Riverside west of the Tower, south bank. Clewer

Riverside west of the Tower, south bank.  Clewer

This post shows sites south of the river only. North of the river is Eton Cuckoo Weir


Post to the east - Windsor riverside and castle and Eton
Post to the west Windsor Racecourse and Boveney Lock


Baths Island
Baths Island. This was originally known as Deadwater Ait but the name changed because of the siting of the Windsor swimming baths as early as the 1860s. From the mid-19th and maybe earlier this was an area for swimming in the river and there were some facilities as well as a sign saying baths. In 1870 the men's bathing area was moved downstream and that was known as the Eastern Baths. In 1904 that the area by the arches was officially used as a swimming area when the Ladies Swimming Baths were constructed, and were later known as the Western Baths. Later the banks were concrete lined, the islands joined and hand rails fitted along the waterline, and changing rooms built adjacent to the railway arches. There were also water polo nets and three diving boards. It was eventually closed because of health fears with polluted river water
Channel. The island was divided in two by a channel later filled in.


Clewer Court Road
Clewer Boathouse. Classic Boat Restoration Services
Clewer Court. The road appears to be named after a house, or farm, called Clewer Court the site of which is now under the main road
Royal Windsor Racecourse Stables. These were on the south east corner of the road and seem to have closed in the mid-1960s at a time when the relief road was built.


Clewer Park
This is an estate of 60 houses built during the mid-1950s in the site of a house called Clewer Park
Clewer Park. This was originally a medieval house. It was later the home of Sir Daniel Gooch, the 19th century industrialist, railway engineer and engineer responsible for the first transatlantic cables. In the Second World War it was used as accommodation for Royal Naval Wrens connected to HMS President and the administration of Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships. It was later used to house bombed out families.  In 1955 it was sold to developers who built houses and in 1957 the Allotment Association took over a third of the remaining land. In 1975 the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead bought the remainder to provide an open space for the community.
Clewer Park. The trees in the park reflect its history and there are still some oaks from Windsor Forest. There are also redwoods and other rare trees planted as part of ornamental gardens in the 19th.
(Clewer Barracks. It is said that there was a Cavalry barracks here built in 1796-1800 for the Royal Horse Guards until replaced in 1875.  Very unclear where this site was).

Queen Elizabeth Bridge
The Queen Elizabeth Bridge carries the A332 across the Thames
Pedestrian underpass


Maidenhead Road
Clewer Park Allotments
Racecourse Entrance


Mill Lane
Duke of Edinburgh Pub was on the west corner with Maidenhead Road. Had turrets and things but demolished and replaced by flats in the mid 1960s, it is said to have replaced a police station.
Boycott cottages
7 house with a detailed plaque on it about Daniel Gooch with information on his life and saying that the houses have his “armorial bearings” – which may refer to the adjacent house to the south.,
9 The Swan Pub. The pub dates at least back to the early 19th and is probably older. It may be closed.
Church St Andrew the Apostle. It is thought that the nave was built around 1100, and the font is Saxon but no one really knows about the church’s age or antecedents. However Clewer as a settlement is older than Windsor and the Norman castle. The church stands on a slight rise which might explain its antiquity. There are six bells in the tower, all recast from older bells in the 19th and later. There are boards with local charitable bequests. There are many interesting and important relics and works of art and monuments to people who include Daniel Paterson of “Paterson’s roads”. And there is a reredos which is a memorial to the Clewer dead of the Great War
Churchyard. That area adjacent to Mill Lane is a 19th extension. The oldest graves with wooden markers have been lost but there are many others of great interest.  The graves include that of Daniel Gooch. Part of the Churchyard has wild flowers which are becoming scarce in the countryside.
Lodge. This is by the lychgate and includes a small museum of local history
Edgeworth House., The dates from 1707. This appears to have been an annexe to Duncroft School Annexe in the 1950s – Duncroft was a ‘special school’ based in Staines. It was subsequently an YHA Hostel until 2005 and is now a private house.
The Limes. 17th house.
Foot bridge to White Lilies Island
Clewer Boathouse, French Brothers
Old Mill House. A mill at Clewer is mentioned in the Domesday Book and a mill has remained on site since. In 1781 it was burnt down and rebuilt and remained operational into the late 19th. It has been used as housing since at least the 1920s. It was owned by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin from the 1970s, and later by Michael Caine.


Mill Stream
Clewer Mill Stream is a backwater which leaves the main river at Bush Ait and rejoins just above Queen Elizabeth Bridge
Weir

The Rays Island
Windsor Race Course. The course is mainly in the square to the west and detail on the racecourse is there.


Stovell Road
Clewer Mead. War Memorial Baths, These opened in 1963. There is a plaque is displayed outside the current Leisure Centre: ‘Windsor War Memorial Swimming Bath opened on 18th May
1963 by His Worship The Mayor Councillor H H Basford’. The  preceding Francis Burton, was a keen swimmer had campaigned for a 'proper' swimming baths at Windsor for many years. The pool was heated with a deep and shallow end and it was an open air pool. A toddlers’ pool was opened in 1968 beside the café.  The pool filtration plant was housed in a separate building. It was demolished in 1986.
Windsor Leisure Pool. This was opened by the Queen in 1987.  It has two pools, one with a wave machine and two water slides, and the other featuring a retractable 'wall' that could be raised from the bottom to divide the pool into two training areas. There is also a gym and other sports facilities. It was extended in 1997
Windsor Canoe Club. This was established in the 1960s and has a clubhouse here.
Windsor and Eton Sea Cadet Corp., Training Ship Windsor Castle. in 1899 meetings were held between the Windsor branch of the Navy League and the Windsor Council to provide a training vessel on the river, A Thames Sailing Barge was purchased the unit was opened. In 1902 the barge was re-rigged as a brig and remained in service until 1912 when it was replaced by a similar vessel and named King George. The unit moved to its current location in 1986.
Windsor Boys School Rowing Club. Boathouse for the local boys’ school which has produced a series of famous rowers.
Imperial Service College boathouse.  This dated from 1934 and was also used by the Windsor Boys School. It was demolished to make way for the Windsor War Memorial Swimming Baths in 1962.


White Lilies Island
This is a peninsula at the end of The Rays. It is also the name of an album relating to one of the residents.

Windsor and Eton Relief Road A332
This is a dual-carriageway road built as the Windsor and Eton relief road in 1966 and later re named as Royal Windsor Way in 2012


Sources
British Listed Buildings. Web site
Royal Windsor Forum.  Web site
SABRE Roaders Digest. Web site
St. Andrew’s Church. Web site
Wikipedia. As appropriate
Wilson. Sir Daniel Gooch Diaries
Windsor and Maidenhead Council. Web site
Windsor Boys School. Web site
Windsor Canoe Club. Web site
Windsor Sea Cadet Corp. Web site
Windsor Through Time

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