Wraysbury
Encyclopedia
Wraysbury, traditionally spelt Wyrardisbury, is a village
and civil parish in Berkshire
, England
. It is located in the very east of the county, in the part that was in Buckinghamshire until 1974. It sits on the northern bank of the River Thames
in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
and is situated 22 miles (35 km) west of London
.
The village name is Anglo Saxon
in origin and means 'Wïgrǣd's fort'. Its name is recorded in the Domesday Book
of 1086 as Wirecesberie and Wiredesbur in 1195. There is a pub across the river in Old Windsor
, called the Bells of Ouseley and it has been suggested that this is another archaic spelling of Wraysbury. However a more likely explanation is that it is named after the bells of Osney Abbey
which were brought downstream at the dissolution and disappeared into the mud at this point.
The village was a portion of hunting grounds when the Saxons resided at Old Windsor
. New Windsor
was built in 1110 by King Henry I
and he moved in, in 1163. The lands around Wraysbury were held by a number of noblemen.
, in the parish of Wraysbury, was the location of the sealing of the Magna Carta
in 1215.
On the Ankerwycke estate in the village are the ruins of a Benedictine
nunnery, founded in the reign of King Henry II
. One of the 50 oldest trees in the United Kingdom can be found in Wraysbury. At around 2000 years old, the Ankerwycke Yew
dates from the Iron Age, and is so wide that you can fit a Mini
Cooper behind its trunk and not see it from the other side. Local legend says that Anne Boleyn once sat under the tree, while residing at the Ankerwycke Estate, but this still has to be verified.
church of St Andrew is a Gothic
structure, between Norman
and Early English, supposed to have been built by King John
. The parish registers date from the year 1734.
of Wraysbury remained relatively static during the 19th century, with a slight increase between the 1801 return of 616 and the final census of the century giving a population figure of 660. This compares to the early part of the 21st century with population figures for Wraysbury, standing at 3,641 in the 2001 census.
For centuries, agricultural and mill work had been the principal areas of employment for the villagers and as late as 1831, census returns show that of the 135 families in the village, 62 were employed in agriculture while 68 made their living in the Mills.
This compares to the most recent census where around 12% of the population work from home and the average distance travelled to work is now 14.24 km.
of the Parish of Wraysbury was ordered by a private Enclosure Act of 1799 and was signed by the commissioners in 1803. The map of the village was redrawn by Thomas Bainbridge and shows the distribution of the lands in the following the enclosure.
Prior to this, the Common Lands of the village were owned by the Lord of the Manor
of Wraysbury, at that time John Simon Harcourt, the Church, and the Trustees of William Gyll esq., although, as common land
, they were subject to legal rights of pasture
and grazing
for copyholders and other tenants. In addition to those with legal rights over the land, the poor of the district would have had ‘real’ or ‘customary rights
’, for example to feed their livestock or gather wood for fuel.
The only ones benefiting from enclosure were those who could show legal rights over the common land, such as copyholders and tenants of the manor. The enclosure enshrined their rights, converting ‘rights of common’ and allocating an area of land commensurate to their rights, as close to their farmhouse as was convenient. The poor were overlooked in this process, and were no longer able to forage for fuel or graze their animals.
The smaller landowners of Wraysbury to benefit from Enclosure were people such as Nathanial Wilmot, Nathanial Matthews, Shadrach Trotman and Thomas Buckland, all of whose names had previously appeared on the Wraysbury Court rolls as copyhold
owners.
William Thomas Buckland
was the local surveyor and valuer employed to handle the compensation claims resulting from the purchases of land for the new railway. This business of Buckland & Sons grew into an estate agency, which had an office in Windsor
High Street for the following 150 years.
suggested that a new road should be built on higher ground from Bowry’s Barn to the Colne Bridge, to replace the old road which ran along ditches susceptible to flooding. The 1848 Tithe Map
, drawn by surveyor WT Buckland showing the proposed route of the new road can be seen at the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies
in Aylesbury
. Harcourt also suggested a replacement for the old Long Bridge over the River Colne
should be built, and a new suspension bridge
, designed and paid for by Harcourt, was built by civil engineer Mr Dredge.
, wishing to provide an alternative place of worship for non-conformists, built the Wraysbury Baptist Chapel
to his own design. The original Baptist meeting place was opened in 1827 and WT Buckland was the principal minister until his death some 40 years later. Gyll, in his History of Wraysbury, described the establishment of the chapel:
The new chapel, with its elegant slender tower was opened on 16 October 1862; the building works had cost around £800.
The striking terracotta relief panel, The City of Refuge, on the front elevation of the chapel, was created by the renowned Doulton & Co
artist George Tinworth
and is signed with his monogram.
After the death of WT Buckland, James Doulton, his son-in-law and a cousin of Sir Henry Doulton
, took over the preaching duties. Later James' son-in-law the Reverend Arthur Gostick Shorrock
took over the duties. Arthur had been a student preacher in Wraysbury in the 1880s, after which he spent 35 years as a missionary work in Shaanxi
, China
.
) in the 1985 James Bond
film A View to a Kill
, in which Bond (played for the last time by Roger Moore
) and the corpse of his murdered ally Sir Godfrey Tibbett (Patrick Macnee
) were pushed into the water in their Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud
by the villainous Max Zorin
(Christopher Walken
) and his henchman Mayday
(Grace Jones
). However, Bond avoided drowning by forcing open the door and swimming to the surface.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090264/locations
Due to the various gravel pits, the River Thames
, lakes and reservoirs, Wraysbury has plenty of wildlife and wonderful walks.
The village has two railway stations, Wraysbury railway station
and Sunnymeads railway station
on the line from Windsor
to London Waterloo.
In June, Wraysbury holds its annual fete, where stands such as the local vintage and classic car clubs show off their member's vehicles. There are also activities for children and the Tug Of War held by the scouts, beavers and cubs. There are also the stands of local charities, the local school, usually giving out ice creams, and of course the church's stands.
The Wraysbury Cricket Club plays on the village Green and will play the MCC
in 2009.
Former actor Robert Rietti
had a home in Wraysbury, but once his wife died in August 2008, he no longer needed this together with his house in Wembley
and a flat in Golders Green
, and sold the house in the summer of 2009.
Former Wraysbury resident Gordon Cullen
, an architect renowned for developing the Townscape movement in post-war Britain, designed the Wraysbury Village Hall. It is only one of a few buildings he designed which were subsequently built.
On Borough level, the town is part of the Horton and Wraysbury
electoral ward and is currently represented by two councillors (John Lenton and Colin Rayner of the Conservative Party
) in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
. Councillor Lenton serves on both the Wraysbury Parish Council and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council.
Nationally, since 1997 the ward has formed part of the UK Parliamentary constituency of Windsor
and is currently represented by Adam Afriyie
of the Conservative Party
.
Before 1997, the town was part of the UK Parliamentary constituency of Windsor and Maidenhead
which was consistently held by the Conservative Party
.
Russel Grant
((Andy Ellison)), Singer in british rock bands, Johns Children, Radio Stars, Jet.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish in Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is located in the very east of the county, in the part that was in Buckinghamshire until 1974. It sits on the northern bank of the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a Royal Borough of Berkshire, in South East England. It became a unitary authority on 1 April 1998.It is home to Windsor Castle, Eton College, Legoland and Ascot Racecourse....
and is situated 22 miles (35 km) west of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
History
Investigation by Windsor and Wraysbury Archaeological Society of a field in the centre of Wraysbury to the east of St Andrew's church revealed evidence of human activity in Neolithic times. Many hundreds of flint artefacts were found and are now in the care of the Windsor Museum collection.The village name is Anglo Saxon
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
in origin and means 'Wïgrǣd's fort'. Its name is recorded in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086 as Wirecesberie and Wiredesbur in 1195. There is a pub across the river in Old Windsor
Old Windsor
Old Windsor is a large village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the English county of Berkshire.-Location:...
, called the Bells of Ouseley and it has been suggested that this is another archaic spelling of Wraysbury. However a more likely explanation is that it is named after the bells of Osney Abbey
Osney Abbey
Osney Abbey or Oseney Abbey, later Osney Cathedral, was a house of Augustinian canons at Osney in Oxfordshire. The site is south of the modern Botley Road, down Mill Street by Osney Cemetery, next to the railway line just south of Oxford station. It was founded as a priory in 1129, becoming an...
which were brought downstream at the dissolution and disappeared into the mud at this point.
The village was a portion of hunting grounds when the Saxons resided at Old Windsor
Old Windsor
Old Windsor is a large village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the English county of Berkshire.-Location:...
. New Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
was built in 1110 by King Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
and he moved in, in 1163. The lands around Wraysbury were held by a number of noblemen.
Magna Carta Island and Ankerwycke
Magna Carta IslandMagna Carta Island
Magna Carta Island is an island in the River Thames in England, on the reach above Bell Weir Lock. It is in Berkshire across the river from the water-meadows at Runnymede. The island was transferred from Buckinghamshire to Berkshire in 1974....
, in the parish of Wraysbury, was the location of the sealing of the Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
in 1215.
On the Ankerwycke estate in the village are the ruins of a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
nunnery, founded in the reign of King Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
. One of the 50 oldest trees in the United Kingdom can be found in Wraysbury. At around 2000 years old, the Ankerwycke Yew
Ankerwycke Yew
The Ankerwycke Yew is an ancient yew tree close to the ruins of St Mary's Priory, the site of a Benedictine nunnery built in the 12th century. It is near Wraysbury in Berkshire, England. It is a male tree with a girth of at 0.3 metres. It is said that an Austin Mini would be completely hidden from...
dates from the Iron Age, and is so wide that you can fit a Mini
Mini
The Mini is a small car that was made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered a British icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers...
Cooper behind its trunk and not see it from the other side. Local legend says that Anne Boleyn once sat under the tree, while residing at the Ankerwycke Estate, but this still has to be verified.
St Andrew's Church
The parishParish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
church of St Andrew is a Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
structure, between Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
and Early English, supposed to have been built by King John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
. The parish registers date from the year 1734.
Changing face of Wraysbury in the 19th Century
The populationPopulation
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
of Wraysbury remained relatively static during the 19th century, with a slight increase between the 1801 return of 616 and the final census of the century giving a population figure of 660. This compares to the early part of the 21st century with population figures for Wraysbury, standing at 3,641 in the 2001 census.
For centuries, agricultural and mill work had been the principal areas of employment for the villagers and as late as 1831, census returns show that of the 135 families in the village, 62 were employed in agriculture while 68 made their living in the Mills.
This compares to the most recent census where around 12% of the population work from home and the average distance travelled to work is now 14.24 km.
The Wraysbury Enclosure
The EnclosureEnclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...
of the Parish of Wraysbury was ordered by a private Enclosure Act of 1799 and was signed by the commissioners in 1803. The map of the village was redrawn by Thomas Bainbridge and shows the distribution of the lands in the following the enclosure.
Prior to this, the Common Lands of the village were owned by the Lord of the Manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
of Wraysbury, at that time John Simon Harcourt, the Church, and the Trustees of William Gyll esq., although, as common land
Common land
Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
, they were subject to legal rights of pasture
Pasture
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...
and grazing
Grazing
Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...
for copyholders and other tenants. In addition to those with legal rights over the land, the poor of the district would have had ‘real’ or ‘customary rights
Custom (law)
Custom in law is the established pattern of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law." Customary law exists where:...
’, for example to feed their livestock or gather wood for fuel.
The only ones benefiting from enclosure were those who could show legal rights over the common land, such as copyholders and tenants of the manor. The enclosure enshrined their rights, converting ‘rights of common’ and allocating an area of land commensurate to their rights, as close to their farmhouse as was convenient. The poor were overlooked in this process, and were no longer able to forage for fuel or graze their animals.
The smaller landowners of Wraysbury to benefit from Enclosure were people such as Nathanial Wilmot, Nathanial Matthews, Shadrach Trotman and Thomas Buckland, all of whose names had previously appeared on the Wraysbury Court rolls as copyhold
Copyhold
At its origin in medieval England, copyhold tenure was tenure of land according to the custom of the manor, the "title deeds" being a copy of the record of the manorial court....
owners.
Coming of the Railway
The village saw another major change in 1848 with the arrival of the railway which opened up employment opportunities and afforded the chance to travel easily and quickly to and from the village. In the History of Wraysbury published in 1862, G.W.J. Gyll extolled the benefits to the village:William Thomas Buckland
William Thomas Buckland
William Thomas Buckland was born on 5 September 1798 in Wraysbury now in Berkshire, England, in the house on Longbridge Farm where he later lived, and where he died on 1 November 1870. He became an innovative surveyor and auctioneer, as well as establishing the Baptist Chapel in Wraysbury. He was...
was the local surveyor and valuer employed to handle the compensation claims resulting from the purchases of land for the new railway. This business of Buckland & Sons grew into an estate agency, which had an office in Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
High Street for the following 150 years.
New Road and Suspension Bridge
Where is Wraysbury, I can scarce find it on the map? asked an associate of G.W.J. Gyll. Once the railway had put the village on the map, the next step was to improve road access, and more importantly, to alleviate the adverse effects of the annual floods which frequently resulted in the village being cut off from the rest of the county. Lord of the Manor, George HarcourtGeorge Harcourt
George Granville Harcourt was a British Whig and then Conservative Party politician.-Political career:...
suggested that a new road should be built on higher ground from Bowry’s Barn to the Colne Bridge, to replace the old road which ran along ditches susceptible to flooding. The 1848 Tithe Map
Tithe maps
The term Tithe map is usually applied to a map of an English or Welsh parish or township, prepared following the Tithe Commutation Act 1836. This act allowed tithes to be paid in cash rather than goods. The map and its accompanying schedule gave the names of all owners and occupiers of land in the...
, drawn by surveyor WT Buckland showing the proposed route of the new road can be seen at the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies
Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies
The Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies is the county record office for Buckinghamshire, England. It houses the former Buckinghamshire Record Office and the former Buckinghamshire Local Studies Library. It is located in Aylesbury, in the base of County Hall....
in Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
. Harcourt also suggested a replacement for the old Long Bridge over the River Colne
River Colne, Hertfordshire
The Colne is a river in England which is a tributary of the River Thames. It flows mainly through Hertfordshire and forms the boundary between the South Bucks district of Buckinghamshire and the London Borough of Hillingdon...
should be built, and a new suspension bridge
Suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...
, designed and paid for by Harcourt, was built by civil engineer Mr Dredge.
Non-Conformists in Wraysbury
The only place of worship in Wraysbury until 1827 was the Anglican Church of St Andrew. Local farmer, surveyor and auctioneer, William Thomas BucklandWilliam Thomas Buckland
William Thomas Buckland was born on 5 September 1798 in Wraysbury now in Berkshire, England, in the house on Longbridge Farm where he later lived, and where he died on 1 November 1870. He became an innovative surveyor and auctioneer, as well as establishing the Baptist Chapel in Wraysbury. He was...
, wishing to provide an alternative place of worship for non-conformists, built the Wraysbury Baptist Chapel
Wraysbury Baptist Chapel
Wraysbury Baptist Chapel is situated in the village of Wraysbury, Berkshire, England. The present day building was opened in 1862, but the chapel was first established in 1827.- History :...
to his own design. The original Baptist meeting place was opened in 1827 and WT Buckland was the principal minister until his death some 40 years later. Gyll, in his History of Wraysbury, described the establishment of the chapel:
The new chapel, with its elegant slender tower was opened on 16 October 1862; the building works had cost around £800.
The striking terracotta relief panel, The City of Refuge, on the front elevation of the chapel, was created by the renowned Doulton & Co
Royal Doulton
The Royal Doulton Company is an English company producing tableware and collectables, dating to 1815. Operating originally in London, its reputation grew in The Potteries, where it was a latecomer compared to Spode, Wedgwood and Minton...
artist George Tinworth
George Tinworth
George Tinworth was an English ceramic artist who worked for the Doulton factory at Lambeth from 1867 until his death.-Life:...
and is signed with his monogram.
After the death of WT Buckland, James Doulton, his son-in-law and a cousin of Sir Henry Doulton
Henry Doulton
Sir Henry Doulton was an English businessman, inventor and manufacturer of pottery, instrumental in developing the firm of Royal Doulton....
, took over the preaching duties. Later James' son-in-law the Reverend Arthur Gostick Shorrock
Arthur Gostick Shorrock
Arthur Gostick Shorrock , a pioneer Baptist missionary in China for 40 years. Arthur was born in 1861 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. He entered Spurgeon's College and as a student preacher took services at the Baptist Chapel in Wraysbury...
took over the duties. Arthur had been a student preacher in Wraysbury in the 1880s, after which he spent 35 years as a missionary work in Shaanxi
Shaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
Use in film and television
A flooded quarry in Wraysbury was used a filming location (actually intended to be in FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) in the 1985 James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill is the fourteenth spy film of the James Bond series, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill", the film is the fourth Bond film after The Spy Who Loved...
, in which Bond (played for the last time by Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
) and the corpse of his murdered ally Sir Godfrey Tibbett (Patrick Macnee
Patrick Macnee
Patrick Macnee is an English actor, best known for his role as the secret agent John Steed in the series The Avengers.-Early life:...
) were pushed into the water in their Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud
Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud
The Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud was the core model of the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars range from April 1955 until March 1966. It replaced the Silver Dawn and was, in turn, replaced by the Silver Shadow.The J. P...
by the villainous Max Zorin
Max Zorin
Max Zorin is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond film A View to a Kill. He was portrayed by Academy Award winner Christopher Walken...
(Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
) and his henchman Mayday
Mayday
Mayday is a distress signalMayday or May Day may also refer to:* May Day, a holiday on or around May 1** International Workers' Day* Mayday, Colorado- Music :* Mayday , an electronic music festival* Mayday...
(Grace Jones
Grace Jones
Grace Jones is a Jamaican-American singer, model and actress.Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits. In the late 1970s, she adapted the emerging electronic music style and adopted a severe, androgynous look with square-cut hair and...
). However, Bond avoided drowning by forcing open the door and swimming to the surface.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090264/locations
Wraysbury Today
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
, lakes and reservoirs, Wraysbury has plenty of wildlife and wonderful walks.
The village has two railway stations, Wraysbury railway station
Wraysbury railway station
Wraysbury railway station is a railway station serving the village of Wraysbury in Berkshire, England.The station is located on the line between Windsor and Eton Riverside and London Waterloo...
and Sunnymeads railway station
Sunnymeads railway station
Sunnymeads railway station is a railway station serving the now defunct village of Sunnymeads in Berkshire, England. The station is located on the line between Windsor and Eton Riverside and London Waterloo. It was built in 1929, and has been un-manned since 1946...
on the line from Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
to London Waterloo.
In June, Wraysbury holds its annual fete, where stands such as the local vintage and classic car clubs show off their member's vehicles. There are also activities for children and the Tug Of War held by the scouts, beavers and cubs. There are also the stands of local charities, the local school, usually giving out ice creams, and of course the church's stands.
The Wraysbury Cricket Club plays on the village Green and will play the MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
in 2009.
Former actor Robert Rietti
Robert Rietti
Robert Rietti , usually credited as Robert Rietty, is a Italian actor and director.- Biography :Born of Italian heritage, Lucio Rietti was “discovered” at the age of 8 by his father Vittorio who noticed the boy had completely memorized a copy of a script he had given Lucio having wanted help from...
had a home in Wraysbury, but once his wife died in August 2008, he no longer needed this together with his house in Wembley
Wembley
Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...
and a flat in Golders Green
Golders Green
Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in London, England. Although having some earlier history, it is essentially a 19th century suburban development situated about 5.3 miles north west of Charing Cross and centred on the crossroads of Golders Green Road and Finchley Road.In the...
, and sold the house in the summer of 2009.
Former Wraysbury resident Gordon Cullen
Gordon Cullen
Thomas Gordon Cullen was an influential English architect and urban designer who was a key motivator in the Townscape movement. He is best known for the book The Concise Townscape, first published in 1961.-Biography:Cullen was born in Calverley, Pudsey, near Leeds...
, an architect renowned for developing the Townscape movement in post-war Britain, designed the Wraysbury Village Hall. It is only one of a few buildings he designed which were subsequently built.
Politics
On a Parish level, the town is represented by eleven councillors of the Wraysbury Parish Council.On Borough level, the town is part of the Horton and Wraysbury
Horton and Wraysbury
Horton and Wraysbury is an electoral ward currently represented by two councillors in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead...
electoral ward and is currently represented by two councillors (John Lenton and Colin Rayner of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
) in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a Royal Borough of Berkshire, in South East England. It became a unitary authority on 1 April 1998.It is home to Windsor Castle, Eton College, Legoland and Ascot Racecourse....
. Councillor Lenton serves on both the Wraysbury Parish Council and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council.
Nationally, since 1997 the ward has formed part of the UK Parliamentary constituency of Windsor
Windsor (UK Parliament constituency)
Windsor is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In its modern form, it elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.-Boundaries:...
and is currently represented by Adam Afriyie
Adam Afriyie
Adam Afriyie is a British Conservative Party politician, and the Member of Parliament for Windsor. He was first elected at the 2005 general election and re-elected at the 2010 election.-Early life:...
of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
.
Before 1997, the town was part of the UK Parliamentary constituency of Windsor and Maidenhead
Windsor and Maidenhead (UK Parliament constituency)
Windsor and Maidenhead was a county constituency in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
which was consistently held by the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
.
Famous residents
- David GilmourDavid GilmourDavid Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
- Member of the British Rock band Pink FloydPink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially... - Gordon CullenGordon CullenThomas Gordon Cullen was an influential English architect and urban designer who was a key motivator in the Townscape movement. He is best known for the book The Concise Townscape, first published in 1961.-Biography:Cullen was born in Calverley, Pudsey, near Leeds...
- British Architect (d.1994) - Christine KeelerChristine KeelerChristine Margaret Keeler is an English former model and showgirl. Her involvement with a British government minister discredited the Conservative government of Harold Macmillan in 1963, in what is known as the Profumo Affair....
- A young girl who was involved with the Profumo AffairProfumo AffairThe Profumo Affair was a 1963 British political scandal named after John Profumo, Secretary of State for War. His affair with Christine Keeler, the reputed mistress of an alleged Russian spy, followed by lying in the House of Commons when he was questioned about it, forced the resignation of...
. - Bunty BaileyBunty BaileyTherese "Bunty" Bailey is an English model, dancer, and actress. Bunty started her career as a dancer in the erotic dance group Hot Gossip in the early 1980s...
- The girl in the classic rotoscoped music video Take on meTake on Me"Take on Me" is a song by the Norwegian pop band A-ha. Written by the band members, the song was produced by Alan Tarney for the group's first studio album Hunting High and Low, released in 1985...
by a-haA-haA-ha were a Norwegian pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. The band was founded by Morten Harket , Magne Furuholmen , and Pål Waaktaar...
, and also a past member of Hot GossipHot Gossip-Formation:Arlene Phillips came to London to learn and teach developing American Jazz dance routines. Employed as a dance teacher, she taught at locations including the Pineapple Dance Studios and the Italia Conti Stage School. In 1974, Phillips started forming the core of a troupe; Italia Conti...
Russel Grant
((Andy Ellison)), Singer in british rock bands, Johns Children, Radio Stars, Jet.
External links
- Wraysbury.Net - Village Community Website
- Wraysbury - UK & Ireland Genealogy#
- Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies
- ONS Neighbourhood Statistics Wraysbury
- Wraysbury Enclosure Award
- Google Books GWJ Gyll selected chapters
- Thames Pilot - Slough History Online
- The National Archives - Documents Online Domesday Book, Wraysbury
- Variations in the spelling of Wraysbury
- Wraysbury Fishing Lake