Clewer

Coordinates: 51°29′06″N 0°37′37″W / 51.485°N 0.627°W / 51.485; -0.627

Clewer
Clewer  Clewer shown within Berkshire
OS grid reference	SU954772
Unitary authority	Windsor and Maidenhead
Ceremonial county	Berkshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Royal Berkshire
Ambulance	South Central
EU Parliament	South East England
List of places: UK • England • Berkshire

Clewer (also known as Clewer Village) is an ecclesiastical parish and region of Windsor making up three wards of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the English county of Berkshire.

History

St Andrew's Church, Clewer

The name Clewer comes from the word 'Clifwara' meaning 'Cliff-Dwellers' and is named after those who lived below the hill on which Windsor Castle was built. Historically, Clewer pre-dates New Windsor and still exists as a separate ecclesiastical parish. A Saxon settlement existed there, and it is thought that the settlement of Clewer may have grown up at a place where the river Thames could be forded. A wood-and-thatch Saxon church is believed to have existed on the site of the present church. The surviving font is thought to be Saxon, and is presumed to have belonged to the earlier church. Until the 1850s this font was in an improbable position at the west end of the north aisle and it is likely that it had never been moved from its position in the earlier Saxon church.

By the time of the Norman Conquest, there was a Manor of Clewer, mentioned in the Domesday Book as Clivore and recorded as having a church and mill. It was from here that William I took the lands on which he built his fort, which became Windsor Castle. The Manor of Clewer continued to receive a rent of 12 shillings per annum from the Crown, for this land, until the sixteenth century. The present St Andrew's Church is of Norman construction and it is traditionally believed that William I habitually attended mass there, as there was no chapel within the original castle. It has a 14th century chantry chapel to the memory of the second wife of the hero of the Hundred Years' War, Sir Bernard Brocas. The family lived in the sub-manor of Clewer Brocas until rebellious activities obliged then to retreat to obscurity at Beaurepaire in Sherborne St John.

The Clewer Park area of Clewer Village is where the former home of Sir Daniel Gooch once stood.

Notable residents

• Sir Bernard Brocas, 14th century English commander
• Sir Bernard Brocas Junior, early 15th century rebel
• Sir Daniel Gooch, 19th century Railway Engineer, lived at Clewer Park^{[citation needed]}
• Sir Michael Caine, actor, lived at the Old Mill House at the end of Mill Lane, Clewer Village during the 1970s^{[citation needed]}
• Jimmy Page, musician and lead guitarist of the band Led Zeppelin, lived at the Old Mill House at the end of Mill Lane, Clewer Village from the 1970s up to 2005^{[citation needed]}
• Richard Herring, comedian, lives near Clewer Park^{[citation needed]}
• Nathalie Imbruglia, singer, has lived on White Lillies Island for years.

See also

• Clewer Mill Stream
• Clewer Park

References

• Raymond South: The Book of Windsor, Barracuda Books, 1977, ISBN 0-86023-038-4

External links

• Clewer Village website