Bray, Berkshire

St. Michael's church, Bray

Bray (sometimes Bray-on-Thames) is a village in Berkshire, on the banks of the River Thames, just southwest of Maidenhead. This is the village mentioned in the song The Vicar of Bray.

Monkey Island, in the Thames, is associated with the 3rd Duke of Marlborough, and still houses two amusing structures that he built and furnished with paintings of monkeys.

Bray is home to two restaurants with three Michelin stars: The Fat Duck, which was adjudged the best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine in 2005, and the Waterside Inn, which ranked 19 in Restaurant's list.

There are several very expensive houses on the river upstream of Bray Lock and they have been referred to as 'Millionaires row' in the national press. The flooding risk of these houses has recently been decreased by the Jubilee River a large drainage ditch between Maidenhead and Eton. There are also many television and film studios in the Bray area.

Bray won the Small Village award in the 2005 Britain in Bloom awards.

Notable Residents

• Gerry Anderson - TV Producer
• Rolf Harris - Artist, Musician, TV Presenter
• Michael Parkinson - TV Presenter

See also

• Bray Lock
• Bray Studios