Riverside - west of the Tower South Bank, Dedworth The Willows

Riverside - west of the Tower South Bank, Dedworth The Willows


This post describes sites on the south bank only, North of the river is Boveney

Post to the east Windsor Racecourse and Boveney Lock
Post to the west Bray Studios and Dorney riverside

Maidenhead Road
Along this stretch of road were a series of grand houses with late 19th occupants of varying wealth and eccentricity.  The road continues but from a roundabout at The Willows it became a side road and an eventual cul de sac, while the main road continues under another name
Sutherland Grange.  The site is now a park and nature reserve, mainly in the square to the east.  This house, since demolished, was erected in 1902 in the Elizabethan style.  It had previously been the home of the widow of the Duke of Sutherland, Mary Caroline Blair.
Surley Hall. Maidenhead Road was once called Surley Hall Road. The Surley Hall Hotel/pub was slightly to the east of the Willows. It closed in 1899.
The Willows. This was the home of Sir Dhunjibhoy Bomanji in the early 20th. He was a wealthy Parsee who made his money in the Bombay shipyards. He has British homes here and in Harrogate and was both a philanthropist and socialite.  There are records of a housed here with prominent residents going back to the early 19th. In 1807 it was said to have been occupied by Henry Townley Ward, having been built by a Mr. Kimberley and then the home of a Henry Walter in 1836. By 1863 it was the home of a Roger Eykyn, Member of Parliament for Windsor, following some electoral problems.  The current house however appears to be in a style – half timbered ‘Tudorbethan’ of the late 19th.   It appears to have been divided up into flats at some time in the mid 20th.
Caravan Park. This residential site is on what appears to have been the grounds of The Willows and to date from the mid 1960s.
Squires Garden Centres. This appears to have been a separate plot or holding since the 1890s.
The Fishery. This seems to have been another big house by the river.
Windsor Marina. It appears to have been founded post Second World War
Windsor Yacht Club. This dates from 1976 among berth holders at Windsor Marina.  In 1981 permission was given for a clubhouse at the marina and this opened in 1982.
The Hatch. There appears to be a number of houses here at was yet another local 'big house' visited by Edward VII in connection with racing contacts. In 1863 it was the home of Henry Darvill, Mayor of Windsor ten years earlier.


Riverside
Ruddles Pool. This is a ninety degree bend in the river and thus dangerous.

Sources
British History Online. Web site
Debrett
Theroyalwindsorforum. Web site
Where Thames still waters glide. Web site
Windsor and Maidenhead Council. Web site

Comments

Unknown said…
I was born in 1957 and my parents were already living in a caravan at The Willows...so I question the date that has been 1960s as being when it became residential caravans.

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