99-481: Furze Platt railway station is a railway station in the town of Maidenhead , Berkshire , England. It is 1 mile 22 chains (2.1 km) down the line from Maidenhead station and 25 miles 41 chains (41.1 km) measured from London Paddington . The Wycombe Railway (WR), part of which now forms the greater portion of the Marlow branch line , opened between Maidenhead and High Wycombe in 1854 with
198-405: A Catholic chapel that led to St Joseph's Church . Maidenhead clock tower was built for Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee and is located outside the railway station. Boulter's Lock is a lock on the river Thames on the east side of Maidenhead. It adjoins Ray Mill Island . In addition the town has a range of various statues which form part of a recognisable image of the town, including the 'Boy and
297-536: A Conservative safe seat. The Boundary Commission abolished this constituency for the 1997 general election since the electorate had become too large, splitting it into the new seats of Windsor and Maidenhead . Maidenhead had been held by the Conservative Party in every election since its foundation in 1997 until 2024 . The former Prime Minister, Theresa May was elected MP in 1997 and has represented Maidenhead until she stood down in 2024. The seat
396-486: A baron's possessions; and it also showed to what extent he had under-tenants and the identities of the under-tenants. This was of great importance to William, not only for military reasons but also because of his resolve to command the personal loyalty of the under-tenants (though the "men" of their lords) by making them swear allegiance to him. As Domesday Book normally records only the Christian name of an under-tenant, it
495-665: A day passing through the town. The late 18th-century Bear Hotel on the High Street is the best of the town's old coaching inns surviving to this day. King Charles I met his children for the last time before his execution in 1649 at the Greyhound Inn on the High Street, the site of which is now a branch of the NatWest Bank . A plaque commemorates their meeting. When the Great Western Railway came to
594-415: A definitive reference point as to property holdings across the nation, in case such evidence was needed in disputes over Crown ownership. The Domesday survey, therefore, recorded the names of the new holders of lands and the assessments on which their tax was to be paid. But it did more than this; by the king's instructions, it endeavoured to make a national valuation list, estimating the annual value of all
693-523: A great political convulsion such as the Norman Conquest, and the following wholesale confiscation of landed estates, William needed to reassert that the rights of the Crown, which he claimed to have inherited, had not suffered in the process. His Norman followers tended to evade the liabilities of their English predecessors. Historians believe the survey was to aid William in establishing certainty and
792-674: A local landmark, dates from 1777 and was built at a cost of £19,000. It takes the A4 over the Thames to join Maidenhead to Taplow. All Saints' Church, Boyne Hill was completed in 1857 and is an early work by the architect G. E. Street . The church, consecrated on 2 December 1857 by Bishop Samuel Wilberforce , became the first ecclesiastical parish in the Borough of Maidenhead. Ten years later, in 1867, his brother William Wilberforce junior founded
891-572: A mill for every forty-six peasant households and implies a great increase in the consumption of baked bread in place of boiled and unground porridge . The book also lists 28,000 slaves , a smaller number than had been enumerated in 1066. In the Domesday Book, scribes' orthography was heavily geared towards French, most lacking k and w, regulated forms for sounds / ð / and / θ / and ending many hard consonant words with e as they were accustomed to do with most dialects of French at
990-572: A new leisure centre in the town to replace the outdated Magnet Leisure Centre which is located east of Kidwells Park. The new facility, Braywick Leisure Centre, opened in September 2020. The town also has various community centres, including 4 Marlow Road, a youth and community centre, located to the side of Kidwells Park near the town centre. Various activities take place here, including scheduled youth drop in times as well as classes in dance provided privately in its large sports and dance studios. There
1089-563: A parish called Maidenhead was created covering the same area as the borough, and the parishes of Bray and Cookham were reduced to just cover the areas outside the borough. The municipal borough and parish of Maidenhead were abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , becoming part of the borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (which was allowed to use the style ' royal borough ' that had previously been used by Windsor ). The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead became
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#17327655104021188-459: 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 antiquary John Leland claimed that the area around Maidenhead's present town centre was
1287-598: A railway station in South East England is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Maidenhead 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
1386-502: A seventh circuit for the Little Domesday shires). Three sources discuss the goal of the survey : After this had the king a large meeting, and very deep consultation with his council, about this land; how it was occupied, and by what sort of men. Then sent he his men over all England into each shire; commissioning them to find out 'How many hundreds of hides were in the shire, what land the king himself had, and what stock upon
1485-462: A small Roman settlement called Alaunodunum. He stated that it had all but disappeared by the end of the Roman occupation. Although his source is unknown, there is documented and physical evidence of Roman settlement in the town. There are two well known villa sites in the town, one being in the suburb of Cox Green , and the other just west of the town centre on Castle Hill. This villa sat on the route of
1584-402: A subject of historical debate. Sir Michael Postan , for instance, contends that these may not represent all rural households, but only full peasant tenancies, thus excluding landless men and some subtenants (potentially a third of the country's population). H. C. Darby , when factoring in the excluded households and using various different criteria for those excluded (as well as varying sizes for
1683-548: A time after the Great Fire of London . From the 1740s onwards, they were held, with other Exchequer records, in the chapter house of Westminster Abbey . In 1859, they were transferred to the new Public Record Office , London. They are now held at the National Archives at Kew. The chest in which they were stowed in the 17th and 18th centuries is also at Kew. In modern times, the books have been removed from
1782-540: A town, where separately-recorded properties had been demolished to make way for a castle. Early British authors thought that the motivation behind the Survey was to put into William's power the lands, so that all private property in land came only from the grant of King William, by lawful forfeiture. The use of the word antecessor in the Domesday Book is used for the former holders of the lands under Edward , and who had been dispossessed by their new owners. Domesday Book
1881-701: A unitary authority in 1998 when it took over the functions of the abolished Berkshire County Council . The Maidenhead urban area includes urban and suburban regions within the bounds of the town, called Maidenhead Court, North Town, Furze Platt, Pinkneys Green , Highway, Tittle Row, Boyn Hill, Fishery and Bray Wick; as well as adjoining built-up areas in surrounding civil parishes : Cox Green and Altwood in Cox Green parish, Woodlands Park in White Waltham parish, and part of Bray Wick in Bray parish. Bray village
1980-567: A women's team and a large youth programme. The local newspaper is The Maidenhead Advertiser . Maidenhead has been the home of Maidenhead Citadel Band of the Salvation Army since 1886. The head office of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is based in Maidenhead on Marlow Road. Furthermore, various private companies have their head offices located around the town including, Johnson & Johnson,
2079-517: Is Buckinghamshire New University in High Wycombe 14.5 km (9 mi) to the north. The University of Reading and University of West London (Berkshire Institute of Health-Reading) are both approximately 21 km (13 mi) to the south-west. Maidenhead is briefly mentioned in Jerome K. Jerome 's 1889 humorous novel, Three Men in a Boat , although the author makes clear he dislikes
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#17327655104022178-602: Is a publicly open gym at Furze Platt school, in North Maidenhead. The ( Brunel -built) Great Western Main Line and Elizabeth Line passes through the town, calling at Maidenhead railway station and offer direct services to London (Paddington and intermediate stations towards Liverpool Street, Shenfield, Canary Wharf and Abbey Wood) Reading , Didcot and an hourly direct Sunday service to Swindon . It passes over Brunel's Maidenhead Railway Bridge (known locally as
2277-401: Is devoted to the somewhat arid details of the assessment and valuation of rural estates, which were as yet the only important source of national wealth. After stating the assessment of the manor , the record sets forth the amount of arable land , and the number of plough teams (each reckoned at eight oxen) available for working it, with the additional number (if any) that might be employed; then
2376-410: Is examined more closely, perplexities and difficulties arise." One problem is that the clerks who compiled this document "were but human; they were frequently forgetful or confused." The use of Roman numerals also led to countless mistakes. Darby states, "Anyone who attempts an arithmetical exercise in Roman numerals soon sees something of the difficulties that faced the clerks." But more important are
2475-533: Is held at the National Archives at Kew , London. Domesday was first printed in full in 1783, and in 2011 the Open Domesday site made the manuscript available online. The book is an invaluable primary source for modern historians and historical economists . No survey approaching the scope and extent of Domesday Book was attempted again in Britain until the 1873 Return of Owners of Land (sometimes termed
2574-579: Is linked to Maidenhead by the exclusive Fishery Estate which lies on the west bank of the Thames. To the east, on the opposite side of the river from Maidenhead, is the large village of Taplow in Buckinghamshire which almost adjoins the suburban village of Burnham, Buckinghamshire , which itself nearly adjoins the urban area of the large, industrial town of Slough . To the north are the Cookhams , Cookham Village, Cookham Rise and Cookham Dean. To
2673-485: Is named after Henry Reitlinger, a leading collector of fine art. On his death in 1950, the collection was vested in a trust, the Henry Reitlinger Bequest. The trustees were his adopted daughter, Mrs. M. Cocke, and a Maidenhead solicitor, who chose to house the collection at Oldfield House, now a private residence; the building dates back to 1892. The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has built
2772-463: Is next to a level crossing on Harrow Lane, Maidenhead. All services at Furze Platt are operated by Great Western Railway . The typical off-peak service is one train per hour between Maidenhead and Marlow . During the peak hours, the service is increased to two trains per hour in each direction and northbound trains runs to and from Bourne End only, connecting with a half-hourly shuttle service between Bourne End and Marlow. This article on
2871-552: Is not possible to search for the surnames of families claiming a Norman origin. Scholars, however, have worked to identify the under-tenants, most of whom have foreign Christian names. The survey provided the King with information on potential sources of funds when he needed to raise money. It includes sources of income but not expenses, such as castles, unless they needed to be included to explain discrepancies between pre-and post-Conquest holdings of individuals. Typically, this happened in
2970-607: Is now held by Joshua Reynolds of the Liberal Democrats . Maidenhead was incorporated as a borough in 1582. The borough straddled the parishes of Bray and Cookham . It was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 , which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country. The Local Government Act 1894 directed that parishes were no longer allowed to straddle borough boundaries, and so
3069-506: Is of great illustrative importance. The Inquisitio Eliensis is a record of the lands of Ely Abbey . The Exon Domesday (named because the volume was held at Exeter ) covers Cornwall , Devon, Dorset , Somerset, and one manor of Wiltshire . Parts of Devon, Dorset, and Somerset are also missing. Otherwise, this contains the full details supplied by the original returns. Through comparison of what details are recorded in which counties, six Great Domesday "circuits" can be determined (plus
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3168-525: Is the oldest 'public record' in England and probably the most remarkable statistical document in the history of Europe. The continent has no document to compare with this detailed description covering so great a stretch of territory. And the geographer, as he turns over the folios, with their details of population and of arable, woodland, meadow and other resources, cannot but be excited at the vast amount of information that passes before his eyes. The author of
3267-451: Is under construction. Part of the scheme involves restoring the old Thames tributaries which run through a historic section of the town centre. The redevelopment will bring an attractive waterfront quarter with new apartments, boutique stores, restaurants, bars, and cafes are to be a feature this new part of the town centre. The adjoining historic section of the High Street around the 18th century Chapel Arches Bridge has been restored as part of
3366-491: The Camlet Way which was a Roman road linking Silchester ( Calleva Atrebatum ) and Colchester ( Camulodunum ) via St Albans ( Verulamium ) and passes through the present town centre. Remnants of the road have been unearthed at various locations nearby, but its exact route is unclear. Maidenhead's name stems from the riverside area where the first "New wharf " or "Maiden Hythe" was built, as early as Saxon times . In
3465-705: The County Palatine of Durham – and parts of Wales bordering and included within English counties). Space was left in Great Domesday for a record of the City of London and Winchester , but they were never written up. Other areas of modern London were then in Middlesex , Surrey , Kent , and Essex and have their place in Domesday Book's treatment of those counties. Most of Cumberland, Westmorland, and
3564-733: The Department for Work and Pensions , a local Jobcentre Plus which is located in Park Street. It is open 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday (10am on Wednesday) and offers help in finding employment, including the National Careers Service. In addition, as part of the UK Government roll out of the new social care benefit system, Maidenhead is now a Universal Credit Full Service area. Situated on the River Thames,
3663-644: The Elizabeth Line through the Thames Valley since 2022. Local bus services are provided by First Berkshire & The Thames Valley , Arriva Shires & Essex and Thames Valley Buses . The A4 runs through the town and crosses the Thames over Maidenhead Bridge . The town lies adjacent to junction 8/9 on the M4 motorway and is accessed via the A404(M) and A308(M) . The A308(M), A404(M) and A404 form
3762-481: The Marlow and Maidenhead bypass which also acts as an important link between the M4, to the south of the town, and M40 at High Wycombe . The River Thames runs 1 ⁄ 2 mile (800 m) to the east of the town centre, and York Stream, which runs through the town centre, connects to the Thames via a system of disused waterways . A renewal scheme is in progress to reopen these waterways. The Jubilee River , part of
3861-420: The hundred or wapentake in which they lay, hundreds (wapentakes in eastern England) being the second tier of local government within the counties. Each county's list opened with the king's demesne, which had possibly been the subject of separate inquiry. Under the feudal system, the king was the only true "owner" of land in England by virtue of his allodial title . He was thus the ultimate overlord, and even
3960-450: The military service due, markets, mints , and so forth. From the towns, from the counties as wholes, and from many of its ancient lordships, the crown was entitled to archaic dues in kind, such as honey . The Domesday Book lists 5,624 mills in the country, which is considered a low estimate since the book is incomplete. For comparison, fewer than 100 mills were recorded in the country a century earlier. Georges Duby indicates this means
4059-531: The "Modern Domesday") which presented the first complete, post-Domesday picture of the distribution of landed property in the United Kingdom . Domesday Book encompasses two independent works (originally in two physical volumes): "Little Domesday" (covering Norfolk , Suffolk , and Essex ), and "Great Domesday" (covering much of the remainder of England – except for lands in the north that later became Westmorland , Cumberland , Northumberland , and
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4158-810: The 19th century. They were held originally in various offices of the Exchequer : the Chapel of the Pyx of Westminster Abbey ; the Treasury of Receipts; and the Tally Court. However, on several occasions they were taken around the country with the Chancellor of the Exchequer: to York and Lincoln in 1300, to York in 1303 and 1319, to Hertford in the 1580s or 1590s, and to Nonsuch Palace , Surrey, in 1666 for
4257-512: The 900th anniversary of the original Domesday Book. In August 2006, the contents of Domesday went online, with an English translation of the book's Latin. Visitors to the website are able to look up a place name and see the index entry made for the manor, town, city or village. They can also, for a fee, download the relevant page. In the Middle Ages, the Book's evidence was frequently invoked in
4356-744: The American multi-national pharmaceutical. The schools listed below consist of various types of schools including free schools and academies. Although the town only has the one college, most students entering college level education travel to the various establishments in the area, including the Windsor Forest Colleges Group (formerly East Berkshire College) in both Windsor (Berkshire) and Langley , Slough as well as The Henley College in Oxfordshire and Reading College (Berkshire). The closest higher education institution
4455-685: The Boat' location at the top end of the High Street, near the Methodist Church. Maidenhead has a long history of settlement, going back to the Anglo-Saxon and Roman periods. Despite this, there are no visible architectural remains in the present day town to show this. Although there are attractive residential and green areas in and around Maidenhead, the historic heart of the town has been redeveloped, primarily with office space, high technology company headquarters and apartments, making it one of
4554-411: The High Street. There are also plans to demolish the 1960s Nicholsons shopping centre and replace it with a new retail and residential quarter built around a network of revived historic streets and a micro brewery. A new town square featuring shops, restaurants and apartments is currently under construction between the central library and town hall . The Chapel Arches retail and residential development
4653-713: The London area only rarely. In 1861–1863, they were sent to Southampton for photozincographic reproduction . In 1918–19, prompted by the threat of German bombing during the First World War , they were evacuated (with other Public Record Office documents) to Bodmin Prison , Cornwall. Likewise, in 1939–1945, during the Second World War , they were evacuated to Shepton Mallet Prison , Somerset. The volumes have been rebound on several occasions. Little Domesday
4752-794: The New Economics Foundation rated Maidenhead as an example of a clone town and the town centre is regarded as in need of improvement. In December 2007, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead set up the Partnership for the Regeneration of Maidenhead (PRoM), which in October 2008 launched a comprehensive 20 Year Vision and Action Plan for rejuvenating the town centre. Launch of the plan coincided with confirmation by central government that Maidenhead will be part of
4851-564: The Sheriff had one hundred and seventy-six manors in Devon and four nearby in Somerset and Dorset . Tenants-in-chief held variable proportions of their manors in demesne , and had subinfeudated to others, whether their own knights (often tenants from Normandy), other tenants-in-chief of their own rank, or members of local English families. Manors were generally listed within each chapter by
4950-533: The Sounding Arch), famous for its flat brick arches. Maidenhead Station is the beginning of the Marlow Branch Line from Maidenhead to Marlow, Buckinghamshire ; Furze Platt railway station on this branch also serves the northern area of Maidenhead. Rail services for all services from Maidenhead have been provided by Great Western since 2003–04, and more recently, TfL Rail who have operated
5049-421: The alternative spelling "Domesdei" became popular for a while. The usual modern scholarly convention is to refer to the work as "Domesday Book" (or simply as "Domesday"), without a definite article. However, the form "the Domesday Book" is also found in both academic and non-academic contexts. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that planning for the survey was conducted in 1085, and the book's colophon states
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#17327655104025148-476: The article on the book in the eleventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica noted, "To the topographer, as to the genealogist, its evidence is of primary importance, as it not only contains the earliest survey of each township or manor, but affords, in the majority of cases, a clue to its subsequent descent." Darby also notes the inconsistencies, saying that "when this great wealth of data
5247-489: The average household), concludes that the 268,984 households listed most likely indicate a total English population between 1.2 and 1.6 million. Domesday names a total of 13,418 places. Apart from the wholly rural portions, which constitute its bulk, Domesday contains entries of interest concerning most towns, which were probably made because of their bearing on the fiscal rights of the crown therein. These include fragments of custumals (older customary agreements), records of
5346-462: The built-up area are included in civil parishes , notably at Cox Green to the south-west and Bray to the south. The borough council is based in Maidenhead, having its main offices at Maidenhead Town Hall on St Ives Road, which had been completed in 1962 for the former Maidenhead Borough Council. The town of Maidenhead was formerly part of the Windsor and Maidenhead Parliament constituency,
5445-609: The development. Existing Georgian and Victorian buildings have been rejuvenated, and the adjoining new builds have been sensitively constructed in the same historic style to bring back a sense of history and lost heritage to this part of the town centre. Maidenhead was home to the amateur radio conference that agreed on the Maidenhead Locator System standard in 1980. It is located in grid square IO91pm . The average house price in Maidenhead in January 2021
5544-562: The entirety of the County Palatine of Durham and Northumberland were omitted. They did not pay the national land tax called the geld , and the framework for Domesday Book was geld assessment lists. "Little Domesday", so named because its format is physically smaller than its companion's, is more detailed than Great Domesday. In particular, it includes the numbers of livestock on the home farms ( demesnes ) of lords, but not peasant livestock. It represents an earlier stage in processing
5643-505: The first station out of Maidenhead being Cookham . The Great Western Railway absorbed the Wycombe Railway in 1867 and opened "Furze Platt Halt" on 5 July 1937 to serve the area's growing population. British Rail renamed the station "Furze Platt" on 5 May 1969. The single platform station has basic facilities including a waiting shelter, a customer help point, and a ticket office is open weekdays from 6:45 to 11:30. The station
5742-637: The flood defence scheme, begins above Boulter's Lock nearby. In the initial plan for Crossrail , Maidenhead was expected to become the terminus for the line, now known as the Elizabeth line. However, after consultation Crossrail Limited and Transport for London decided to extend this to Reading , which also serves as a major hub for the Great Western route. Some of the stopping services from Paddington to Reading were taken over in 2018 by Crossrail's precursor company, TfL Rail . The full timetable
5841-453: The greatest magnate could do no more than "hold" land from him as a tenant (from the Latin verb tenere , "to hold") under one of the various contracts of feudal land tenure . Holdings of bishops followed, then of abbeys and religious houses , then of lay tenants-in-chief , and lastly the king's serjeants ( servientes ) and thegns. In some counties, one or more principal boroughs formed
5940-549: The key business and commuter towns of the Silicon Corridor . This has happened in piecemeal fashion over the last forty years and Maidenhead town centre has lost most many historic buildings and much of its traditional English market town character. The High Street and Bridge Street areas only possess one heavily restored Medieval building and a handful of Georgian buildings in the Chapel Arches area. Research by
6039-426: The king's brevia ((short) writings). From about 1100, references appear to the liber (book) or carta (charter) of Winchester, its usual place of custody; and from the mid-12th to early 13th centuries to the Winchester or king's rotulus ( roll ). To the English, who held the book in awe, it became known as "Domesday Book", in allusion to the Last Judgment and in specific reference to the definitive character of
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#17327655104026138-533: The kingdom concerning the matters contained in the book, and recourse is made to the book, its word cannot be denied or set aside without penalty. For this reason we call this book the "book of judgements", not because it contains decisions made in controversial cases, but because from it, as from the Last Judgement, there is no further appeal. The name "Domesday" was subsequently adopted by the book's custodians, being first found in an official document in 1221. Either through false etymology or deliberate word play ,
6237-510: The land in the country, (1) at the time of Edward the Confessor 's death, (2) when the new owners received it, (3) at the time of the survey, and further, it reckoned, by command, the potential value as well. It is evident that William desired to know the financial resources of his kingdom, and it is probable that he wished to compare them with the existing assessment, which was one of considerable antiquity, though there are traces that it had been occasionally modified. The great bulk of Domesday Book
6336-464: The land; or, what dues he ought to have by the year from the shire.' Also he commissioned them to record in writing, 'How much land his archbishops had, and his diocesan bishops, and his abbots, and his earls;' and though I may be prolix and tedious, 'What, or how much, each man had, who was an occupier of land in England, either in land or in stock, and how much money it was worth.' So very narrowly, indeed, did he commission them to trace it out, that there
6435-448: The latter was completed, if not started, by William II following his accession to the English throne; William II quashed a rebellion that followed and was based on, though not consequence of, the findings of the inquest. Most shires were visited by a group of royal officers ( legati ) who held a public inquiry, probably in the great assembly known as the shire court. These were attended by representatives of every township as well as of
6534-439: The law courts. In 1960, it was among citations for a real manor which helps to evidence legal use rights on and anchorage into the Crown's foreshore; in 2010, as to proving a manor, adding weight of years to sporting rights (deer and foxhunting); and a market in 2019. Domesday Book is critical to understanding the period in which it was written. As H. C. Darby noted, anyone who uses it can have nothing but admiration for what
6633-404: The local lords. The unit of inquiry was the Hundred (a subdivision of the county, which then was an administrative entity). The return for each Hundred was sworn to by 12 local jurors, half of them English and half of them Norman. What is believed to be a full transcript of these original returns is preserved for several of the Cambridgeshire Hundreds – the Cambridge Inquisition – and
6732-403: The name also came to be associated with the Latin phrase Domus Dei ("House of God"). Such a reference is found as early as the late 13th century, in the writings of Adam of Damerham ; and in the 16th and 17th centuries, antiquaries such as John Stow and Sir Richard Baker believed this was the name's origin, alluding to the church in Winchester in which the book had been kept. As a result,
6831-426: The new Crossrail project. PRoM's plans highlight five key developments which will help shape the town for the future. A large new retail and residential development called 'The Landing' is due for construction shortly. Additionally there will be an upgraded railway station and transport interchange, movement of the leisure centre to Braywick Park, relocating the bowls club and improved links between Kidwells Park and
6930-401: The north bank and crossed the Thames by ford at Cookham , and the medieval town, later to become Maidenhead grew up on the site of Alaunodunum and South Ellington, between the new bridge and the bottom of Castle Hill. Within a few years a new wharf was constructed next to the bridge to replace the old Saxon wharf which needed replacing. At this time, the South Ellington name was dropped with
7029-427: The numerous obvious omissions, and ambiguities in presentation. Darby first cites F. W. Maitland 's comment following his compilation of a table of statistics from material taken from the Domesday Book survey, "it will be remembered that, as matters now stand, two men not unskilled in Domesday might add up the number of hides in a county and arrive at very different results because they would hold different opinions as to
7128-598: The planned western terminus for the Crossrail line (to and through London) until Reading station, situated 13 miles (21 km) southwest of Maidenhead, was chosen. Maidenhead lies immediately west of the Taplow ridge; a wooded spur of the Chilterns which rises dramatically above one of the most scenic stretches of the Thames. The ridge is crowned by the spectacular Cliveden House which can be seen from various parts of
7227-582: The record. The word "doom" was the usual Old English term for a law or judgment; it did not carry the modern overtones of fatality or disaster . Richard FitzNeal , treasurer of England under Henry II , explained the name's connotations in detail in the Dialogus de Scaccario ( c. 1179): The natives call this book "Domesday", that is, the day of judgement. This is a metaphor: for just as no judgement of that final severe and terrible trial can be evaded by any subterfuge, so when any controversy arises in
7326-707: The results of the Domesday Survey before the drastic abbreviation and rearrangement undertaken by the scribe of Great Domesday Book. Both volumes are organised into a series of chapters (literally "headings", from Latin caput , "a head") listing the manors held by each named tenant-in-chief directly from the king. Tenants-in-chief included bishops, abbots and abbesses , barons from Normandy , Brittany , and Flanders , minor French serjeants , and English thegns . The richest magnates held several hundred manors typically spread across England, though some large estates were highly concentrated. For example, Baldwin
7425-463: The river-meadows, woodland, pasture, fisheries (i.e. fishing weirs ), water-mills , salt-pans (if by the sea), and other subsidiary sources of revenue; the peasants are enumerated in their several classes; and finally the annual value of the whole, past and present, is roughly estimated. The organisation of the returns on a feudal basis, enabled the Conqueror and his officers to see the extent of
7524-600: The site of Alaunodunum as the Bath Road was not re-routed until the 13th century. Maidenhead is recorded in the Domesday Book as the settlement of Ellington in the hundred of Beynhurst. A wooden bridge was erected across the river in about 1280 to replace the ferry in South Ellington. The Great West Road to Reading , Gloucester and Bristol was diverted over the new bridge. Previously, it had kept to
7623-403: The subject of a separate section. A few have separate lists of disputed titles to land called clamores (claims). The equivalent sections in Little Domesday are called Inuasiones (annexations). In total, 268,984 people are tallied in the Domesday Book, each of whom was the head of a household. Some households, such as urban dwellers, were excluded from the count, but the exact parameters remain
7722-412: The survey was completed in 1086. It is not known when exactly Domesday Book was compiled, but the entire copy of Great Domesday appears to have been copied out by one person on parchment (prepared sheepskin), although six scribes seem to have been used for Little Domesday. Writing in 2000, David Roffe argued that the inquest (survey) and the construction of the book were two distinct exercises. He believes
7821-432: The survey's ninth centenary. On this last occasion Great Domesday was divided into two physical volumes, and Little Domesday into three volumes. The project to publish Domesday was begun by the government in 1773, and the book appeared in two volumes in 1783, set in " record type " to produce a partial- facsimile of the manuscript. In 1811, a volume of indexes was added. In 1816, a supplementary volume, separately indexed,
7920-467: The time. In a parallel development, around 1100, the Normans in southern Italy completed their Catalogus Baronum based on Domesday Book. The original manuscript was destroyed in the Second World War , but the text survives in printed editions. The manuscripts do not carry a formal title. The work is referred to internally as a descriptio (enrolling), and in other early administrative contexts as
8019-464: The town becoming known as Maidenhythe. The earliest record of this name change is in the Bray Court manorial rolls of 1296. The new bridge and wharf led to the growth of medieval Maidenhead as a river port and market town . The present town was developed as a linear settlement in the 13th century along the newly diverted road with hostelries, a guildhall and a chapel dedicated to St Mary Magdalene
8118-606: The town is a rowing centre. Maidenhead Rowing Club organises the Maidenhead Regatta which, along with Marlow Regatta and Henley Regatta , is often seen as a testing ground for Olympic rowing athletes. Maidenhead has often seen winners go on to represent the United Kingdom at the Olympic Games. The town's football team, Maidenhead United , play at York Road , which is the oldest football ground in
8217-484: The town, it began to expand. Muddy roads were replaced and public services were installed. The High Street began to change again, and substantial Victorian red brick architecture began to appear throughout the town. Maidenhead Citadel Corps of the Salvation Army was first opened in the town in the mid-1880s. Maidenhead Citadel Band was soon founded in 1886 by Bandmaster William Thomas, who later became mayor of
8316-536: The town. A number of notable figures can be counted amongst Maidenhead's current and former residents. Domesday Book Domesday Book ( / ˈ d uː m z d eɪ / DOOMZ -day ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of King William the Conqueror . The manuscript
8415-399: The town. By Edwardian times, nearby Boulter's Lock became a favoured resort, especially on Ascot Sunday , and Skindles Hotel developed a reputation for illicit liaisons. There is one main tier of local government covering Maidenhead, at unitary authority level: the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead . Much of the Maidenhead urban area is unparished , but some outlying parts of
8514-615: The town. Maidenhead has a site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the northern outskirts of the town called Cannoncourt Farm Pit , where the largest hand axe of the paleolithic era in Britain was discovered. The town also has a local nature reserve called The Gullet . On 12 July 1901 Maidenhead entered the UK Weather Records with the Highest 60-min total rainfall at 92 mm (3.6 in). As of January 2024, this record remains. The current Maidenhead Bridge ,
8613-620: The west is the area of Pinkneys Green. These lie south of the Berkshire- Buckinghamshire border, which is formed by the River Thames (which then bends southwards to form the Maidenhead-Taplow border). Adjoining Bray and Bray Wick to the south is the suburban village of Holyport . Continuing by road to the South-East leads to the historic, royal twin towns of Windsor and Eton . Maidenhead was originally
8712-478: The world continuously used by the same team. Maidenhead United were crowned champions of National League South at the end of the 2016/17 season. Due to this, the team were automatically promoted to the National League (fifth tier of English Football) for the 2017/18 season. The Maidenhead Rugby Club was founded in 1921 and is the largest organised sports team in the town. It consists of four men's teams,
8811-474: The year 870, an army of Danes invaded the kingdom of Wessex . They disembarked from their longboats by the wharf and ferry crossing at Maidenhead and fought their way overland to Reading where they set up camp and made it their regional power base. The area of the present town centre was originally a small Anglo-Saxon town known as "South Ellington". The town would have likely developed on the Camlet Way on
8910-419: Was built in the middle of the road. The market was held outside the old guildhall which was set back from the High Street to form the market square. Maidenhead also became the first stopping point for coaches travelling from London to Gloucester and Bath and the town became populated with numerous inns . By the mid 18th century, Maidenhead was one of the busiest coaching towns in England with over ninety coaches
9009-606: Was established in 1993 and moved to permanent premises in a former pub in Park Street in 2006. In the Boyne Hill area there is Norden Farm Centre for the Arts (an arts centre including a theatre ). Waltham Place Estate on Church Hill is an 200-acre (80 ha) organic and biodynamic farm estate, with an ornamental garden, which is supported by the Campaign to Protect Rural England . The Reitlinger Open Space on Guards Club Road
9108-637: Was introduced during the phased opening of the Elizabeth line in 2022. Just 2 miles to the south-west of the town lies White Waltham Airfield , a base for general aviation and flight training. Maidenhead is in England's Silicon Corridor along the M4 motorway west of London. Many residents commute to work in London , or to the nearby towns of Slough , Bracknell and Reading . Maidenhead's industries include software, plastics, pharmaceuticals , printing and telecommunications. The town also has an office for
9207-400: Was not one single hide, nor a yard of land, nay, moreover (it is shameful to tell, though he thought it no shame to do it), not even an ox, nor a cow, nor a swine was there left, that was not set down in his writ. And all the recorded particulars were afterwards brought to him. The primary purpose of the survey was to ascertain and record the fiscal rights of the king. These were mainly: After
9306-573: Was originally known by the Latin name Liber de Wintonia , meaning "Book of Winchester ", where it was originally kept in the royal treasury. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that in 1085 the king sent his agents to survey every shire in England, to list his holdings and dues owed to him. Written in Medieval Latin , it was highly abbreviated and included some vernacular native terms without Latin equivalents. The survey's main purpose
9405-590: Was preserved from the late 11th to the beginning of the 13th centuries in the royal Treasury at Winchester (the Norman kings' capital). It was often referred to as the "Book" or "Roll" of Winchester. When the Treasury moved to the Palace of Westminster , probably under King John , the book went with it. The two volumes (Great Domesday and Little Domesday) remained in Westminster, save for temporary releases, until
9504-517: Was published containing Photographic facsimiles of Domesday Book, for each county separately, were published in 1861–1863, also by the government. Today, Domesday Book is available in numerous editions, usually separated by county and available with other local history resources. In 1986, the BBC released the BBC Domesday Project , the results of a project to create a survey to mark
9603-475: Was rebound in 1320, its older oak boards being re-used. At a later date (probably in the Tudor period ) both volumes were given new covers. They were rebound twice in the 19th century, in 1819 and 1869 – on the second occasion, by the binder Robert Riviere and his assistant, James Kew. In the 20th century, they were rebound in 1952, when their physical makeup was examined in greater detail; and yet again in 1986, for
9702-522: Was to record the annual value of every piece of landed property to its lord, and the resources in land, labour force, and livestock from which the value derived. The name "Domesday Book" came into use in the 12th century. Richard FitzNeal wrote in the Dialogus de Scaccario ( c. 1179) that the book was so called because its decisions were unalterable, like those of the Last Judgment , and its sentence could not be quashed. The manuscript
9801-412: Was £540,940. Maidenhead offers High Street shopping facilities including Nicholson's Centre, a shopping centre on the site of Nicholson's brewery. The town also offers an eight-screen Odeon multiplex cinema. The local authority also provides a Shopmobility service, where those with physical disabilities can borrow mobility scooters to navigate around the town. Maidenhead Heritage Centre and Museum
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