Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead: Castle, College, and the Thames
Windsor Castle has been a royal residence for nearly a thousand years — the longest-occupied palace in Europe. William the Conqueror chose the site for its defensive position above the Thames, and every monarch since has used it. The Round Tower, visible from miles across the Berkshire flatlands, is perhaps the single most recognisable silhouette in English architecture after the Houses of Parliament. State apartments, St George's Chapel (where Henry VIII and Charles I are buried, and where recent royal weddings have taken place), and the Changing of the Guard draw millions of visitors annually.
Across the river, Eton College has educated Prime Ministers, writers, and establishment figures since its founding by Henry VI in 1440. The tailcoated pupils are a regular sight on Eton High Street. The juxtaposition — one of the world's most exclusive schools facing a tourist-heavy royal town — gives the area a particular kind of English theatre that is hard to replicate elsewhere. Legoland Windsor, opened in 1996 in Windsor Great Park's grounds, targets a rather different audience.
Maidenhead, six miles downstream, is more commercial and less picturesque. The Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) terminus here has improved rail connectivity to central London and brought renewed property interest. The Thames between Maidenhead and Marlow is classic Home Counties river country — boathouses, weirs, willows, rowing clubs. The borough is among the most affluent in England, with property prices and household incomes well above national medians. Cookham, the village where Stanley Spencer lived and painted, has a gallery dedicated to his work.
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Windsor Castle has been a royal residence for nearly a thousand years — the longest-occupied palace in Europe. William the Conqueror chose the site for its defensive position above the Thames, and every monarch since has used it. The Round Tower, visible from miles across the Berkshire flatlands, is perhaps the single most recognisable silhouette in English architecture after the Houses of Parliament. State apartments, St George's Chapel (where Henry VIII and Charles I are buried, and where recent royal weddings have taken place), and the Changing of the Guard draw millions of visitors annually.
Across the river, Eton College has educated Prime Ministers, writers, and establishment figures since its founding by Henry VI in 1440. The tailcoated pupils are a regular sight on Eton High Street. The juxtaposition — one of the world's most exclusive schools facing a tourist-heavy royal town — gives the area a particular kind of English theatre that is hard to replicate elsewhere. Legoland Windsor, opened in 1996 in Windsor Great Park's grounds, targets a rather different audience.
Maidenhead, six miles downstream, is more commercial and less picturesque. The Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) terminus here has improved rail connectivity to central London and brought renewed property interest. The Thames between Maidenhead and Marlow is classic Home Counties river country — boathouses, weirs, willows, rowing clubs. The borough is among the most affluent in England, with property prices and household incomes well above national medians. Cookham, the village where Stanley Spencer lived and painted, has a gallery dedicated to his work.
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