MAIDENHEAD  , a

market town and municipal borough in the Wokingham parliamentary division of Berkshire, England; 24i- M . W. of London by the Great Western railway . Pop . (1901); 12,980 . Area, 2125 acres . It is pleasantly situated on and above the west (right) bank of the Thames, and is much in favour as a residential town and a resort of boating parties . Though of high antiquity it is wholly modern in appearance, and a large number of handsome houses have been built in its vicinity . A beautiful timbered house of the 15th century, how-ever, survives in Ockwells, a short distance south of the town . The stone bridge carrying the London road over the Thames dates from 1772; but the crossing is of ancient importance . Maidenhead has trade in malt and grain . The borough is under a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors . The history of Maidenhead (Maydenhutt, Maydenhith) is bound up with that of the ancient bridge .

It is not mentioned in Domesday .

Edward I . (1297) gave a grant of pontage in aid of the bridge, which was almost broken down; similar grants to the " bailiffs and good men of Maydenhithe " were made by succeeding sovereigns . In 1451 Henry VI. incorporated the gild of the Brethren and Sisters of Maydenhith to provide certain necessaries for the celebration of Mass and to keep the bridge in order: the gild, dissolved at the Reformation, was revived by Elizabeth, who, however, later (1581) substituted for it a corporation consisting of a warden, bridgemaster, burgesses and commonalty: the governing charter until the 19th century was that of James I . (1685) incorporating the town under the title of the mayor, bridgemaster and burgesses . In 1400 Thomas Holand, earl of Kent, held the bridge in the interests of the deposed Richard II., but was eventually forced to retire . In 1643 a meeting took place in the town between Charles I. and three of his children . In the 18th century a considerable trade was done in carrying malt, meal and timber in barges to London: at that time three fairs were held which have now practically disappeared . The Wednesday market is held under a charter of Elizabeth (1582) .