Maidenhead

Maidenhead is a large town in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies south-west of the River Thames, but at Maidenhead, the river runs north-south and so the town is on its west bank. The town has a population of just under 75,000 inhabitants. Its urban area (including the adjoining suburban villages of Bray, Holyport, Pinkneys Green, Cox Green, White Waltham and Woodlands Park) has a population of just under 95,000. Maidenhead is the largest town, and administrative capital of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. In 2015, its population was estimated at 147,700 inhabitants.HistoryJohn Leland (antiquary) claimed that the area around Maidenhead's present town centre was a small Roman settlement called Alaunodunum. He stated that it had all but disappeared by the end of the Roman occupation. Although his source is unknown, there is documented evidence of Roman occupation in the town with two well known villa sites in the town. One being in the suburb of Cox Green, and the other just west of the town centre on Castle Hill which sits alongside the supposed route of the Camlet Way. This was a Roman road that ran between Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) and Colchester (Camulodunum) via St Albans,(Verulamium) and passed through the present town centre. Remnants of the road have been unearthed at various locations nearby, but its exact route is unclear.