Bray, Berkshire
Coordinates: 51°30′25″N 0°42′00″W / 51.507°N 0.700°W
| Bray | |
 St Michael's Church |
|
 Bray
Bray shown within Berkshire |
|
| Population | 4,646 (2001) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SU9079 |
| Civil parish | Bray |
| Unitary authority | Windsor and Maidenhead |
| Ceremonial county | Berkshire |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MAIDENHEAD |
| Postcode district | SL6 |
| Dialling code | 01628 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Royal Berkshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Maidenhead |
Bray, occasionally Bray on Thames, is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. It stands on the banks of the River Thames, SSE of Maidenhead which it neighbours.
The parish of Bray includes a number of other villages and hamlets over an area of 2,498 hectares (6,170 acres) and a population of 8,425 at the 2001 census.[1]
It is known as the village mentioned in the song The Vicar of Bray. The village contains two of the four three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the United Kingdom, and is the home of Bray Studios of "Hammer Horror" fame.
Geography
Bray has always been a large parish, although it has shrunk considerably since Maidenhead became independent in 1894. As well as the main village, the parish contains a large number of villages and hamlets, often greens, which were originally scattered amongst the remains of dense woodland of Windsor Forest that once covered the area. These include: Bray Wick, Holyport, Water Oakley, Oakley Green, Moneyrow Green, Stud Green, Foxley Green, Touchen End, Braywoodside, Hawthorn Hill and Fifield.
Expensive houses on the river upstream of Bray Lock have been referred to as 'Millionaires' Row' in the national press . The flooding risk of these houses has recently been decreased by the Jubilee River, in effect a large river water drain between Maidenhead and Eton.
Monkey Island, in the Thames, is associated with the 3rd Duke of Marlborough, and still houses two amusing structures that he built and furnished with paintings of monkeys, and the architecturally Grade I (listed) Monkey Island Hotel.[2]
Parish church
The Church of England parish church of St Michael was built in 1293, supposedly to replace a Saxon church at Water Oakley.[3] It has a number of sculptures which may have come from the earlier church, including a damaged Sheela na Gig. It is best known to brass rubbers for housing the superb memorial brass of 1378 to Sir John Foxley, the Constable of Southampton Castle, and his two wives. One of the local cottages has a tunnel which it is believed leads to the church and served as an escape route for clergymen. The current Vicar of Bray is the Reverend Richard Cowles.
The ecclesiastical parish shares the wide parish boundaries so is named Bray St Michael with Braywoodside.[4]
Almshouse
The Jesus Hospital is a red-brick group of almhouses, founded in 1609 by William Goddard, whose full-size effigy stands over the entrance, to house thirty-four of the aged poor of Bray and six of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers to which he belonged.[5] Jesus Hospital is now run by The Donnington Hospital Trust having been transferred from the Fishmongers Company in 2010.
Restaurants
Bray contains two of the four three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the United Kingdom:[6]
The Fat Duck is a restaurant run by chef Heston Blumenthal in the centre of Bray. The restaurant was opened in 1995[7] and is one of only four in the United Kingdom that hold a three-star Michelin Guide rating; this has been the case since 2004. In 2005, it was named as the best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine[8] and Best Restaurant in the UK in 2008, 2009 and 2010[9] scoring a maximum 10 out of 10 in the Good Food Guide.
The other is The Waterside Inn. Founded in 1972 by the brothers Michel and Albert Roux after the success of Le Gavroche, it is currently run by Michel's son, Alain. The restaurant has three Michelin stars and in 2010 it became the first restaurant outside of France to retain all three stars for twenty five years.[10]
Notable people
- Rolf Harris - Artist, musician, TV presenter[11]
- Sir Michael Parkinson - journalist and TV presenter
- Heston Blumenthal - the TV chef runs The Fat Duck[12] and The Hinds Head Hotel restaurants in Bray
References
- ^ Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : Windsor and Maidenhead" Retrieved 3 November 2010
- ^ Monkey Island Hotel Details from listed building database (1319431). National Heritage List for England. English Heritage.
- ^ England (1849). The ecclesiastical and architectural topography of England. Bedfordshire (Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Oxfordshire, Suffolk).. p. 59. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
- ^ The Church of England "A Church Near You".
- ^ Ben-Amos, Ilana Krausman (17 March 2008). The Culture of Giving: Informal Support and Gift-Exchange in Early Modern England. Cambridge University Press. p. 185. ISBN 978-0-521-86723-8. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
- ^ Full list of Michelin stars in Britain and Ireland The Daily Telegraph. Published 24 January 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
- ^ "The Fat Duck (Awards section)". Fatduck.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
- ^ Kates, Joanne, The Globe and Mail (February 11, 2006). The mad, magic chemistry of England's Fat Duck
- ^ BBC News "BBC News". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
- ^ Kapur, Sonia (20 May 2010). "Waterside Inn celebrates 25yrs of three-star quality". Maidenhead Advertiser.
- ^ "Rolf Harris and Val Doonican: Old pals reunite (From Bucks Free Press)". Bucksfreepress.co.uk. 2008-10-31. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
- ^ "Fat Duck website". Fatduck.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
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