Places to Visit

There are numerous places to visit and there’s always something special to do on the River Thames, you won’t be disappointed.

Cruise upstream to Windsor and the charming village of Datchet and follow the river as far as Oxford , taking in the many waterside restaurants on the way.

Thorpe Park is within walking distance of our base, offering hours of fun and amusement for the whole family. The Royal River Thames has it all.

Visit www.visitthames.co.uk for some great ideas

Places to visit along the Thames

The non-tidal stretch of the River Thames is navigable for around 124 miles from above Teddington Lock in West London to Lechlade in Gloucestershire. Along the way there are plenty of things to see and places to visit and enjoy.

To travel the whole of the river between Lechlade and Teddington and return to our marina base you would need at least a two-week holiday. Downstream from Penton Hook marina Chertsey you can cruise towards Teddington passing Chertsey, Shepperton, Molsey and Kingston.

Travel upstream to Runnymede and the Magna Carta Island and experience the great expanse of Runnymede. Here are some of the most historic and beautiful towns and villages in England such as Marlow, Henley, Pangbourne, Sonning and Oxford.

For a wealth of information concerning the River Thames please visit, www.visitthames.co.uk for some great ideas about what to see and do along the Great River Thames.

Teddington

Teddington Lock connects the non-tidal Thames with the tidal river that Londoners know and love. The lock gets all sorts of boat traffic, from houseboats to lifeboats to submarines.

Teddington started out as a small village known for its farms and orchards. It wasn’t developed until services at Waterloo expanded and the local station was built in 1864.

Monty Python’s famous fish slapping sketch was filmed on Teddington Lock. If you have to re-enact it, try not to fall in – the people who work at the lock have enough to do without pulling you out of it.

Bushy Park (www.bushy.org.uk) is London’s second largest royal park and home to deer herds descended from ones King Henry VIII hunted when he lived at Hampton Court Palace. Things to see include Chestnut Avenue and the Inigo Jones’ ‘Diana’ fountain.

The Landmark Arts Centre has a year-round arts programme as well as craft, art and food fairs.

Kingston Upon Thames

Kingston upon Thames is an historic market town with attractions old and new. Visitors have long favoured Kingston for its attractive riverside location, proximity to beautiful Royal parks and its excellent shopping.
The town was first recorded in an Anglo Saxon Charter in 838 and then in 946, when it became the venue of a number of councils and coronations, cited by King Egbert as ‘the royal town where kings were hallowed’.
Royal Kingston is one of only four Royal Boroughs and the town’s long and proud association with royalty dates back to Anglo-Saxon times when seven kings of Wessex were crowned here. King John is believed to have built a residence at Kingston and a 13th century column, outside Kingston Library, is reputed to have come from this building.

Kingston is also home to Chessington World of Adventures; the South’s number one theme park.

Hampton Court Palace

With over 500 years of royal history, Hampton Court Palace has something to offer visitors, from the magnificent State Apartments to the domestic reality of the Tudor Kitchens. Costumed guides and audio tours bring the palace to life and provide an insight into how life in the palace would have been in the time of Henry VIII and William III. The Palace also has a programme of special events throughout the year.
Hampton Court Palace contains an important part of the largest private collection of art in the world, the Royal Collection, the property of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. This collection, which covers 500 years, is complete and Hampton Court contains much of the most important material from the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries.

The Maze at Hampton Court is probably the most famous hedge maze in the world. It was planted as part of the gardens laid out for William of Orange between 1689 and 1695 by George London and Henry Wise. It was described with great wit in Jerome K. Jerome's novel 'Three Men in a Boat.' Hampton Court Maze continues to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. 

Shepperton

This attractive town is bounded to the south by the River Thames at Desborough Island. 
Shepperton derives its name from 'Shepherds Town' and this is reflected in one of the town's older thoroughfares, Sheep Walk. 

Dick Turpin, the notorious highwayman, was a regular visitor to the Anchor Hotel at  Shepperton.  

Church Square to the south, beside the river, was the location of the original village green.  This area is now a Conservation Area, with parts of some buildings dating back to the 1600s.

Staines

Staines lies to the north of Surrey , 17 miles west of London. 

The Thames-side town is an ancient settlement.  When the Romans invaded Britain in AD 43 they settled at Staines and the first Staines Bridge was built shortly afterwards.  In Roman times the settlement was known as 'Ad Pontes' meaning 'at the Bridges'.

Staines stood in a strategic position beside the Thames, on the main road west and close to Windsor, and it was here that the barons assembled before Magna Carta was sealed at Runnymeade in 1215. 

During World War II Staines was the English base of the French war resistance and the council offices have many artifacts on display relating to the resistance on semi-permanent display.

Beside the river stand the Memorial Gardens, with marvellous views of the Thames and an interesting array of water features and sculptures.

The town's elegant stone bridge dates from 1832.

In modern times Staines was famous for the production of Linoleum (a type of floor covering).  Its inventor, Frederick Walton, established a factory at Staines in 1864 and this continued to be the area's major employer until the factory closed in around 1970. The Linoleum industry is commemorated by a bronze statue of two workers, carrying a roll of Linoleum, which stands in Staines High Street.

Today the Two Rivers shopping centre stands on the site of the factory.

 
The Spelthorne Museum in Staines, devoted to history of the Borough, includes archeaological finds from the Roman era and an exhibition illustrating the history of the Linoleum Manufacturing Company.

Runnymede

Standing at the foot of the Cooper's Hill slopes is a memorial to the Magna Carta, sealed at Runnymede Meadows beside the Thames, on 15 June 1215 by King John. The memorial, built by the American Bar Association, is in the form of a domed classical temple containing a pillar of English granite on which is inscribed: 'To commemorate Magna Carta,

Nearby the John F Kennedy Memorial stands in its own acre of land, given by the people of Britian to the USA, honouring the memory of the assassinated President. A little piece of America by the Thames.

Old Windsor

The small village of Old Windsor lies two miles south of the town of Windsor, which it predates by 300 years. 
The most ancient Saxon village in Berkshire, Old Windsor was the seat of Saxon kings including Edward the Confessor. 

The settlement began to loose its importance after the Norman Conquest when William the Conqueror built a fortress upstream at 'New Windsor'. In 1110 the royal court moved from Old Windsor to Windsor Castle. 

Most of Windsor Great Park comes in the boundaries of the parish, including both the Royal and Cumberland Lodges.  The parts of the Great Park open to the public provide beautiful walks to enjoy whilst you are visiting. 
The eastern edge of the village straddles the Thames and there are attractive rural walks along the towpath.  There are also lots of facilities for boating and fishing. 

Datchet

Traditionally in the county of Buckinghamshire, became part of Berkshire in 1974 and part of Windsor and Maidenhead in 1998. 

The village, standing on the banks of the Thames, developed because of its close proximity to the ferry that connected the main road from London to Windsor across the river.  The ferry was later replaced by a bridge.
Although there has been some modern development, Datchet has retained many of the features of the quiet riverside village it once was. 

The oldest buildings are grouped around the village green, with the oak tree planted in 1887 to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee at its centre. 

Because the village is convenient for London it has been the home of many famous people over the years.  Sir Isaac Walton (1595-1683), who wrote the 'Compleat Angler', often fished locally.  William Herschel (1738-1822), the astronomer moved to Datchet after he was created 'The King's Astronomer' in 1782.

Windsor

The huge castle dates from 1066. During successive centuries it grew in importance to attain the proportions and magnificence of a royal palace. Open, with few exceptions, throughout the year. Today it is the largest inhabited castle in the world. St George’s Chapel, one of the most beautiful of our ecclesiastical buildings, dates from 1475. Here are to be found the tombs of ten British monarchs.

For all your information needs regarding Royal Windsor and the surrounding area visit, www.windsor.gov.uk or email the Royal Windsor Information Centre at Windsor.tic@rbwm.gov.uk

Eton

Eton lies north of the River Thames, 21 miles west of London. 

The  town faces the larger town of Windsor across the Thames and the two settlements are joined by the Windsor Bridge.  This bridge, built in 1821 - 23, was originally used by all road traffic but is now for pedestrians and cyclists only. 

Visitors to Windsor can stroll across Windsor Bridge to see Eton High Street, with its fine preserved shop fronts, or visit Eton College. 

The world famous public school now occupies the whole of Eton north of Barnes Pool Bridge.  From the Brocas, a broad open meadow beside the river in Eton, there are wonderful views of Windsor Castle.  Eton Wick, a modern residential area, lies a mile westward of the town and is separated from it by an open area of land known as South Field. 

Eton College (or just Eton) is known officially as 'The King's College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor'.  The College was founded in 1440 by Henry VI to provide free education for 70 poor students, who then went on King's College, Cambridge. 

Today Eton boards around 1,290 boys between the ages of 13 and 18.  The exclusive public school has excellent facilities. 

Eton is about two miles north of Windsor Castle but although the school is popular with the Royal Family Princes William and Harry are the only sons of a future British monarch to have attended Eton. 

Pupils wear a destinctive uniform that includes a black tailcoat, waistcoat, pinstriped trousers, false collar and white tie. Eton has a very strong academic record and a high percentage of pupils going on to Oxford, Cambridge and other notable universities. 

Traditionally Eton was the training ground for the British governing class, with 19 former Prime Ministers among the alumni or 'Old Etonians'. 

Standing on the banks of the Thames, Eton also has a strong rowing tradition, with the 'Eton Boating Song' the best known song associated with the school.  Dorney Lake, Eton's splendid rowing facility, will host the rowing events at the 2012 Summer Olympics. 

Eton is also famous for the 'Eton Wall Game', a hybrid of rugby and football, and 'Eton Fives', a handball game.
Visitors can see the College School Yard, Chapel and Museum and there are regular guided tours.  An entrance fee is payable at the front gate.

Bray

Set between Maidenhead and Windsor, Bray is a large Thames-side parish with a three-mile river frontage and a popular place to visit for locals and visitors to the area.. 

The attractive village, set along an unspoilt riverside, has a pleasing mixture of small cottages and houses of all periods. 

At the centre of Bray is St Michael's Church, dating back to 1293.  The surprisingly large size of this ancient place of worship reflects the size of the parish, which covers many manors and hamlets scattered throughout Windsor Forest.
The village is immortalised in the ballad, 'The Vicar of Bray', in which the vicar promises to stay put no matter what religion he has to adopt.  The most likely candidate is Simon Alleyn, vicar of Bray during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.  

Today Bray is a very popular stopping place for visitors and has excellent hotels and restaurants.  The Fat Duck and Waterside Inn boast Michelin stars.

Maidenhead

Maidenhead , on the River Thames, is 26 miles from London. 

The original settlement, lying about a mile north of the present town, was known as Eletone. Its timber wharf on the Thames was called Mai Dun Hythe (or 'Maidenhuth') and this eventually superceded the town's original name. 
When a bridge was built to replace the ferry across the Thames in 1280, the road between London and Bristol, later known as the Bath Road, was diverted to cross it. 

Maidenhead was one day's journey from London and as a result developed as a major coaching stop, with many inns located along the High Street.  The current bridge, dating from 1777, is still crossed by the Bath Road (now the A4).  By the 19th century Maidenhead was a popular river resort and was notably ridiculed in Jerome K Jerome's famous book, 'Three Men in a Boat'. 

The Thames flows half a mile to the east of the town centre and the Jubliee River flood defence scheme now begins at Maidenhead. Completed in 2002, this hydraulic channel takes the overflow from the Thames to alleviate flooding in and around Maidenhead, Windsor and Eton.

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

The Great Western Railway (built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1838) passes through Maidenhead, offering links with London and Bristol. Brunel’s famous rail bridge over the Thames constructed in 1839. With a span of 128ft, it is the world’s longest single brick built arch.

Brunel's Maidenhead Railway Bridge, spanning the Thames, is famous for its flat brick arches.

Maidenhead also remains a significant boating centre

The Maidenhead Heritage Centre, in King Street, illustrates local history from the Stone Age to the age of computers.  Maidenhead offers a good shopping centre, mulitplex cinema and the Norden Farm Centre for the Arts (incorporating a theatre).

Cliveden

Cliveden is set amid 376 acres of magnificent formal gardens and parkland. The chalk cliffs that give the estate its name, afford visitors to the house panoramic views over the beautiful Berkshire countryside and an idyllic bend in the River Thames.

Renowned as the home of the Astor family during a 50-year period from 1893. The property is now a luxury hotel, some parts of which are open to the public at weekends. The gardens, formal and otherwise, are magnificent and open daily throughout the season. A National Trust property.

Marlow

Marlow, next to the River Thames, with its Regency, 1829, suspension bridge over the river.

Now a modern town, very popular for commuters into London, but it still has Georgian buildings in the High Street and West Street. Older buildings in Marlow include The Old Parsonage and Deanery, 14th century, and Marlow Place, 1721.

Marlow has connections with writers, the Compleat Angler Hotel is named after Izzak Walton's book, and poets, Percy Bysshe Shelley and his wife lived here from March 1817 to February 1818, during which time Shelley wrote  Revolt to Islam, while Mary Shelley finished Frankenstein.

With its shopping area, walks along the towpath, and small streets, it is a good place to wander around when you are visiting, and there is a Tourist Information Centre in the town.

Elegant town blending old and modern with much to see. Izaak Walton’s stretch of the river, commemorated by the ‘Compleat Angler’ inn, now a luxury hotel.

Henley-On-Thames

Henley-on-Thames, a popular riverside town on the River Thames  in the Chiltern Hills. Its a busy town with Georgian buildings, including the 1805 Kenton Theatre.

The town is the home of the famous Henley Regatta, a tradition which started in 1839.

You can see Old Father Thames and the goddess Isis carved on the bridge.

The River and Rowing Museum is situated in Mill Meadows with moorings right by the riverside. It gives the story of Henley Town and its world famous Regatta held every year in July.

Reading

Remarkable landscapes abound in Berkshire - the scenery around Reading is some of the best you will find anywhere in the south - from pretty Thameside villages to the inspiring beauty of the Chilterns, the scenery is always changing and always to be admired.

Reading grew between two great rivers - the Thames and Kennet - so life on the waterways has always been important to us. The majestic Thames comes through the town just north of the town centre, on its way from Henley to Oxford. The Kennet flows through the heart of The Oracle Shopping and Leisure Complex and meanders past some of the most historic parts of the town centre. The Kennet also provides the source for the famous Kennet and Avon Canal, linking Reading with the sea at Bristol.

Pangbourne

Pangbourne is on the River Thames near the Oxfordshire border, 5 miles from Reading. The River Pang flows through Pangbourne Village to join the River Thames between the lock and the bridge.

Directly across the River Thames lies the smaller Oxfordshire village of Whitchurch-on-Thames. 

These two villages, connected by the Whitchurch Toll Bridge and the weir at Whitchurch Lock, are often considered to be one settlement.  

Pangbourne dates back to Saxon times and remained a small village until a station on the Great Western Railway was opened just outside the village in 1840. 

The village was then easily accessible from London and it soon became popular with anglers, artists and pleasure seekers. 

It was at Pangbourne that Jerome K Jerome's 'Three Men in a Boat' ended their epic journey along the Thames and headed back to London by train.

Kenneth Grahame, writer of the 'Wind in the Willows' lived at Church Cottage in Pangbourne.  Pangbourne Meadow beside the river is a good place for fishing, boating or walking along the towpath. 

In June the Pangbourne Fete is held here over a weekend. 

The Swan, just upstream from Whitchurch Lock, is one of the few pubs around here with a riverside frontage.  Dating from 1642, when part of the building was used to store grain, the pub is a popular venue during the summer months.
Nearby to visit is Basildon Park.

Goring

Goring-on-Thames, an attractive Thames Valley town sited in the gap between the Chilterns and the Berkshire Downs, The Goring Gap.

Norman Church with a bell dating about 1290.

The Icknield Way meets the Ridgeway path at the River Thames. Nice scenery, inspiring.

Sonning

An 18th Century flour mill converted to a Restaurant/Theatre providing a centre of entertainment. View the working wheel in the cocktail bar. Reservations can be made on Tel. 0118 969 8000.

Mapledurham

Tudor manor house built around the time of the Spanish Armada. Home of the Roman Catholic Blount family. Open weekends only.

Wallingford

Wallingford, on the headwaters of the River Thames, Wallingford is a market town with a shopping centre, and buildings here date from Elizabethan times, including the 17th century town hall mounted on pillars, the Angiers Almshouses built in 1681, and the unusual spired St Peters Church which was rebuilt in 1860.  St Leonard's Church is also worth a look, with its Norman origins.

The Town Hall shows the names of all the mayors stretching back 800 years from  1155 when Henry II granted the town its Royal Charter.

One of the main features of the town is its 14 arch bridge, and you can enjoy the walks along the river, where there is a park and a swimming pool.

Abingdon

Abingdon, is on the River Thames, and was the county town of Berkshire until part of Oxfordshire in 1974, so it retains some impressive buildings, with all the facilities of a market town.

With historical connections to the local abbey, there are old buildings dating from the 15th century that still survive including the chapel of St John¹s Hospital, a refuge for travellers, and almshouses around  St Helen's Church.
Abingdon has a Tourist Information Centre. Tel: 01235 522711

A prosperous market town for 900 years with a wealth of sights and interests including the Abbey and Guildhall. The Old Gaol built for French prisoners of the Napoleonic Wars is now an arts and leisure centre.

UNIVERSITY/COLLEGES, CHAPELS & MUSEUMS OF OXFORD

Oxford, the university, started 1249, with its 'dreaming spires' mixes with commerce in this city, with lots to see and do and is always busy ! Tour buses and guides ply the streets with the tourists so best to go out of season to avoid the crowds.

Shops, two shopping centers(!), and cafes, theatres and cinemas, sports facilities and clubs are all to found. Live music of most types, often in historic settings.

But the history is why most people come, to wander around the college quads, although the oldest buildings are those of the city itself, and we have to mention the effect of the car industry on the town. 

Old buildings reflect every English architectural period since the Saxons, including the mid-18th century Radcliffe Camera, the hub of the city.

You can get into most of the colleges, mostly in the afternoon, or take a guided walking tour, note that admission fees now apply to some colleges.

The colleges have built new buildings and surprisingly they tend to blend in with the older styles extremely well, even new colleges such as St Catherine¹s and  Wolfson have achieved this.

Lechlade

Lechlade (once Letchlade, which explains its pronunciation), is situated beside the Thames about 11 miles east of Cirencester, 12 miles north of Swindon and about 20 miles west of Oxford. A borough and market town from the early 13th century, it later played a part in the Cotswold wool trade. Its chief function, however, was as a staging post for goods and passenger traffic. By the 17th century, cheese was shipped down the river from Lechlade and when the Thames and Severn canal was opened, the inhabitants traded in coal. Late 19th century visitors found it attractive for fishing and boating.

Over the years, the town has grown to its current population of just under 3000, which means a mix of old and new property. In particular, the centre of the town has a number of interesting old buildings and shops. The latter still serve the residents with their day to day needs. The church of St Lawrence, well worth a visit, dominates the market square. Although the present building was completed in 1476, there is evidence of the existence of a church in the 13th century.