Touchen End
| Touchen End | |
| Berkshire | |
|---|---|
 Houses building of the former Holy Trinity Church, Touchen End | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU875765 |
| Location: | 51°28’48"N, 0°44’20"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 0 |
| Post town: | Maidenhead |
| Postcode: | SL6 |
| Dialling code: | 01628 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Windsor and Maidenhead |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Maidenhead |
Touchen End, or 'Touchen-end', is a village in the Parish of Bray in Berkshire. It is three miles south of Maidenhead and five miles west of Windsor. Touchen End is where the Bray and Waltham parishes meet.
Name
The earliest recorded spelling of the village's name is Twychene, which it has been suggested may be a corruption of 'two chains' where chains were stretched across road junctions to enable a toll to be levied,[1] perhaps too fancifully.
The standard theory is that the 'Touchen End' means a hamlet at the fork of a road, as twicen is Old English a place where two roads meet; a fork in a road.[2]
In the years since 1274 the village has been recorded on maps and referred to in documents which show the evolution of the name:
| Name | Date | Source[2] |
| Twychene | 1274–1353 | Rentals and Surveys |
| Twichene | 1314–1316 | Ministers Accounts |
| La Twichen | 1316 | Calendar of Fine Rolls |
| La Twychene | 1338/9 | Calendar of Fine Rolls & Introduction to the Survey of English Place Names 1924 |
| Twechene | 1401/2 | Feudal Aids |
| Twechen | 1426/7 | Court Rolls (Bray) |
| Towchinge | 1586 | Rentals and Surveys |
| Tutcham Lane | 1641 | State Papers Domestic |
| Tutchin Lane End | 1711 | A Letter containing an account of some antiquities between Windsor and Oxford, T. Hearne |
| Tutchin Lane | 1761 | A Topographical Survey of the County of Berkshire, J. Rocque, 1761 |
| Tutchin Lane | 1790 | A topographical Map of the Town of Reading and the Country adjacent to an Extent of Ten Miles, Thomas Pride, 1790 |
| Tatchen Lane | 1800 | Map of Windsor Park and part of the Forest, Wm. Eden, 1800 |
History
The earliest record of a settlement is from 1274 when it was called Twychene however by 1360 it was registered as a tithing called Iwhurst. A man called John de Iwhurst first moved to the area in 1293 and his family remained until at least 1540.[1] By 1607 Twychene was part of Fines Bailiwick, an area of Windsor Forest owned by the Manor of Feens and Woolley. An ancient road from Touchen End to the Manor at Maidenhead Thicket can be identified running through Paley Street, Heywoods Manor and Breadcroft Lane.[1]
Holy Trinity Church
The village expanded in the mid-19th century with the building of a church, Holy Trinity, which is mentioned in Pevsner, and an adjoining National School.
The church was built in 1862 in the 14th century style and is constructed of red brick with stone dressings and a tiled roof, the architect was John Turner.[3] The stained glass windows "of a simple Grisaille pattern" and fittings were designed by William White.[4]
Within five years the church was so overcrowded that a south aisle was built, paid for by public subscription including a donation from Queen Victoria.[5] In later years, it served as a chapel of ease to St Michael's, Bray until it was deconsecrated in the early 1970s. It is now, along with the school buildings, a private residence. The south aisle was demolished at the time of conversion and the east window, given by David Blackmore, is now in a prison chapel at Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire[6]
The graveyard attached to Holy Trinity remains in use under the parish of Bray and is notable for the grave of William Thomas Forshaw VC.
Outside links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Over, Luke; Tyrrell, Chris (Illustrations) (1993). The Royal Hundred of Bray. Cliveden Press. ISBN 0-9521969-0-5.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Gelling, Margaret (1973). The Place Names of Berkshire. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-08575-6.
- ↑ The Buildings of England, Berkshire. Nikolaus Pevsner. 1966 ISBN 0-14-071030-2
- ↑ Editorial (14 June 1862). The Builder. pp. 430.
- ↑ Notebook of Revd. J.E. Austin Leigh. Berkshire Records Office document number DP/23
- ↑ History of Touchen End. R.Fontaine
