Riverside - north of the river and west of the Tower. Boveney

Riverside - north of the river and west of the Tower. Boveney

This post covers only sites north of the river. South of the river is Dedworth The Willows

Post to the west Bray Studios and Dorney Riverside
Post to the east Boveney Lock and Windsor Racecourse


Boveney Road
Boveney Court Farm. In the 1980s it was reported that the farm had been in the same hands since 1956 and that it was rented from Eton College. Beef cattle were grazed on Dorney Common where there are commoners rights.  
Barn. this is on the north side of the farmyard and is dated as 17th or early 18th.  It is timber-framed with tarred brick infill and weather-boarding. There are full height cart doors
Barn. This is on the south side of the farmyard. It dates from the 17th and is timber-framed with posts set on a brick plinth. There is some brick infilling from the 18th and earlier, plus some weather-boarding.  There is a projecting cart
entrance with pigeon holes in its gable.
Boveney Court.  The house has a wing which is 17th and part 20th and there is a brick ground floor and tile hung first floor. It still has its original stone porch, and original timbers inside as well as some heraldic glass.  The house, or its predecessor, is noted in a deed of 1639. From the late 1840s this was the home of engineer Edward Evans who patented improved wheels for locomotives and was a contractor in partnership with Daniel Gooch in work with Brunel on the Great Western Railway. He is said to have built an exact replica of an ancient house called Boveney Court”.
Entrance gates to Boveney Court dating from the 19th. With large square piers topped with spheres.  There is also a pair of carriage gates and cast iron square railings
Lodge to Boveney Court. 19th building of colour-washed roughcast
Landscape Park. Said to be  laid out here in the 19th
Archaeology - south of Boveney excavations uncovered two banks of a former channel of the Thames. A midden had accumulated in the hollow left by the channel in the Early Neolithic period and thousands of artefacts were excavated from it. Four ring ditches were found, two on either bank. There was also a Roman style burial, but which was dated by radiocarbon to after the -Roman period. There were also the remains of ploughed out Bronze Age barrows covering several burials.

Dorney Lake
Rowing Centre. This square covers the east end of the rowing lake and its centre building. This seems to be geared towards ‘hospitality’ and includes restaurants, conference facilities etc.

Lock Path
The Old Place.  This was also once known as Boveney Place. It is a 16th building converted from 5 or 6 cottages in 1905- the garden elevation shows the line of cottages.  It is timber-framed with brick noggin. The building has been extensively used as a film and TV show location
Barn from the 16th used as a garage.
St Mary MagdaleneA church has been on the site since before the Norman Conquest but this building is from the 12th. It was first mentioned in 1266 – and then not again until 1508. It is on Eton College land and any clerics had to be nominated by the college.  It is built of chalk and flint with coursed rubble. The tower was added in the 15th.  When it was built there was a quay alongside the church but no remains of this can be seen. It was a chapel of ease to St Peter's Church, Burnham and an attempt to make it a parish church in 1737 failed. The weather boarded bell tower has been dated dendrochronologically to  1500 it stands on a timber framework, which itself stands on the ground. Some of the original 15th pews are still in place. There are three bells – one from 1536 and was cast at the foundry in Reading; the other two were cast in 1631 and 1636 by Ellis I. Knight. In 1911 it became annexed to Eton as a chapel of ease. The church was declared redundant in 1975, and it was planned to demolish it or convert it into housing.  Instead it was passed to the Friends of Friendless Churches in 1983. It is still consecrated, and has been used for services, however the tower was found to be unstable, and with rotten footings.  Money was raised from English Heritage, and Eton College and others and the repairs were completed.


Riverside path
Boathouses – Army Rowing Club

Roasthill Lane
Footpath


Sources
British History online. Web site
British Listed Buildings
Domesday Reloaded. Web site
Friends of St.Mary Magdalene. Web site
Narrowboater. Blogspot
Royal Windsor Historical Forum. Web site
South Bucks, District Council. Web site
St. Mary Magdalene. Web site
Wilson. Sir Daniel Gooch
Windsor and Maidenhead Council. Web site

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