The village described 150 years ago.

The village as it was 150 years ago.

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COOKHAM Described in 1860.

COOKHAM (Holy Trinity), a parish, and the head of the union, and formerly a market town, in the hundred of Cookham, county of Berks, Three and one half  miles north and east from Maidenhead; containing 3,676 inhabitants. This parish which includes the northern portion of the town of Maidenhead, extending from the bridge to Maidenhead Thicket, and comprehending the whole of that waste, is the river Thames, by which it is bounded by the north and east, and comprises by measurement about 10,000 acres, of which nearly 4,000 are arable, more than a 1,000 grass, 93 acres in  orchards, 151 acres of woods, and 884 acres of common land. There is a considerable hamlet in the parish, called Cookham Dean, about a mile and one half west of the village, bordering upon Bisham, and consisting of scattered cottages; it is noted for its orchards, rural scenery, and woodland, and the wildness of its character, in the midst of a highly cultivated neighbourhood, renders it more attractive to the lover of nature in her simpler form. A bridge has been built across the Thames, which greatly facilitates traffic, and affords ready access out of Buckinghamshire to the Great Western Railway. The manufacture of coarse paper is carried on; and fairs are held on May the 16^th and October the 11^th. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s books at £14. 14. 02.; net income, £360. 0. 0.; patron, John Rogers, Esq.; impropriators, the Landowners. Near the entrance into the chancel of the church is a brass plate to the memory of Sir Edward Stockton, vicar of the parish, who died 1534, and is styled “Pylgrym of Jerusalem, and canon professed of the House of our Lady at Guisbro’ in Yorkshire:” this no longer appears, being probably concealed by a pew. Several descendants of General Washington, and Mr. Hooke, the historian of the Roman Empire, are interred in the church. There is an episcopal chapel in that part of Maidenhead situated in the parish; also places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans. A national school is supported by subscription; and two other schools are chiefly maintained by the clergyman. An almshouse, belonging to the Salters’ Company, of London, was founded by Mr. James Smith , citizen and salter, for eight aged men and their wives. The poor law union of Cookham comprises of 7 parishes or places, and contains a population of 11,060.