Wraysbury
| Wraysbury | |
|---|---|
 St Andrew's Church |
|
 Wraysbury
|
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| Wraysbury shown within Berkshire | |
| Population | 3,641 (2001) 4,011 (2011 Census) |
| OS grid reference | TQ005745 |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Staines-upon-Thames |
| Postcode district | TW19 |
| Dialling code | 01784 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Royal Berkshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | |
Wraysbury is a village and civil parish on the east (left) bank of the River Thames, about midway between Windsor and Staines, and 18 miles (29 km) west by south-west of London. Until 1974 it was in the county of Buckinghamshire. It was administered by Berkshire County Council between 1974 and 1998, and now by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead; however the Wraysbury Reservoir is in the Spelthorne district of Surrey.
Investigation by Windsor and Wraysbury Archaeological Society of a field in the centre of Wraysbury to the east of St Andrew's Church revealed evidence of human activity in Neolithic times. Many hundreds of flint artefacts were found and are now in the care of the Windsor Museum collection.
The village name was traditionally spelt Wyrardisbury; it is Anglo Saxon in origin and means 'Wïgrǣd's fort'. Its name is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Wirecesberie and as Wiredesbur in 1195. The name is seen again as Wyrardesbury in 1422.
Magna Carta Island, in the parish of Wraysbury, is one of the sites traditionally suggested for the sealing of the Magna Carta in 1215.
On the Ankerwycke estate in the village are the ruins of a Benedictine nunnery, founded in the reign of King Henry II. One of the 50 oldest trees in the United Kingdom can be found here: at around 2000 years old, the Ankerwycke Yew dates from the Iron Age, and is so wide that you can fit a Mini Cooper behind its trunk and not see it from the other side. Local legend says that Anne Boleyn once sat under the tree, while residing at the Ankerwycke estate, but this has not been verified. The Ankerwycke estate was bought by John Blagrove, a prominent Jamaican slave owner, who did much to improve the estate.
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Wikipedia