Water Oakley | |
---|---|
Hamlet | |
Houses overlooking the Thames at Water Oakley | |
Location within the United Kingdom | |
OS grid reference | SU919776 |
Civil parish | |
Shire county | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | WINDSOR |
Postcode district | SL4 |
Water Oakley is a hamlet on the River Thames in the civil parish of Bray, in the Windsor and Maidenhead district, in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England. [1] It is the location of both Bray Film Studios and the Oakley Court Hotel. [2]
It first appeared on maps around 1800. However, the name 'Oakley' is derived from the Old English ac-leah which translates as 'a clearing in an oak wood'. Local folklore suggests a Saxon church there was demolished around 1293 to build St Michael's Church in Bray.
Water Oakley has a site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) just to the north of the village, called Bray Pennyroyal Field. [3]
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.
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 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.
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.
Dorney is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. It borders the River Thames to the west and south, and is bisected by the Jubilee River. In 2011 it had a population of 752. It is 2.3 miles (3.7 km) west of neighbouring Eton, which is a slightly larger parish.
Horton is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is between Windsor and Staines-upon-Thames.
Bray, occasionally Bray on Thames, is a suburban village and civil parish in the Windsor and Maidenhead district, in the ceremonial county of Berkshire. It sits on the banks of the River Thames, to the southeast of Maidenhead of which it is a suburb. The village is mentioned in the comedic song "The Vicar of Bray". Bray contains two of the nine three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the United Kingdom and has several large business premises including Bray Studios at Water Oakley, where the first series of Hammer Horror films were produced.
Eton Wick is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Eton, in the Windsor and Maidenhead district, in Berkshire, England. Historically it was part of Buckinghamshire. Between the River Thames and the Jubilee River, the village is close to the towns of Windsor, Eton and Slough. The village has a long history, with evidence of habitation dating back over 5,500 years, including a Neolithic causewayed enclosure and a variety of later historical periods marked by significant agricultural and social development.
Cookham is a historic Thames-side village and civil parish on the north-eastern edge of Berkshire, England, 2.9 miles (5 km) north-north-east of Maidenhead and opposite the village of Bourne End. Cookham forms the southernmost and most rural part of the High Wycombe urban area. With adjoining Cookham Rise and Cookham Dean, it had a combined population of 5,779 at the 2011 Census. In 2011, The Daily Telegraph deemed Cookham Britain's second richest village.
Clewer is an ecclesiastical parish and an area of Windsor, in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England. Clewer makes up three wards of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, namely Clewer North, Clewer South and Clewer East.
Charvil is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. The village is 5 miles from Reading on the A4 road to Maidenhead, between Sonning and Twyford. The 2021 Census recorded the parish's population as 3,158. The area was mostly farmland until the 1950s.
Bisham is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. The village is on the River Thames, around one mile (1.6 km) south of Marlow in the neighbouring county of Buckinghamshire, and around three miles (5 km) northwest of Maidenhead. At the 2011 Census, the population of the parish was 1,099, down from 1,149 at the 2001 Census. Bisham is home to one of Sport England's National Sports Centres.
Farley Hill is a village in the county of Berkshire, England. For local government purposes, the village is within the civil parish of Swallowfield, which in turn is within the unitary authority of Wokingham.
Cheapside describes a close triangle of roads in the civil parish of Sunninghill and Ascot and ecclesiastical parish of Sunninghill in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England which includes a school and had a Methodist chapel. It is a cluster of houses, bungalows and cottages. It is marked on maps as the area north and east of Silwood Park and south of Sunninghill Park. Harewood Lodge followed by Titness House to its immediate east are of similar 18th century construction and have sometimes been recorded as in the Cheapside locality.
Hollyhock Island is an inhabited island in the River Thames in England located between Bell Weir Lock and Penton Hook Lock.
The Maidenhead Waterways are a system of canals in Maidenhead, England. Formerly disused, plans to restore and upgrade them were announced in 2011. The works would initially make the waterways navigable by small craft, and over time by larger craft, as limitations to navigation are gradually removed.
Cox Green is a civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire. It is a large suburb of Maidenhead with most of its housing west of the A404(M) Maidenhead bypass and south of the A4 road. The remainder of this area is rural. The parish has an urban boundary with Woodlands Park to the southwest and a rural boundary with White Waltham parish to the west.
The Cut is a river in England that rises in North Ascot, Berkshire. It flows for around 14 miles (23 km), through the rural Northern Parishes of Winkfield, Warfield and Binfield in Bracknell Forest on its way down to Bray, where it meets the River Thames just above Queens Eyot on the reach below Bray Lock, having been joined by the Maidenhead Waterways.