Maidenhead is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

in the

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a unitary authority area with royal borough status in Berkshire, England. The borough is named after its two largest towns of Maidenhead (where the council is based) and Windsor. The borough also i ...

in the county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

, which at this point forms the border with

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

. In the 2021 Census, the Maidenhead built-up area had a population of 67,375. The town is west of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

, London and east-northeast of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

History

The antiquary John Leland claimed that the area around Maidenhead's present town centre was 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 the Camlet Way which was a Roman road linking

Silchester Silchester is a village and civil parish about north of Basingstoke in Hampshire. It is adjacent to the county boundary with Berkshire and about south-west of Reading. Silchester is most notable for the archaeological site and Roman town of ...

( Calleva Atrebatum) and

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

(

Camulodunum Camulodunum ( ; ), the Roman Empire, Ancient Roman name for what is now Colchester in Essex, was an important Castra, castrum and city in Roman Britain, and the first capital of the province. A temporary "wikt:strapline, strapline" in the 1960s ...

) via

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

(

Verulamium Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. The major ancient Roman route Watling Street passed through the city, but was realigned in medieval times to bring trad ...

) 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 A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

" or "Maiden Hythe" was built, as early as Saxon times. In the year 870, an army of Danes invaded the kingdom of

Wessex The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886. The Anglo-Sa ...

. They disembarked from their longboats by the wharf and ferry crossing at Maidenhead and fought their way overland to

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 the site of Alaunodunum as the Bath Road was not re-routed until the 13th century. Maidenhead is recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; 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 William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

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

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

was diverted over the new bridge. Previously, it had kept to the north bank and crossed the Thames by ford at

Cookham Cookham is a historic River Thames, Thames-side village and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the north-eastern edge of Berkshire, England, north-north-east of Maidenhead and opposite the village of Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, Bourne ...

, and the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

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 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

. 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 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 Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

and the town became populated with numerous

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

s. By the mid 18th century, Maidenhead was one of the busiest coaching towns in England with over ninety coaches 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 The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

came to 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 The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

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 the town. By

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

times, nearby Boulter's Lock became a favoured resort, especially on Ascot Sunday, and Skindles Hotel developed a reputation for illicit liaisons.

Governance

There is one main tier of local government covering Maidenhead, at

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

level: the

. Much of the Maidenhead urban area is unparished, but some outlying parts of the built-up area are included in

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

es, notably at Cox Green to the south-west and

Bray Bray may refer to: Places France * Bray, Eure, in the Eure ''département'' * Bray, Saône-et-Loire, in the Saône-et-Loire ''département'' * Bray-Dunes, in the Nord ''département'' * Bray-en-Val, in the Loiret ''département'' * Bray-et-Lû ...

to the south. The borough council is based in Maidenhead, having its main offices at

Maidenhead Town Hall Maidenhead Town Hall is a municipal building in St Ives Road, 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, w ...

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 The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a unitary authority area with royal borough status in Berkshire, England. The borough is named after its two largest towns of Maidenhead (where the council is based) and Windsor. The borough also ...

Parliament constituency, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

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 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 constituency includes rural parishes to the north, west and south of the town. Maidenhead was held by the Conservatives at every election from its creation in 1997 until 2024. The former Prime Minister,

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...

was elected MP in 1997 and represented Maidenhead until she stood down in 2024. The seat is now held by

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...

of the Liberal Democrats .

Administrative history

Maidenhead was incorporated as a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

in 1582. The borough straddled the parishes of

and

. It was reformed to become a

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

in 1836 under the

Municipal Corporations Act 1835 The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 ( 5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales. The le ...

, which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country. The

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...

directed that parishes were no longer allowed to straddle borough boundaries, and so 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 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, becoming part of the borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (which was allowed to use the style '

royal borough The following list of place names with royal styles in the United Kingdom includes places granted a royal title or style by express grant from the Crown (usually by royal charter or letters patent) and those with a royal title or style based on h ...

' that had previously been used by Windsor). The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead became a unitary authority in 1998 when it took over the functions of the abolished Berkshire County Council.

Geography

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

es: Cox Green and Altwood in Cox Green parish, Woodlands Park in White Waltham parish, and part of Bray Wick in

parish. Bray village 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 Taplow is a village and civil parish in the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It sits on the left bank of the River Thames, facing Maidenhead in the neighbouring county of Berkshire, with Cippenham and Burnham to the east. It is th ...

in Buckinghamshire which almost adjoins the suburban village of Burnham, which itself nearly adjoins the urban area of the large, industrial town of

Slough Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...

. To the north are the

s: Cookham Village, Cookham Rise and Cookham Dean. To 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 lies immediately west of the

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 Cliveden (pronounced ) is an English country house and estate in the care of the National Trust in Buckinghamshire, on the border with Berkshire. The Italianate mansion, also known as Cliveden House, crowns an outlying ridge of the Chiltern Hi ...

House which can be seen from various parts of 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 The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

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 The United Kingdom weather records show the most extreme weather ever recorded in the United Kingdom, such as temperature, wind speed, and rainfall records. Reliable temperature records for the whole of the United Kingdom go back to about 1880. ...

with the highest 60-min total rainfall at . As of January 2024, this record stands.

Landmarks

The current

Maidenhead Bridge Maidenhead Bridge is a Grade I listed bridge carrying the A4 road over the River Thames between Maidenhead, Berkshire and Taplow, Buckinghamshire, England. It crosses the Thames on the reach above Bray Lock, about half a mile below Boulter' ...

, 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 a Catholic chapel that led to St Joseph's Church.

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

Maidenhead – St Joseph
''Taking stock'', retrieved 27 May 2022 Maidenhead clock tower was built for Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee and stands outside the railway station. Boulter's Lock is a lock on the river Thames on the east side of Maidenhead, adjoining Ray Mill Island. The town has a number of statues which form part of a recognisable image of the town, including the 'Boy and the Boat' at the top end of the High Street, near the Methodist Church.

Character

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 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 the New Economics Foundation rated Maidenhead as an example of a

clone town Clone town is a term for a town where the High Street or other major shopping areas are significantly dominated by chain stores, thus making that town indistinct from other town centres. The term was coined by the New Economics Foundation (NEF ...

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 the new

Crossrail Crossrail is a completed railway project centred on London. It provides a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system, akin to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries, kn ...

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 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 In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

. The Chapel Arches retail and residential development 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 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 Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...

conference that agreed on the

Maidenhead Locator System The Maidenhead Locator System (a.k.a. QTH Locator and IARU Locator) is a geocode system A geocode is a code that represents a geographic entity (location or Geographical feature, object). It is a unique identifier of the entity, to distinguis ...

standard in 1980. It is located in grid square . The average house price in Maidenhead in January 2021 was £540,940.

Community facilities

Maidenhead offers

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

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 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 Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

). Waltham Place Estate on Church Hill is an organic and biodynamic farm estate, with an ornamental garden, which is supported by the

Campaign to Protect Rural England Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar produ ...

. The Reitlinger Open Space on Guards Club Road 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

has built a new leisure centre in the town to replace the outdated Magnet Leisure Centre, 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, 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 is a publicly open gym at Furze Platt school, in North Maidenhead.

Transport

Rain Steam and Speed the Great Western Railway

The Brunel-built

Great Western Main Line The Great Western Main Line (GWML) is a main line railway in England that runs between London Paddington and . It connects to other main lines such as those from Reading to Penzance and Swindon to Swansea. The GWML is presently a part of t ...

and the 21st-century

Elizabeth Line The Elizabeth line is a railway line that runs across Greater London and nearby towns, operating similarly to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries. It runs services on dedicated infras ...

pass through the town, calling at Maidenhead station and offering direct services to London (Paddington and intermediate stations towards Liverpool Street, Shenfield, Canary Wharf and Abbey Wood),

Didcot Didcot ( ) is a railway town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England, located south of Oxford, east of Wantage and north west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. Historically part of Berkshire, the town is noted ...

, and an hourly direct Sunday service to

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

. The lines cross the Thames on Brunel's Maidenhead Railway Bridge (known locally as the Sounding Arch), famous for its flat brick arches. Maidenhead station is the beginning of the Marlow Branch Line from Maidenhead to Marlow, Buckinghamshire, Marlow, Buckinghamshire; Furze Platt railway station on this branch serves the northern area of Maidenhead. Rail services are operated by Great Western Railway (train operating company), Great Western, and since 2022 TfL Rail have operated the Elizabeth Line through the Thames Valley. Local bus services are provided by First Berkshire & The Thames Valley, Arriva Herts & Essex and Thames Valley Buses. The A4 road (Great Britain), A4 runs through the town and crosses the Thames over

. The town lies adjacent to junction 8/9 on the M4 motorway which is accessed via the A404(M) motorway, A404(M) and A308(M) motorway, A308(M). The A308(M), A404(M) and A404 road (England), A404 form the Marlow and Maidenhead bypass which also acts as a link between the M4, to the south of the town, and the M40 motorway, M40 at

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

. The

runs to the east of the town centre, and York Stream, which runs through the town centre, connects to the Thames via a Maidenhead Waterways, system of disused waterways. The Jubilee River, part of a flood defence scheme, begins above Boulter's Lock nearby. In the initial plan for

, Maidenhead was expected to become the terminus for the line, now known as the Elizabeth line. However, after consultation, Crossrail, Crossrail Limited and Transport for London decided to extend this to

, 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 was introduced during the phased opening of the Elizabeth line in 2022. Two miles to the south-west of the town lies White Waltham Airfield, a base for general aviation and flight training.

Employment

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

Bracknell Bracknell () is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the borough of Bracknell Forest. It lies to the east of Re ...

and

. Maidenhead's industries include software, plastics, pharmaceuticals, printing and telecommunications.

Sport

Situated on the River Thames, the town is a rowing (sport), 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 F.C., Maidenhead United, play at York Road (stadium), York Road, which is the oldest football ground in 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 (division), National League (fifth tier of English Football) for the 2017/18 season. The Maidenhead RFC, Maidenhead Rugby Club was founded in 1921 and is the largest organised sports team in the town. It consists of four men's teams, a women's team and a large youth programme.

Institutions

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, the American multi-national pharmaceutical. The schools listed below consist of various types of schools including free schools and academies.

Further educational institutions

* Berkshire College of Agriculture is based in Maidenhead. 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, Berkshire, Langley,

as well as The Henley College (Henley-on-Thames), The Henley College in Oxfordshire and Reading College (Berkshire).

Secondary schools

* Altwood Church of England School * Cox Green School * Desborough School, Desborough College (previously Maidenhead Grammar School) * Furze Platt Senior School * Holyport College (state boarding school) * Newlands Girls' School (previously County High School for Girls, Maidenhead)

Primary schools

* All Saints C of E Junior School * Alwyn Infant School * Courthouse Junior School * Furze Platt Infant School (caters for Reception – Year 2) * Furze Platt Junior School (caters for Year 3–6) * Holyport Primary School * Larchfield * Lowbrook Academy * Oldfield Primary School * Riverside Primary School * St Edmund Campion Primary School * St. Lukes C of E School * St. Mary's Primary School * Wessex Primary School * White Waltham C of E Primary School * Woodlands Park Primary School

Independent schools

* Beech Lodge School (co-ed 7–17) * Claires Court School, Claires Court (all-through 3–18:- co-ed nursery [3–5]; girls [4–16] & boys [4–16] in a diamond school, diamond shape; co-ed sixth form) * Herries School (co-ed 3–11) * Highfield School (boys 2–4; girls 2–11) * St Piran's (school), St Piran's School (co-ed 3–11) * Redroofs School for the Performing Arts (co-ed 9–18 full time and all ages for weekly classes) The closest higher education institution is Buckinghamshire New University in High Wycombe, to the north. The University of Reading and University of West London (Berkshire Institute of Health – Reading) are both approximately to the south-west.

In literature

Maidenhead is briefly mentioned in Jerome K. Jerome's 1889 humorous novel, ''Three Men in a Boat'', although the author makes clear he dislikes the town.

Notable people and businesses

A number of notable figures can be counted amongst Maidenhead's current and former residents. * Children's television presenter and radio show host Toby Anstis (b. 1968). * Wing Commander Clive Beadon (1919–1996) and his second wife, Jane Beadon (1913–1999) lived in Maidenhead from 1994 * The film director brothers Boulting brothers, Roy (1913–2001) and John Boulting (1913–1985) were born in Bray village on the outskirts of Maidenhead in November 1913. * Mary Ann Browne (1812–1845) was a British poet and writer of musical scores. * Edd China (born 1971), an English TV presenter, mechanic, motor specialist and inventor lives and works here. * The actress Diana Dors (1931–1984) lived for much of her life in the town, in several properties. * The broadcaster Richard Dimbleby (1913–1965) lived for some time on Boulter's Island. * English dramatist Sir George Etherege (ca.1636 – ca.1692) was born in Maidenhead. * The town was home to Colonel Sir Walter de Frece (1870–1935) and Lady Matilda de Frece (1864–1952) aka Vesta Tilley . * The Spice Girls shared a house in Maidenhead for a year preceding their rise to stardom. * Arthur and Ron Hacker formed the company Hacker Radio Ltd in Maidenhead in 1959, producers of fine transistor radios that for a time in the 1970s earned the Royal Warrant of Appointment (United Kingdom), Royal Warrant of Appointment * Essayist and novelist Nick Hornby (b. 1957) was educated at Maidenhead Grammar School (now Desborough School), * Dragons' Den (UK), "Dragon" Peter Jones (entrepreneur), Peter Jones (b. 1966). * Andy King (footballer, born 1988), Andy King (born 1988) grew up in Maidenhead, and attended Furze Platt Senior School. He plays for Leicester City F.C., Leicester City and helped them win the Premier League title in 2016. * Author Hugh Lofting (1886–1947), creator of ''Doctor Dolittle'', was born in Maidenhead. * Author and broadcaster John O'Farrell (author), John O'Farrell (b. 1962), * Maidenhead's riverside location has also drawn many celebrities, including former broadcaster Michael Parkinson (1935–2023) * The 18th century mariner Sir Isaac Pocock and his nephew dramatist Isaac Pocock lived in Ray House, Maidenhead * Athlete Mark Richardson (athlete), Mark Richardson (b. 1972) * Pinkneys Green, a small village near the town, was home to Sir Nicholas Winton (1909–2015), whose heroic efforts rescued 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia at the outbreak of World War II. There is a statue of him at Maidenhead railway station.

References

External links

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
{{Authority control Maidenhead, Populated places on the River Thames Towns in Berkshire Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Unparished areas in Berkshire Former civil parishes in Berkshire