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 A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

', 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 and Holyport Cricket Club. An hourly bus service operated by Courtney Coaches connects the village to Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor and

. Holyport has a nature reserve on the edge of the village, called Bray Pit. Local residents banded together and in 2018 the incumbent Prime Minister Theresa May unveiled a defibrillator 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 Theresa May and Paralympian, Jeanette Chippington

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 courts (Royal County of Berkshire Real Tennis Club), where Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward first met his wife-to-be, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, Sophie Rhys-Jones. Holyport was the home of the prestigious stables of Horace Smith, later known as Smith's Stables, where Queen Elizabeth II rode with her sister Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, Princess Margaret 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 filmed a Maypole dance-related sketch on the green, the film ''Happy is the Bride'' was shot here and in Bray, and Joan Collins filmed an advertisement in Holyport some years back. The movie ''One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing'' was partly filmed in Holyport. A scene from the 1995 Mr. Bean episode, entitled 'Tee off Mr. Bean', was filmed on Holyport Green. Holyport was the final residence of veteran BBC TV presenter Frank Bough until his death in 2020, and for many years the former actor Tom Adams (actor), Tom Adams, who died in 2014, was spotted frequently in the village pubs. Stirling Moss, the famous racing driver, lived in the village, and was a member of the Bray and Holyport The Scout Association, Scout Group.

Sport and leisure

The village's soccer team Holyport F.C. plays in the Hellenic Football League. Its Cricket Club plays in the Chilterns Cricket League on Saturdays and in Friendlies against local clubs on Sundays. The Holyport Village Fair is held on the village green on one Saturday in June every year. This fair has been running since 1946 and draws large crowds from the surrounding area - 2020 is believed to be the first year since the fair's inception that it did not take place.

References

{{authority control Villages in Berkshire Bray, Berkshire