Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 51°28′00″N0°40′00″W / 51.4667°N 0.6667°W | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Constituent country | England |
Region | South East England |
Ceremonial county | Berkshire |
Status | Unitary authority |
Incorporated | 1 April 1974 |
Admin HQ | Maidenhead |
Government | |
• Type | Unitary authority |
• Body | Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council |
• MPs | |
Area | |
• Total | 76.61 sq mi (198.43 km2) |
• Rank | 146th (of 296) |
Population (2022 [1] ) | |
• Total | 154,738 |
• Rank | 138th (of 296) |
• Density | 2,000/sq mi (780/km2) |
Ethnicity (2021) | |
• Ethnic groups | |
Religion (2021) | |
• Religion | List
|
Time zone | UTC0 (GMT) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
ISO 3166 | GB-WNM |
ONS code | 00ME (ONS) E06000040 (GSS) |
OS grid reference | SU926750 |
Website | www |
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a unitary authority area with royal borough status in Berkshire, England. The borough is named after its two largest towns of Maidenhead (where the council is based) and Windsor. The borough also includes the towns of Ascot and Eton, plus numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. It is home to Windsor Castle, Eton College, Legoland Windsor and Ascot Racecourse. It is one of only four boroughs in England entitled to be prefixed royal, and the only one of them which is not a London borough.
The non-metropolitan district of Windsor and Maidenhead was created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, as one of six districts within Berkshire. It covered the whole area of five former districts and part of a sixth, which were all abolished at the same time: [3]
The two Eton districts had been in Buckinghamshire prior to the reforms. The new district was named 'Windsor and Maidenhead' after its two largest towns. [4] The district was also given the additional honorific title of royal borough, which had previously been held by the municipal borough of New Windsor. [5]
From 1974 until 1998 the council was a lower-tier authority, with Berkshire County Council providing county-level services. The county council was abolished in 1998 and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead took on county-level services, making it a unitary authority. Berkshire continues to legally exist as a ceremonial county and a non-metropolitan county, albeit without a county council. [6]
The borough straddles the River Thames. Approximately half of its flow through the borough has a bypass and seasonally-variable flood relief channel, the Jubilee River. Further flood relief channels are planned for the reaches below the Borough to benefit many other settlements including Datchet and Wraysbury in the borough which were the settlements most widely affected by the UK storms of January-February 2014. [7]
The borough contains the following towns and villages:
Since 1998, the council has been a unitary authority, providing both district-level and county-level functions. It is based at Maidenhead Town Hall. Much of the borough is covered by civil parishes, which form an additional tier of local government for their areas, although the two largest towns of Maidenhead and Windsor are unparished. [8]
The Royal Borough is represented at Westminster by two members of parliament: Jack Rankin of the Conservative Party (for Windsor) and Joshua Reynolds of the Liberal Democrats (for Maidenhead). Maidenhead was held by the Conservative Party since its creation in 1997 until 2024. Windsor has been held by the same party since 1874 with varying representation from its 1484 creation including more than 350 initial years with two MPs. Small parts of other districts, notably Slough and Wokingham have intermittently been included in each constituency to prevent malapportionment which is a definition of boundaries which causes any MP to serve a significantly different number of potential voters (electors) than the others. [9] [10]
The irregular, elongated shape of the Windsor seat being the south-east half of the Borough has been criticised by academics who noted the net changes which the Heath administration led through Parliament in 1972, implemented in 1974, intensified difference. They frequently grouped right-leaning suburban areas within urban historic centres and more modern, urban left-leaning areas such as the bulk of Slough. This ostensibly amounted to nationwide gerrymandering or homogenisation to install a greater number safe seats at the expense of marginal seats however also reflected the majority of social associations of people in each area. [11]
There are 14 parish councils and 1 town council in the borough:
The towns of Maidenhead and Windsor are unparished.
The Windsor and Maidenhead LEA provides a comprehensive system, with a three-tier successive school system in Windsor, and two-tier education elsewhere. Colleges and sixth forms are available in the main two towns as well as across its borders in Egham, Slough and Wokingham. [12]
The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is twinned with the following Towns:
Slough is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley 20 miles (32 km) west of central London and 19 miles (31 km) north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021 Census, the population of the town was 143,184. In 2021, the wider Borough of Slough had a population of 158,500. Slough borders the ceremonial counties of Greater London and Buckinghamshire.
The Royal County of Berkshire, commonly known as simply Berkshire, is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London to the east, Surrey to the south-east, Hampshire to the south, and Wiltshire to the west. Reading is the largest settlement and the county town.
Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, the Maidenhead built-up area had a population of 67,375. The town is situated 27 miles (43 km) west of Charing Cross, London and 13 miles (21 km) east-northeast of the county town of Reading. The town gives its name to the Maidenhead constituency, which extends beyond the town to also include various nearby villages.
Windsor is a historic town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British monarch. The town is situated 21.8 miles (35.1 km) west of Charing Cross, central London, 5.8 miles (9.3 km) southeast of Maidenhead, and 15.8 miles (25.4 km) east of the modern county town of Reading. It is immediately south of the River Thames, which forms its boundary with its smaller, ancient twin town of Eton. The village of Old Windsor, just over 2 miles (3 km) to the south, predates what is now called Windsor by around 300 years. In the past, Windsor was formally referred to as New Windsor to distinguish the two.
Eton is a town in Berkshire, England, on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor, connected to it by Windsor Bridge. The civil parish, which also includes the village of Eton Wick two miles west of the town, had a population of 4,692 at the 2011 Census. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Buckinghamshire, in 1974 it came under the administration of Berkshire following the Local Government Act 1972; since 1998 it has been part of the unitary authority of Windsor and Maidenhead. The town is best known as the location of Eton College.
Maidenhead is a constituency in Berkshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by Joshua Reynolds, a Liberal Democrat, since 2024. Following its creation at the 1997 general election, the seat was held for twenty-seven years by Conservative Member of Parliament Theresa May, who served as Home Secretary from 2010 to 2016 and as Prime Minister from 2016 to 2019.
Windsor (/ˈwɪnzə/) is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament represented since 2024 by Jack Rankin of the Conservative Party. It was re-created for the 1997 general election after it was abolished following the 1970 general election and replaced by the Windsor and Maidenhead constituency.
Eton Rural District was a rural district in the administrative county of Buckinghamshire, England, covering an area in the south-east of the county. It was named after but did not contain Eton, which was an urban district.
Slough Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Slough in Berkshire, England. Slough has had an elected council since 1863, which has been reformed several times. Since 1998 the council has been a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council.
Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council is the local authority for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, which is a unitary authority in Berkshire, England. Until 1 April 1998 it was a non-metropolitan district. Elections are held every four years. Since the last boundary changes in 2019 there have been 41 councillors elected from 19 wards.
Windsor and Maidenhead was a county constituency in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
East Berkshire was a county constituency in the county of Berkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.
Thames Valley Buses Limited, trading as Thames Valley Buses, is a bus company based in Bracknell, England. It was known as Courtney Buses until 2021. Founded in 1973, the company operates a network of commercial and contracted local bus services and school buses in Berkshire, north Hampshire and small parts of Oxfordshire, Surrey and Buckinghamshire. In March 2019 it was purchased by Reading Buses, with the company having gradually rebranded to its current name between October 2019 and April 2021.
The Windsor and Eton Express was founded on August 1, 1812 by Charles Knight Snr and his son, Charles Knight Jnr. Charles Knight Snr was a local book seller and printer and edited and printed the newspaper from Church Street in Windsor. When Charles Knight Snr died the paper was passed to his son, who was unhappy with the cost of the newspaper, which was six-and-a-half pence when it began and rose to seven pence in September 1815 due to a heavy stamp duty. Charles Knight Jnr believed in a cheap press, but at the start of the Express newspapers were only ever subscribed to by the wealthy, before the abolition of stamp duty in 1855.
Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council is the local authority for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, a local government district in Berkshire, England. Since 1998, the council has been a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council.
The Borough of Slough is a unitary authority with borough status in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, Southern England. The borough is centred around the town of Slough and includes Langley. It forms an urban area with parts of Buckinghamshire and extends to the villages of Burnham, Farnham Royal, George Green, and Iver. Part of the district's area was in Buckinghamshire prior to the district's formation and in Middlesex until 1965.