There is evidence of habitation in the area shortly after the end of the last
ice age, between 10,000 and 6,500 years ago, and of a multi-period settlement at Southlea from the Neolithic to the late
Roman periods. An excavation at Riding Court, a
manorial sub-division of Datchet, has revealed a monument complex that included a
cursus,
ring ditches,
oval barrows and
causewayed enclosures. The monuments had developed alongside the River Thames, which acted as a barrier, a gateway and a routeway to other regions. The 2017 investigations at Riding Court Farm have provided evidence of Early Neolithic activity (4000–3350 BC) with the discovery of a previously unknown causewayed enclosure. Datchet is first mentioned between 990 and 994, when
Æthelred made small grants of land here. In the
Domesday Book, in 1066 the lords were the brothers Saewulf and Siward. In 1086 the lord and tenant-in-chief was Giles, brother of Ansculf, In 1150, the church already existed in Datchet, and the Pinkney family sold it to the
abbey of
St Albans. The Abbot became
rector as impropriator of the parish and had the right to appoint vicars. There was a ferry at Datchet Ferry which provided a shorter route from London to
Windsor Castle and was frequently used by royalty. In 1249,
Henry III gave a great oak from
Windsor Forest to make a barge for passage from Windsor to Datchet. In 1350,
Edward III gave Datchet Church as part of the endowment of his new church and college of
St George at Windsor Castle. St. Mary's church originated as a rectory in the 13th century. A church, dated from 1559 by the parish registers, was dismantled in 1857, rebuilt, and reopened in 1860. It is notable in that its tower is octagonal, the greater number of church towers being square or round. In early 1911 a young
Sydney Camm watched Sir
Thomas Sopwith land his aircraft on Datchet
golf course, on his return journey from
Windsor Castle. ==In popular culture==