Bray, Berkshire

Not to be confused with Bray, Co. Wicklow.

Bray, occasionally Bray on Thames, is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. It stands on the banks of the River Thames, SSE of Maidenhead which it neighbours.

The parish of Bray includes a number of other villages and hamlets over an area of 2498 ha and a population of 8,425 at the 2001 census.

It is known as the village mentioned in the song The Vicar of Bray. The village contains two of the four three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the United Kingdom, and is the home of Bray Studios of "Hammer Horror" fame.

Geography
Bray was a large parish, although its area has shrunk considerably since Maidenhead was detached in 1894. As well as the village, the parish contains a large number of villages and hamlets, often greens, which were originally scattered amongst the remains of dense woodland of Windsor Forest that once covered the area. These include: Bray Wick, Holyport, Water Oakley, Oakley Green, Moneyrow Green, Stud Green, Foxley Green, Touchen End, Braywoodside, Hawthorn Hill and Fifield.

Expensive houses on the river upstream of Bray Lock have been referred to as 'Millionaires' Row' in the national press. The flooding risk of these houses has been decreased by the Jubilee River, in effect a large river water drain between Maidenhead and Eton.

Monkey Island, in the Thames, is associated with the 3rd Duke of Marlborough, and houses two amusing structures that he built and furnished with paintings of monkeys, and the architecturally Grade I (listed) Monkey Island Hotel.

Parish church
See St Michael's Church, Bray.

The Church of England parish church of St Michael was built in 1293, supposedly to replace a Saxon church at Water Oakley. It has a number of sculptures which may have come from the earlier church, including a damaged Sheela na Gig. It is best known to brass rubbers for housing the superb memorial brass of 1378 to Sir John Foxley, the Constable of Southampton Castle, and his two wives. One of the local cottages has a tunnel which it is believed leads to the church and served as an escape route for clergymen. The current Vicar of Bray is the Reverend Richard Cowles.

The ecclesiastical parish shares the wide parish boundaries so is named Bray St Michael with Braywoodside.

Almshouse
The Jesus Hospital is a red-brick group of almhouses, founded in 1609 by William Goddard, whose full-size effigy stands over the entrance, to house thirty-four of the aged poor of Bray and six of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers to which he belonged. Jesus Hospital is now run by The Donnington Hospital Trust having been transferred from the Fishmongers Company in 2010.

Restaurants
Bray contains two of the four three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the United Kingdom:

The Fat Duck is a restaurant run by chef Heston Blumenthal in the centre of Bray. The restaurant was opened in 1995 and is one of only four in the United Kingdom that hold a three-star Michelin Guide rating; this has been the case since 2004. In 2005, it was named as the best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine and Best Restaurant in the UK in 2008, 2009 and 2010 scoring a maximum 10 out of 10 in the Good Food Guide.

The other is The Waterside Inn. Founded in 1972 by the brothers Michel and Albert Roux after the success of Le Gavroche, it is currently run by Michel's son, Alain and Cavaliere Diego Masciaga. The restaurant has three Michelin stars and in 2010 it became the first restaurant outside of France to retain all three stars for twenty five years.

Notable people

 * Sylvia Anderson – Co creator of the Thunderbird Puppet Series and voice of Lady Penelope.
 * Heston Blumenthal – The TV chef runs The Fat Duck and The Hinds Head Hotel restaurants in Bray
 * Rolf Harris – Australian artist, musician, TV presenter, convicted of indecent assault against children and sentenced to 5 years and 9 months in prison
 * George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven – buried in Bray Cemetery
 * Sir Michael Parkinson – journalist and TV presenter