Cookham, Maidenhead Court and Widbrook Common
A Thameside Walk Through a Lovely Village, Riverside and Common Land
The Thameside village of Cookham has been made famous by its use as a setting for many of the paintings of Sir Stanley Spencer. The artist was born in a house in the High Street in 1891, and there is now a permanent exhibition of his work in the Stanley Spencer Gallery located in the former Methodist chapel he attended as a child. To Spencer, Cookham was the scene of 'heavenly visitations', and the river with its boat yards, the village, and the parish church all form a backdrop to his religious paintings. The walk not only encompasses the lovely village with its half-timbered houses, but includes one of the most beautiful stretches of the River Thames at Cliveden Reach. High above, on the opposite bank, is Cliveden itself, the great house built for the Duke of Sutherland.
