Essential Hotels > England > Berkshire > Maidenhead

The town of Maidenhead is situated in Berkshire, in the Silicon Valley M4 corridor and is within easy reach of national capital London. Indeed, London is 25 miles to the east of the town and there are good road links as well as helpful rail links, consolidating Maidenhead’s position as a commuter town. Other nearby settlements include Windsor to the south, Slough to the east and Reading and Henley are to the west, while Cookham is also a short distance away and is home to a number of celebrities.

Geographically, Buckinghamshire lies on the other side of the river from Maidenhead and here you will find Taplow and the nearby Cliveden House Hotel. Maidenhead is part of the wider Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, linking the town with the historic and striking town to the south, home to the likes of Windsor Castle and Legoland Windsor. The borough has an average house price that is among the highest in the country showing something of the prestige and nature of the area.

In the town itself there are several businesses making the most of the Thames Corridor label and they deal in the likes of computer software, telecommunications and printing. Maidenhead is something of a rowing centre as evidenced by the Maidenhead Regatta and this has produced several Olympic athletes over the years. Other features of the town include Maidenhead Golf Club, the Norden Farm Centre for the Arts and the Maidenhead Heritage Centre. It is also worth noting that Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck restaurant is located just along the road in Bray.

Maidenhead is a fairly new town comparatively, particularly in relation to the nearby settlements of Cookham and Bray. Although Maidenhead itself wasn’t in existence 1,000 years ago Elentone, one mile to the north, was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. Then South Aylington was formed and a bridge was built over the Thames here at some stage before 1255. The Bath Road was later built in this part of the area, now known as the A4 connecting Bristol to London. A timber wharf sprung up in the area which was named Maidenhythe and under the label Maydenheth was granted a charter in 1582. It was another 140 years before the spelling Maidenhead was first used however. Later, in 1838, the great western railway arrived and this put paid to road traffic although it did mark the beginnings of the commuter age and a new phase of growth in the late-19th century.