Hurley is a small village and large, rural

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

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 Be ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Its riverside is agricultural, except for

Hurley Priory Hurley Priory is a former Benedictine priory in the village of Hurley. Founded in 1086, the remains are located on the banks of the River Thames in the English county of Berkshire. History The Priory of St. Mary at Hurley was founded in 1086 ...

, as are the outskirts of the village. The adjoining

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

is believed to date from 1135.

Topography

Hurley is a linear development perpendicular to and adjoining the Upper Thames NW 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 ...

and ENE of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire on the A4130 road. The parish includes the considerable

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

s of

Cockpole Green Cockpole Green is a hamlet in Berkshire, England. Part, including the original village green, lies within the civil parish of Hurley (where according to the Post Office in the 2011 Census the majority of the population is included) in the ...

Warren Row Warren Row is a village in Berkshire, England, and part of the civil parish of Hurley. The settlement lies between the A321 road, A4 and A4130 roads, and is located approximately southeast of Henley-on-Thames. It contains a green tin tabernacle ...

, Knowl Hill,

Burchett's Green Burchetts Green is a small village to the west of Maidenhead in the English county of Berkshire. It is half in the civil parish of Hurley and half in the civil parish of Bisham. According to the Post Office, in the 2011 census, the majority of t ...

and part of Littlewick Green. Ashley Hill Forest, almost south of the village, is close to and almost equidistant between Warren Row, Knowl Hill and Burchett's Green and is the largest woodland. Other than this, the parish is mainly agricultural; however, many farms have

spinney Spinney may refer to: *A copse or thicket People * Art Spinney (1927–1994), American football guard * Caroll Spinney (1933–2019), American puppeteer and cartoonist *Edgar Keith Spinney, (1851–1926), Canadian politician * Franklin C. Spinn ...

s of woodland adjoining.

Historic structures

* By the

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

is the Scheduled Ancient Monument,

, a partially moated

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

priory founded in 1086 as a cell of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. The priory was dissolved in 1536, but its priory church survives as the current

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activitie ...

. * ' The Olde Bell' Inn in Hurley is reputedly the oldest still-working

in Britain; parts of the inn date to 1135, when it was the hostelry of

. * The old

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

estate of Hall Place (1728) is now the home of Berkshire College of Agriculture. *The

Manor House A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals with ...

in the High Street was used as Station Victor, forming part of Operation Susse

* The former main priory building became a mansion known as Ladye Place, which stood adjoining the present

. It was the home of the Baron Lovelace, Barons Lovelace. It was demolished in 1837 as uninhabitable. * The Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER) also had a facility at Hurley until 1992.

Localities

Hurley Bottom

Only one of the buildings at the foot of the hill in the south of the village street is listed. This southerly neighbourhood has the loose name Hurley Bottom but is 10m higher than the riverside parts of the village.

Frogmill Court and Frogmill Spinney

''Frogmill

Spinney Spinney may refer to: *A copse or thicket People * Art Spinney (1927–1994), American football guard * Caroll Spinney (1933–2019), American puppeteer and cartoonist *Edgar Keith Spinney, (1851–1926), Canadian politician * Franklin C. Spinn ...

'' forms a riverside Park Homes estate, with fewer than 25 available. The court is now a farmhouse but is a centuries-old building which is listed as such adjoining the

, which in this

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

consists of mainly grazing and pasture meadows. Approximately seven detached or semi-detached riverside homes also adjoin the river in this western frontage point, accessed by a separate lane.Grid square map

Ordnance survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was ...

website

Recreation

Hurley is often used as a mooring for barges and motor launches, or by campers. The

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

at Hurley Lock is considered the premier venue in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for freestyle kayaking.

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 st ...

has been played in Hurley for over 100 years. The club currently plays in the Chiltern League on Saturdays and friendly fixtures against local rivals on Sundays. The ground has a London plane tree inside the boundary. The clubhouse was rebuilt in the 1970s after fire destroyed the previous wooden one. The Temple Golf Club was founded in 1909. It is recognised for its scenic beauty and its emphasis on sustainable environmental management.

In popular culture

* A riverside picnic scene in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 19 ...

film '' From Russia with Love'' was filmed near the village. * The priory and parts of the village have been used as locations for the mystery series '' Midsomer Murders''. * The village is mentioned in the comic novel '' Three Men in a Boat'' by Jerome K. Jerome. * The village is the setting for "The Invisible Millionaire", a short story in the Saint series by

Leslie Charteris Leslie Charteris (born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, 12 May 1907 – 15 April 1993), was a List of British Chinese people, British-Chinese author of adventure fiction, as well as a screenwriter.

. * The composer William Crotch was also an artist, and completed the drawing ''View from Hurley Bottom'' on 30 August 1806.Tate Gallery
/ref>

Public transport

The village is served by a bus route from

. Closest railway stations are Marlow, and

Henley Henley may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Henley, Dorset, a location * Henley, Gloucestershire, a location * Henley-on-Thames, a town in South Oxfordshire, England ** Henley (UK Parliament constituency) ** Henley Rural District, a former ru ...

approximately four miles north east, south east and west respectively.

External links

Hurley Parish

Notes

{{authority control Villages in Berkshire Civil parishes in Berkshire Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Populated places on the River Thames