Bray, Berkshire

Transport

Bray sits on the banks of the River Thames, 1.5 miles south of Maidenhead town centre and 5 miles north-west of Windsor. The B3028 road runs through the centre of Bray, and the A308 (Maidenhead-Windsor road) runs between Bray and the adjoining village of Holyport.

The M4 motorway junction 8/9 is approximately 1 mile from Bray, and Maidenhead railway station is 1.5 miles away in Maidenhead town centre.

Geography

Bray is a large parish, although its area has shrunk considerably since Maidenhead was detached. As well as the village, the parish contains a large number of villages and hamlets, often greens, which were originally scattered amongst the remains of the 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.

Exclusive houses on the river between Bray and Maidenhead Bridge have been referred to as Berkshire's 'Millionaires' row' in the national press. The flood risk of these houses has been decreased by the Jubilee River, a large drainage ditch dug between north Maidenhead and Datchet.

Monkey Island, in the Thames, is associated with the 3rd Duke of Marlborough, and houses two amusing structures that he built and furnished with paintings of monkeys, and the architecturally Grade I (listed) Monkey Island Hotel.

Parish church

See St Michael's Church, Bray.

The Church of England parish church of St Michael was built in 1293, supposedly to replace a Saxon church at Water Oakley. 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 and is named Bray St Michael with Braywoodside.

Almshouse

The Jesus Hospital is a red-brick group of almhouses, founded in 1609 by William Goddard to house thirty-four of the aged poor of Bray and six of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers, to which he belonged. A full-size effigy of Goddard stands over the entrance, 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:

The Fat Duck is a restaurant run by chef Heston Blumenthal in the centre of Bray. The restaurant was opened in 1995 and has held a three-star Michelin Guide rating since 2004. In 2005, it was named as the best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine and in 2008, 2009 and 2010, Best Restaurant in the UK, scoring a maximum 10 out of 10 in the Good Food Guide.

The Waterside Inn was founded in 1972 by the brothers Michel and Albert Roux after their success with Le Gavroche. It is currently run by Michel's son, Alain and Cavaliere Diego Masciaga. The restaurant has three Michelin stars and in 2010 became the first restaurant outside France to retain all three stars for twenty five years.

Literature

Edward Lear makes reference to Bray in More Nonsense Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, etc:

"There was an old person of Bray,
Who sang through the whole of the day
To his ducks and his pigs,
Whom he fed upon figs,
That valuable person of Bray."

Politics

Since the redistribution of parliamentary boundaries which took effect at the 2010 general election, Bray has been in Maidenhead, the constituency of Theresa May, Prime Minister since 2016.

In terms of local government, it is in the Bray electoral ward of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

Notable people