Holyport (pronounced ''Hollyport'') is a suburban village in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

of Bray (where at the 2011 Census the population was included), about 2 miles south of

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

town centre in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

Etymology

The name 'Holyport' originates from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

'' horig'' + ''

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

'' meaning 'muddy market-town', although a local

folk etymology Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...

holds that the village was a stopping-off point for

pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on Pilgrimage, a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the a ...

s travelling from

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

St David's St Davids or St David's ( cy, Tyddewi, , "David's house”) is a city and a community (named St Davids and the Cathedral Close) with a cathedral in Pembrokeshire, Wales, lying on the River Alun. It is the resting place of Saint David, Wa ...

.Mills, A.D: ''A Dictionary of English Place-Names'', page 177. Oxford University Press, 1991. The first element had become 'Holy-' by the end of the 14th Century.

Amenities

The village has a butcher, a newsagent, a grocery, a small café and a hairdresser as well as the

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

and a doctor's surgery. Holyport has four

public houses A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

- The George, The Belgian Arms, The White Hart and The Jolly Gardener. Also in the village are Holyport

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

Primary School A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

Holyport College Holyport College is a mixed boarding free school (the boarding option for students is not free). The school is located in Holyport, Berkshire, England. It opened in 2014 and caters for students aged 11–19 years. It is sponsored by Eton Coll ...

and Holyport

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

Club. An hourly bus service operated by

Courtney Coaches Thames Valley Buses, known until 2021 as Courtney Buses is a bus company based in Bracknell, England. Founded in 1973, the company operates a network of commercial and contracted local bus services and school buses in Berkshire, north Hampshire ...

connects the village to

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

and

. Holyport has a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

on the edge of the village, called Bray Pit. Local residents banded together and in 2018 the incumbent Prime Minister

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

unveiled a

defibrillator Defibrillation is a treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib) and non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (V-Tach). A defibrillator delivers a dose of electric current (often called a ''coun ...

located at the local community centre with a second defibrillator located outside the local doctor's surgery. There is also a village hall, Holyport Memorial Hall, tennis court, children's playground and playing field all of which are owned and managed by the Holyport Community Trust, a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. The playground was rebuilt in 2022 following a year long fund raising exercise and officially opened on 21st Oct 2022 by

and Paralympian,

Jeanette Chippington Jeanette Clare Chippington, (née Esling; born 21 April 1970) is a British Paralympic swimmer and paracanoeist. Chippington has represented Great Britain at seven Paralympics, five in swimming Summer Paralympics, 1988 Seoul, 1992 Barcelona, ...

Notable residents and visitors

Holyport is not as well known as its neighbour, Bray. However it has a few claims to fame of its own. It has one of the world's few

real tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...

courts ( Royal County of Berkshire Real Tennis Club), where Prince Edward first met his wife-to-be, Sophie Rhys-Jones. Holyport was the home of the prestigious stables of Horace Smith, later known as Smith's Stables, where

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

rode with her sister

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth ...

in their younger years. There, using a pair of gates set in the middle of a field, the two young princesses learned to open and close gates whilst on horseback.

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...

filmed a

Maypole A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, around which a maypole dance often takes place. The festivals may occur on 1 May or Pentecost (Whitsun), although in some countries it is instead erected at ...

dance-related sketch on the green, the film ''

Happy is the Bride ''Happy Is the Bride'' is a 1958 black and white British comedy film written and directed by Roy Boulting and starring Ian Carmichael, Janette Scott, Cecil Parker, Terry-Thomas and Joyce Grenfell. It is based on the play ''Quiet Wedding (play), Q ...

'' was shot here and in Bray, and

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. Collins is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime ...

filmed an advertisement in Holyport some years back. The movie ''

One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing ''One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing'' is a 1975 comedy film set in the early 1920s, about the theft of a dinosaur skeleton from the Natural History Museum. The film was produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution C ...

'' was partly filmed in Holyport. A scene from the 1995

Mr. Bean ''Mr. Bean'' is a British sitcom created by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis, produced by Tiger Aspect and starring Atkinson as the title character. The sitcom consists of 15 episodes that were co-written by Atkinson alongside Curtis and R ...

episode, entitled 'Tee off Mr. Bean', was filmed on Holyport Green. Holyport was the final residence of veteran

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Etymology

Amenities

Notable residents and visitors

Sport and leisure

References