Mentioned in
William the Conqueror's Domesday Book, Colnbrook is on the
Colne Brook, a tributary of the
River Colne, hence
Colnbrook.
Coaching inns were the village's main industry. In 1106, the first one was founded by Milo Crispin, named
the Hospice (subsequently the 'Ostrich', probably by way of corruption of the original name), the third oldest in England. When
Princess Elizabeth was brought from
Woodstock Palace to
Hampton Court in April 1555, she spent a night at
The George. By 1577, Colnbrook had no fewer than ten
coaching inns. Colnbrook's High Street was on the main London to
Bath road and turn off point for Windsor and was used as a resting point for travellers. In
Thomas Deloney's fictional
Pleasant History of Thomas of Reading (c. 1598), Jarman, the landlord of the Crane Inn during the reign of
Henry I, installed a large trap door under the bed in the best bedroom located immediately above the inn's kitchen. The bed was fixed to the trap door and the mattress securely attached to the bedstead, so that when two retaining iron pins were removed from below in the small hours of the morning, the sleeping guest was neatly decanted into a boiling cauldron. In this way, more than sixty of his richer guests were murdered silently and with no bloodshed. Their bodies were then disposed of in the River Colne. The murder of a wealthy clothier, Thomas Cole of Reading, proved to be Jarman's undoing in that he failed to get rid of Cole's horse, leading to his confessing. The story ends with Jarman and his wife being hanged for robbery and murder, and the river and town being named "Cole" and "Colebrooke" respectively after Thomas Cole. According to local tradition, this inn was the Ostrich Inn. The inn is reportedly haunted and has been subject to investigations by the Sussex Paranormal Research Group and
Most Haunted. On an episode of
Ghosthunters International that aired on 21 July 2010, it is mentioned that the Jarman murders at the Ostrich Inn were the inspiration for the story of
Sweeney Todd. Colnbrook is also the place where Richard Cox (a retired brewer), in 1825, first grafted the
Cox's Orange Pippin apple at his orchard named
The Lawns. A traditional
coaching history has led to no fewer than four inns or
public houses remaining, three in Colnbrook, one in Poyle. In August 1902, a clock was installed by public subscription to celebrate the
Coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra, which stood until the building it was attached to was demolished in 1935. The clock was kept in storage for a number of years while several attempts to reinstall it elsewhere were unsuccessful, and it is currently kept inside The Ostrich Inn. In 2012, a new free-standing clock was installed in front of Ye Old George Inn at the end of the High Street to commemorate the
Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The new clock was unveiled on 29 June 2012 in a ceremony attended by
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Administrative history Colnbrook has a complicated administrative history. The village was historically divided by the Colne Brook between the
ancient parish of
Stanwell in
Middlesex in the east, and the parishes of
Horton and
Langley Marish in Buckinghamshire in the west. The parish
vestries provided traditional poor relief and road maintenance but lay in the 19th century in different
Poor Law Unions. Stanwell became part of
Staines Rural District in 1894 and
Staines Urban District in 1930. The Buckinghamshire parishes joined
Eton Rural District in 1894. In 1965 the eastern part of Colnbrook was transferred to
Surrey with the rest of Staines Urban District. In 1974 Staines Urban District was absorbed into the new
borough of Spelthorne. In 1974 most of the parish of Horton was transferred to the new borough of
Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, but the western part of Colnbrook remained in Buckinghamshire and was added to the parish of
Iver, in the
South Bucks district. Colnbrook was finally united on 1 April 1995, when the present combined parish of Colnbrook with Poyle was formed and added to the borough of Slough in
Berkshire. That was the county's last boundary change before
Berkshire County Council was abolished to be replaced by six
unitary authorities. When the county council was abolished in April 1998 the borough became more important for local government; however a Berkshire Fire and Rescue service persists, as do ceremonial roles, judicial roles and sporting competitions. ==Geography==