| Date | 21 September 2012 |
|---|---|
| Source | Slough Observer |
| Reference | VP-0040 |
| Volume | Views of the Past |
| Collection | Views of the Past |
Transcript
Royal connection to first owners of Braywick House
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BRAYWICK House lies on the outskirts of Maidenhead and takes its name from an area known as ‘Braywick’, first mentioned in the Bray manorial court rolls in 1340.
The house was built by Sir William Paule in 1675 and was originally known as Braywick Grove.
Sir William was the elder son of William Paule Esq, Chaplain to Charles II. The Bray Churchwardens’ Book dated 1679 records that ‘Sir William Paule, Knight did erect and build one new seat in the north Eyle (aisle) of Bray Church’.
Sir William’s daughter married Sir William Stapleton and the estate passed into the Stapleton family through the marriage. An interesting entry in the Bray Parish burial register records that in December 1726 the son of one Sir William Stapleton’s slaves or servants was baptised at Bray Church. In the 1760s the house was tenanted to Lord Coleraine, who at that time was MP for Bridgwater in Somerset. Towards the end of the 17th century the house was occupied by Thomas Windsor who sold it in 1803 to a Captain Anbury who lived there until 1815. He was a soldier who fought during the American War of Independence in 1777. By 1815 the house was owned by an East India Merchant Company agency known as Fletcher Alexander & Co.
It was sold in c1820 to the Coney family and John Jeane Coney lived there until 1860, when the house passed to his nephew Thomas Coney, originally a chaplain to the forces who after his retirement from the army became a local JP.
It was later rented out to the Samuelson family before being sold to Sir James Clark in 1907. Sir James and Lady Clark lived their until 1948 and created a beautiful Japanese garden which has now disappeared. An Ailanthus – or Tree of Heaven – is believed to have been planted soon after the house had been built. The Clarkes both died in 1948 and their son sold the property to Fortnum and Mason and it remained in private ownership until 1958.
By this time the property was in a rather dilapidated state but was purchased in 1969 by Intervincial Properties Ltd which carried out a complete refurbishment of the building – turning it into modern office accommodation. More alterations and additions to the building were carried out in 1984.
The building has been used as offices ever since – including the headquarters for Laura Ashley – and is currently occupied by Schneider Electric and Acumed.
WHO’S WHO: Braywick House has had an eclectic mix of occupants and is now used as offices.
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