the Sopwith family – the mother and sister of early flyer Tommy Sopwith.
Manor Cottage and Manor Green Cottage. The brick facade and sash windows are a modernisation of the late 1700s, but the two houses were built in the early 17th as one and this was timber framed.  In the eastern half the timber frame is all still exposed, but in the western it has been plastered over. They seem to have been used as two since before the 1780s.  They have also been used as shops since and altered accordingly
The Manor Hotel. This has been an inn since at least the 1750s.. The core dates back to the 17th but there have been many changes and no early fabric has been identified. In 1888 the corner block with its overhanging first floor was rebuilt. In the 18th it had the same ownership as the White Hart opposite and in the late 18th leased by Isherwood who was a local Windsor brewer. The pub had stabling in the yard behind reached by an archway from the High Street although it was not a significant stage coach inn. The Manor Hotel's has also been called The Half Moon in the 18th and the Horse and Groom. The present name dates from the mid-19th.It is currently a would be posh hotel and claims to date from the 14th
Wine Rack shop. This had been an alehouse called the White Hart first mentioned in 1565. It had a skittle alley on the site of the present office car park
St. Mary’s Primary Academy.  This was previously St. Mary’s Church of England School and originally a National School.  It was academised in 2012.
Fountain. This is the earliest known public monument erected in the centre of the town. It was the gift of Lady Georgiana Needham, and followed the principles of the Metropolitan Free Drinking Fountain Association.  Made of granite, it has drinking bowls for dogs, horses and villagers and an inscription about Lady Needham and Biblical references to water.   It once had a light on top of it.
Golden Jubilee Oak. This marked 50 years of Queen Victoria’s reign in 1887. This was given by the Lady of the Manor, the Duchess of Buccleuch and was planted by the schoolchildren
Diamond Jubilee Cross, This narked  60 years of Queen Victoria’s reign in 1897, it is described as a ‘cross of a medieval Somerset type’ and there is a brass plaque with biblical quotations to this has been added plaques recording the Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees of Elizabeth II.
War Memorial.  This is a Cenotaph unveiled  in 1920, the inscription says: This Monument  is erected by inhabitants of Datchet  to commemorate the Great War  of 1914-1919  and the glorious victory of the British forces and their allies  by sea on land and in the air  over the combined forces of Germany, Austria, Turkey and Bulgaria  also  to record the share taken by this  village in promoting this victory  and  to pay grateful and reverent tribute  to those who laid down their lives  for their King and Country  in the cause of justice and freedom  the names here recorded  are of those inhabitants of  Datchet  who at the call of duty laid down  their lives for their country.  Mourn not for them  for they can never die  ...the numbers here recorded  are of those inhabitants of  Datchet  who by active military service  in foreign lands of in this country  or by services rendered at home  contributed to the great victory  which this Monument commemorates . in the naval military and territorial forces Before the war 40  joined the forces during the war  322  served abroad or at home in the Red Cross Society, the Volunteer Defence Corps, as special constables, in the voluntary aid detachment or in the Hospital Supply depot 142. There are also the names of those who died in the Second World War
Royal Stag Pub. This is one of the oldest buildings in Datchet. Part dates from before 1500 but the front is 1880s. It may have been an ale house from the early 16th and called the Five Bells, referencing the adjacent church. Later it was the High Flyer and then the Royal Stag by the 1790s. It is owned by the local Bridge House Trust. In 2011 they funded a survey.  The back bar overlooking the churchyard has roof timbers from 1494. The front has been rebuilt bad the inside remodelled many times. The car park was ince a stable, coach house, wash-house, henhouse and garden. In 1892 the first annual dinner of the Kelmscott Press was held here. There is a broken tombstone in the rear bar of William Herbert, a maltster and brewer whose son John leased the pub,
Costa Coffee. This was The Morning Star pub which was a beer-shop since 1857, with that name since 1881. By 1870 it had been bought by the Staines brewers Ashby & Co. Before that it was a private house built in the late 17th but which incorporated a smaller and older house already on site. This includes the room to the right of the entrance which probably dates from the 1600s.
The Bridge Community Cafe. This was an almshouse and before that the poorhouse dating from at least 1548. In the 18th it became the 'Parish Almshouse'.  From 1820 it was let out as a shop, with the rent going towards the Poor Rate


Whites Lane
Until the building of the M4 Whites Lane continued to become a path which then diverged into others at various directions.


Windsor Road
Windsor Road dates from the removal of Datchet Bridge at the bottom of the High Street.
Riverside House. This house was built on the site of an older one in the mid-1860s, and divided into flats in the 1930s. In the 18th this had been the site of a maltsters and corn merchants business
Riverside Corner, this is first noted in the 1890s but appears to have been the site of an older property. In the 1960s it was owned by wonderful Billie Whitelaw.

Sources
Churchmead School. Web site
Datchet Baptist Church. Web site
Datchet Golf Club. Web site
Datchet History. Web site
Datchet Women’s Institute. Web site
Eton End School. Web site
Fraser.  The History of Slough
Imperial War Museum. Web site
SABRE. Web site
St.Mary’s Academy. Web site
Waymarking. Web site

Edith would like to thank the Datchet History group for their wonderful pages – and hope you don’t mind I have made so much use of them.  So often I go through a small town in some desperation struggling to find information (Egham is a recent example) and most usually there are a few notes and perhaps one of those ‘then and now’ picture books with some limited information. Datchet History is unusual and very very good – look at their web site NOW