BRAY, Description and History from 1868 Gazetteer

BRAY, a parish in the hundred of Bray, in the county of Berks, 14 miles to the E. of Reading. Maidenhead is its post town. It is pleasantly situated on the banks of the river Thames, near Monkey Island, and contains part of the town of Maidenhead, which is a station on the Great Western railway. Bray forms part of the liberty of Windsor Forest, and retains some privileges pertaining to it as a royal demesne. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford, of the value of £500, in the patronage of the bishop. The church, a spacious building partly in the early English, partly in the perpendicular style of architecture, is dedicated to St. Michael. It was entirely restored and partly rebuilt in 1862, under the direction of T. Wyatt, the architect. It has recently been enriched with stained-glass windows, and contains several monumental brasses, the earliest bearing the date of 1370, and some old family tombs.

There is also a district church at Boyne Hill, dedicated to All Saints, the living of which is a perpetual curacy, value £120, in the patronage of the Bishop of Oxford. There is a free school for boys, founded and endowed by William Cherry, which has a revenue of £35; a hospital for 40 persons, founded by William Goddard, in 1627, and governed by the Fishmongers' Company; and a bequest by Sir John Norris, now lost. There are some other charitable endowments producing about £40 per annum.

The proverbial expression "the Vicar of Bray," commemorates an incumbent of this parish, who, according to Fuller, conformed to the Papist and Protestant churches in turn during the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, holding fast through all changes to one principle - to live and die Vicar of Bray. His name will long remain as the type of the time-server, although his actual existence is now questioned.

In this parish is the curious old manor-house of Ockholt, or Ockwells, built by John Norreys in the latter half of the 15th century, and long the seat of his descendants. At Hollyport is the seat called Philberts, formerly Cresswells, which was originally erected for Nell Gwynne. Braywick Lodge, formerly the seat of Sir W. Waller, Bart., now of John Hibbert, stands on an elevated spot, commanding an extensive and beautiful prospect over the country, the Thames, Maidenhead, Windsor, &. Bray Grove is another pleasant residence.

 

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]