Eton Wick, the Jubilee River and the Thames

Eton Wick, The Jubilee River and The Thames 1. Church of St Mary Magdalene The chapel of St Mary Magdalene, Boveney stands on a site that has been a place of worship since before the Roman conquest. Its origins are obscure but it is first mentioned in 1266, when the offerings there were assigned to the vicarage of Burnham. Bargees and other riverside folk probably used the chapel when there was a busy wharf nearby used for transporting timber from Windsor Forest. Initially people from a large surrounding area used it, but by the 18th Century the vicar only held services once a month. The church was declared redundant in 1975 and it was planned to demolish it or convert it into residential accommodation. However, following a local campaign, it passed into the care of the charity 'The Friends of Friendless Churches" in 1983 and the charity holds a 999-year lease. They try and encourage use of the chapel for concerts, exhibitions or other events, but there's a problem: St Mary Magdalene does not have running water, a lavatory, an electricity or gas supply. Therefore there is no heating or lighting. Mooring a passenger boat alongside is suggested to solve this problem. 2. Eton Wick After the construction of Eton College in the 15th century, a small group of houses were built immediately west of the college grounds. These were the homes of shoemakers, tailors, and other people who worked in the college. The hamlet was physically separated from the rest of Eton by land owned by the college, known as the wick. Cottages were also built to house farmhands working at nearby Bell Farm. Throughout the 19th century, scholars at Eton College took a personal interest in the village, building a village hall and a small school in the village. In 1880, the owner of Bell Farm to the north west of Eton Wick, Charles Dorney, sold some of his land for residential building. The new village was called Boveney New Town. After the 1894 Civil Parish act, the Wick was transferred from Eton parish to Boveney parish and became known as Eton Wick. Eton Wick and Boveney New Town were almost immediately next to each other yet both retained their own councils until 1934. The population of the villages during this time was around 500. After the Second World War, both villages were expanded and built into each other as part of the wider national push for more housing, bringing the population up to around 3,000. 3. The Jubilee River. The Jubilee River is a hydraulic channel, 11.6km (7.2 miles) long and is on average 45 metres (148 feet) wide. It was constructed in the late 1990s and early 2000s to take overflow from the River Thames and so alleviate flooding to areas in and around the towns of Maidenhead, Windsor and Eton in the counties of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. It achieves this by taking water from the left (at this point eastern) bank of the Thames upstream of Boulter's Lock near Maidenhead and returning it via the north bank downstream of Eton. Page 1 Eton Wick, The Jubilee River and The Thames 4. Dorney Dorney is the most southerly parish in the county of Buckinghamshire. It's made up of various disparate parts: the houses of Dorney Village; a small community at Lake End; Dorney Reach to the west on the river; the scattered houses and farms of Dorney Common and Boveney, to the south. Dorney is home to a pub and some lovely brick and timber cottages along Village Road, including the White Heather Garage and Cottage, which featured in an episode of Midsomer Murders. In 1971 there was a proposal to change the Berkshire/Buckinghamshire border from The Thames to the line of the M4. This would mean the Dorney area would switch to Berkshire, linked to Slough rather than Windsor. There was a significant outcry and refusal to accept this and the locals won the day. In 1974 the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead was formed, which included all of this area. Then in 1992, Berkshire was split into 6 Unitary Authorities, including Windsor & Maidenhead. 5. Dorney Court Little changed in 600 years, Dorney Court has been the home of the Palmer family for more than 450 years, passing from father to son through thirteen generations. It is a Grade 1 listed building, further designated as being of outstanding architectural and historical interest. Dorney Court has always been the manor house of Dorney Village, and this was first recorded in the Domesday Book. The first pineapple raised in England was grown at Dorney Court and presented to Charles II in 1661. The present manor house dates from the 15th century and is said to be one of England’s finest Tudor manor houses. Although the house is only open during August, you can get a view of the beautiful brick and timber building from the cafe driveway. And if it looks familiar, the house has appeared in a number of film and TV productions including episodes of Midsomer Murders and Agatha Christie’s Poirot. 6. Dorney Church Adjacent to the house is the 12th century Church of St James the Less. Inside is the tomb of Sir William Garrard, onetime Lord Mayor of London, who bought Dorney Court in 1542, and his wife, Elizabeth. Unfortunately the church is usually only open when Dorney Court is open. 7. Dorney Lake Dorney Lake was originally conceived by Eton College rowing teachers in the 1960s. They felt it important to construct a still water, all year round safe rowing course, offering greater safety than the River Thames, with its fast currents, varying widths and increasing traffic. Construction began in 1996. In the next ten years 4.5 million tonnes of sand and gravel were dug out, and – along with about two million cubic metres of top and sub soil and almost 600,000 cubic metres of clay – were transported to a collection point two miles away by a long conveyor belt. It is a 2,200-metre flat-water rowing lake and is used for international regattas and indeed the 2012 Olympic Venue for Rowing, Adapted Rowing and Flat-water Canoeing. Dorney Lake also hosts six Triathlons a year, which are very popular with competitors and supporters alike. As well as the water sports themselves, the grounds of the lake are open for cyclists, joggers and walkers. Page 2 Eton Wick, The Jubilee River and The Thames 8. Down Place Down Place, has a distinctive clock tower and cupola and was built in 1750 for the Tonson family. It became residence of the Hartford family between 1835 and 1901. In 1951, Hammer Film Productions, in search of a base to make their budget horror films, settled on the derelict Down Place. Shooting in country houses avoided the need to build sets, and usually also meant large grounds were available for location work. As the one year lease on Down Place ran out and a union strike prevented a move to a studio, Hammer decide to build a studio in the grounds of Down Place, and name it Bray Studios, after the local town. Hammer sold Bray Studios in 1970 and it became a renowned centre for special effects teams, e.g. 'Space 1999' and the model and miniature filming for notable films including 'Alien' (1979); 'Reign of Fire' (2002) and the last film to use Bray, 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'. Bray Studios were also used for pre-production rehearsals by many groups such as Radiohead, Kings of Leon, Amy Winehouse and Live Aid back in 1985. It was announced back in 2013 by Neville Hendricks, the then owner of Bray Studios, that the studios were no longer viable and they were sold to property developers. There was a high profile local campaign supported by many past stars such as Christopher Lee and Richard O'Brian to save the studios but if failed. In July 2015, it was announced that the listed Down Place building would be restored and converted into luxury apartments and the sound stages and workshops would be demolished to make way for new houses. 9. Oakley Court Hotel Dating back to 1859, a chap called Sir Richard Hall-Say built the house for his young wife and their three children. Sir Richard later sold the property, after his appointment as High Sheriff of Berkshire, to the rather well-connected Lord Otho Fitzgerald. It was during his time at The Oakley Court that famous names visited the house, including the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII!) and Napoleon IV, the last survivor of the Napoleon dynasty. It wasn’t until the Oakley Court was bought by eccentric Frenchman, Ernest Olivier, that the hotel became the famous backdrop for classic horror. He was the Turkish Consul in Monte Carlo. He entertained many diplomats here. During the Second World War, General De Gaulle was a frequent visitor, hence the Court is often said to have been the headquarters of the French Resistance. Five films were made by Hammer within the grounds in 1949 including ‘The Man in Black’ starring a young Sid James. While shooting here Hammer found Down Place, later the home of Bray Studios, setting the stage for many more films to come. After 1965, when Ernest Olivier died, the house was vacant – except for the film crews who made over 200 films on location. These include the world-famous Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and the original ‘Half a Sixpence’ (1967). In 1977 the house was granted Grade II heritage listing.

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