Edith's Streets

Riverside south bank west of the Tower.  Bray This post covers south of the river only. North of the river is Bray Lock Post to the east Monkey Island  and Dorney Reach and Amerden Braybank Hotel de Paris. In 1901-2 a house called Braymead was built here and in 1922, when the original resident left, local people formed a syndicate to run what they called the Braymead Court Hotel. This did badly and in 1928 it became the Hotel de Paris. Its new owners were Poulson and Stocco who had the Cafe de Paris – and the bands and stars who came there came down to Bray and played here. The Second World War brought austerity and later the hotel was closed and demolished. The current housing development on site was built in 1964. Church Lane 3 Hinds Head Hotel. Hall house, now a pub. This dates from the late 15th altered in the 18th, 19th and 20th. It has a timber frame inside painted brick. The origins of the building are unclear – it seems to have  expanded from two 16th c...

Riverside south bank West of the Tower. Monkey Island This post covers sites on the south bank only,.The north bank is Dorney Reach and Amerden Post to the south Monkey Island Lane  and north end of the Eton Rowing Lake Post to the west Bray  and Bray Lock M4 The M4 is the London to South Wales Motorway. Thames Bridge, motorway bridge built in the 1960s. There is a pedestrian walkway on either side of the bridge, to allow access to Bray Village from Dorney Monkey Island Monkey Island. This is a small island in the River. The name probably comes from a site owned by Merton Prior nearby – and refers to Monks. In the 17th rubble from London buildings was dumped here making it more solid than otherwise. In 1738 it was acquired by the Duke of Marlborough who was a keen fisherman and he built a fishing lodge and a fishing temple, which remain. They were designed by Robert Morris out of wood cut to look like stone. Pavilion . Inside is the Monkey Room with paintin...

Riverside - south bank west of the Tower. Bray Monkey Island Lane This post covers the south bank of the river only. The north bank is the north end of the Eton Rowing Lake Post to the north Monkey Island  and Dorney Reach and Amerden Post to the east Dornay Lake Monkey Island Lane Bray Lake. This is a sports centre in an old gravel extraction site run by Summerleaze Gravel. In 1979 a sail boarding business operating out of a lorry began, while the Pit was still working. Despite set backs the centre has flourished and expanded. There are now a wide range of facilities and buildings. Bray Quarry . This is the main processing plant for Summerleaze Gravel producing more than 400,000t of sand and gravel with a fixed sand and gravel processing plant. It has collection and delivery facilities for all aggregate types. It was previously the processing plant for Eton Aggregates and takes unprocessed sand and gravel from other quarries in the Thames Valley. Conveyor system . Summe...

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 ...

Riverside - west of the Tower South Bank, Dedworth The Willows This post describes sites on the south bank only, North of the river is Boveney Post to the east Windsor Racecourse  and Boveney Lock Post to the west Bray Studios  and Dorney riverside Maidenhead Road Along this stretch of road were a series of grand houses with late 19th occupants of varying wealth and eccentricity.  The road continues but from a roundabout at The Willows it became a side road and an eventual cul de sac, while the main road continues under another name Sutherland Grange.   The site is now a park and nature reserve, mainly in the square to the east.  This house, since demolished, was erected in 1902 in the Elizabethan style.  It had previously been the home of the widow of the Duke of Sutherland, Mary Caroline Blair. Surley Hall . Maidenhead Road was once called Surley Hall Road. The Surley Hall Hotel/pub was slightly to the east of the Willows. It closed in 1899. T...

Riverside west of the Tower, south bank. Windsor Racecourse This post covers sites to the south of the river only. North of the river is Boveney Lock Post to the east Clewer  and Eton Cuckoo Weir Post to the west Dedworth The Willows Maidenhead Road This was once called Surely Hall Road Racecourse Marina. Entrance. Run by Tingedene Marina – who run a number of similar operators. They have managed this one since 2007. The entrance is via the upstream part of Clewer Mill Stream from Bush Ait. Windsor Racecourse Marina Holiday Park. It is owned and operated by Tingdene Parks Limited who purchased it in 2007. The holiday park dates back to the early 1970’s. 250 The Windsor Lad. This is now a chain restaurant/pub.  This was built in 1940 as a road house.  It took over the licence of the closed Crown Pub in central Windsor. It was then a Courage house. Windsor Lad was a well known and successful racehorse in the 1930s but nothing to do with Windsor Race Course. De...

Riverside west of the Tower, south bank.  Clewer This post shows sites south of the river only. North of the river is Eton Cuckoo Weir Post to the east - Windsor riverside and castle  and Eton Post to the west Windsor Racecourse  and Boveney Lock Baths Island Baths Island. This was originally known as Deadwater Ait but the name changed because of the siting of the Windsor swimming baths as early as the 1860s. From the mid-19th and maybe earlier this was an area for swimming in the river and there were some facilities as well as a sign saying baths. In 1870 the men's bathing area was moved downstream and that was known as the Eastern Baths. In 1904 that the area by the arches was officially used as a swimming area when the Ladies Swimming Baths were constructed, and were later known as the Western Baths. Later the banks were concrete lined, the islands joined and hand rails fitted along the waterline, and changing rooms built adjacent to the railway arches. There...

Riverside west of the Tower, south bank. Windsor, riverside and castle This post relates to sites south of the river only. North of the river is Eton Post to the east Windsor sport and the castle  and Datchet Mead Post to the west Clewer  and Eton Cuckoo Weir Alexandra Gardens. Alexandra Gardens. Plans for a riverside garden were initiated from 1893 and land bought in 1875 and in 1902 a tree was planted to mark the coronation of Edward VII. The gardens were opened soon after and named for the new Queen, Alexandra. Early facilities included a bandstand and a pond which leaked and became a flower bed.  Windsor Lawn Tennis Club played here having been set up in 1913 and they hired courts here. In the 1930s a field gun stood by the gates but was removed at the start of the Second World War.  The bandstand was removed in the 1950s and a new one has been installed in 2015 with steel artwork on each the sides to episodes with the armed forces in each decade of the Q...

Riverside west of the 'Tower, south bank. Windsor Black Potts This posting cover sites south of the river only. North of the river is Agar's Plough Post to the south Windsor sports and the castle  and Datchet Mead This posting covers a small slip of land at the northern end of the Windsor Home Park public recreation area. Black Potts Ait Black Potts Ait is an island in the Thames. It is a tree-covered triangle now at the mouth of the Jubilee River. It was a favourite area for fishing for in the late 17th and some sort of building was provided for Charles II to use here in this context. River Bank Black Potts Railway bridge. This carries the railway from Waterloo to Windsor. It is has four seventy feet spans and is supported in the middle by Black Potts Ait. Originally the bridge had ornate cast-iron ribs, but these corroded and were replaced with more wrought iron, which radically altered the bridge's appearance. Before it opened there was a race between the G...

Riverside west of the Tower, south bank. Windsor - sport and the castle This post gives sites only south (or in this case west actually) of the river. Sites to the north (or east) are in Datchet Mead Post to the east Windsor Home Park bathing pond   and Datchet Post to the north Windsor Black Potts  and Agar's Plough Post to the west Windsor riverside and Castle  and Eton Home Park Home Park is a private park in the Crown Estate and attached to Windsor Castle.  This square covers the north section including the area adjacent to the Castle– about a third of the total area. The North Slopes . This is a series of pleasure grounds on the chalk escarpment on which the Castle is sited. Paths zigzag down the wooded hillside to the Broad Water. Albert, The Prince Consort installed various structures, walks and planting in the 1840s. A lawn is now used as a school playing field. William III planned a formal Maastricht Garden, here designed by Henry Wise in 1701.Th...

Riverside south bank west of the Tower. Windsor Home Park Bathing Pond This post shows sites on the south side of the river only. North is Datchet Post to the south Windsor Home Park Eastern riverside  and Datchet and Southlea Post to the west Windsor Sport and the Castle  and Datchet Mead Home Park This square covers only a tiny section of the riverside at Home Park. Bathing Pond. This results from the layout of the Park by Thomas Page in the 1840s. It appears to be an attempt – as with the other water features of the park – to use old gravel workings. Albert Cottage and Boathouse . These date from 1861. They are brick, with a timber framed gabled projection the boathouse is on edge of the pool linked to the cottage by a pierced balustrade which is returned over the cut to the river. Said to be designed by Teulon. Sources British Listed Buildings. Web site Roberts. Royal Landscapes

Riverside west of the Tower and on the south bank Windsor Home Park Eastern riverside This posting covers sites on the south bank of the river only. North is Datchet and Southlea Post to the south Windsor Albert Bridge  and Southlea Post to the north Windsor Home Park bathing pond  and Datchet Datchet Bridge Datchet Bridge. This replaced a ferry service and was initially a wooden bridge commissioned by Queen Anne. The crossing was much used by royalty and they were often concerned for its reliability. The bridge was not tolled and therefore was popular. Responsibility for the maintenance was initially with the Crown but then passed to the counties of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire and there were decades of dispute between the two over who should pay for what. In 1836 the two counties each decided to build their own half, in different materials and not touching in the middle - Buckinghamshire's in wood and Berkshire's in iron. This was demolished in 1848 and the dispute ...

Riverside. south bank west of the Tower Windsor Albert Bridge This post shows sites to the south of the river only, North of the river is Southlea Post to the west Ham Island  and Nickcroft Ait Post to the north Windsor Home Park Eastern riverside  and Datchet and Southlea Albert Bridge Albert Bridge was built in 1850-51. It was one of two bridges in Datchet built to replace the old Datchet Bridge as part of the rerouting of the Datchet to Windsor roads following the expansion of the grounds of Windsor Castle. Prince Albert is said to have had a part in the design which was originally in cast iron. Lodge. On the west side of the road. It is said to have been designed either by Jeffry Wyatville, or by Edward Blore. It has a crenulated parapet and arrow slits flanking the windows. Battle Bourne This is a stream which enters this area from the west and runs along the southern boundary of some of the Home Park. It enters the Thames slightly down river of Albert Brid...

Riverside, south bank west of the Tower. Ham Island This post covers sites south of the river only. North of the river is Nickcroft Ait Post to the south Old Windsor Saxon Town  and Remenham Park Post to the west Windsor Albert Bridge  and Southlea Ham Island Ham Island is only an island by virtue of being separated from Old Windsor by the construction of the New Cut in 1822 cutting the distance in navigation to around one third.  It was once a peninsula partly surrounded by a meander of the Thames. Housing – there is some housing on the island mainly along the bank of the Cut. Blueacre Horse Rescue centre . This centre opened in 2002 and is named after their first horse. Sewage Works. This was opened by the Borough of Windsor in 1878 having previously been used as soakage beds by the Castle works across the Cut. The two works eventually combined.  It drains parts of villages to the south-west, Datchet and Eton which on the whole have separate surface an...

Riverside south bank west of the Tower. Old Windsor. Saxon town This posting covers sites on the south of the river only. North of the river is Remenham Park Post to the south Old Windsor Beaumont  and Wraysbury riverside Post to the north Ham Island  and Nickcroft Ait Church Road An old highway once followed the line of Church Road from its junction with Ham Lane, the old road then turned sharply across the churchyard. In 1225 it was diverted round the north of the church. The rector was then required to build the current road which remains as a footpath to the river bank St Peter and St Andrew. This church was probably built on the site of a chapel attached to Edward the Confessor’s hunting lodge. Its joint dedication to St. Peter and St. Andrew is unique and it is thought that a new St. Peter's might have had been built on the site of an earlier St. Andrew's under the Confessor. Several synods took place here.  In 1184 it became a possession of Waltham Abbey ...

Riverside south bank west of the Tower. Old Windsor Beaumont This posting refers to sites south of the river only. North of the river is Wraysbury riverside Post to the south Runnymede Magna Carta Post to the north Old Windsor Saxon town  and Remenham Park Burfield Road Beaumont Estate, Large hotel.This was originally called Remenham, after the 14th owner. Various aristocrats lived there subsequently and In 1786 Warren Hastings lived there for three years. It was sold to the Jesuits in 1854. After the school closed in 1967 it was used for a year by the Loresto Sisters as a teacher training college. In the early 1970s, it was the ICL training centre. In 2003 it was taken over by Hayley Conference Centres, Beaumont House . Large country house originally built in 1705 by James Gibbs for Lord Weymouth. Re-built in the early 19th by Henry Emlyn of Windsor for Henry Griffiths based on his "Britannic Order".  It was altered in 1870 by Hansom and further extended in the 20jh...