Bray church was built at the end of the C 13th to replace a Saxon church on a different site. The early C 14th tower houses one of the finest heavy rings of 8 bells in the diocese.

The massive, embattled tower was built in four stages, the ground stage being the porch and main entrance to the church. The worn stone benches in the porch suggest that it used to be a meeting place for the village. It was built of hard chalk, known as clunch, contrasting with the Bath stone used in the C 19th alterations. The second stage is the ringing chamber; the third contains the clock and bells (which have a total weight of nearly five tons) and the fourth (where the bells used to be) now has a viewing gallery over the bells, put in as part of the restoration in 1985. The viewing gallery may be visited provided a Bray ringer is present and willing to escort visitors.

The Font is in the south west corner of the church. An entry in the churchwardens’ accounts of the time shows that the ‘new phaunt cost £3 15s 9d, including carving, painting, gyldeing the lid and setting up’. The font was described in J W. Walker’s History of Maidenhead (quoted anonymously) as the ‘the latest bit of pure Gothic in England before the Victorian revival’.

The ‘Judge’ Brass. The brass known as The Judge, Sir William Laken 1475, Justice of the King’s Bench is to the left of the west door.

Ancient Coffin lids. Ancient stone coffin lids with inscriptions round the edge are on either side of the west door.

The Brasses of St. Michael’s Church. For the convenience of would-be brass rubbers, a set of the main examples in the church is placed at a convenient height along the side of the choir vestry at the west end of the north aisle.

The Benefactions Board fixed against the east side of the choir vestry, provides a list of benefactors to the parish and an account of their good deeds, including Archbishop Laud, who was beheaded in January 1645.

Other Brasses and Memorials in the church include; The Foxley Brass (1378), The Hanger Memorial, The William Paule Monument (1685), the Page Brass (1610), William Norris Memorial (1591), The Goddard Monument ( early C 17th ).The Rixman Brass, William Smythe Brass, Brasses to William Dyer and Thomas atte Lude. ( Dyer was vicar in 1296).

The East Window above the altar was designed by G. E. Street, executed by Wailes and erected by John Hibbert of Braywick Lodge in memory of his father. The window was used in 1972 as a design for Easter stamps of Anguilla and again in 1991 for stamps of Montserrat.

The St. Michael Window is the work of W. G. Taylor, who joined the firm of O’Connor in 1873 and ultimately took over the firm in 1877. The window shows St. Michael and Jacob’s dream. It was presented by friends in memory of the vicar, William Brassey Hole, who died in 1887. All the stained glass in St. Michael’s was set in place within roughly thirty years in the latter half of the C 19th.

The Plumbers’ Mark of 1738 is on the south wall beside the entrance door to the church. A note about its discovery is attached below the mark.

For a more detailed account of St. Michael’s church and the surrounding village of Bray, see the book “Bray Today and Yesterday - The History of a Thames-side Village” by Nan Birney, in the 1998 version edited by Richard Russell. (ISBN 0 9533106 0 4, £17.99 - copies still available).

Installed in 1840 by J. Whitehurst of Derby, a forerunner of the present company, Smiths of Derby, believed to be one of a small number of its type. There is one clock hammer to pull off before ringing.

The church itself is not normally open except for set hours in summer when there are ‘church watchers’ on duty. However, there is a glass inner porch so visitors can actually see into the church without going in.

For safety reasons visitors are not normally permitted to visit the roof of the tower.

• The Hind’s Head Hotel ( through the Lych Gate ). Now owned by Heston Blumenthal of The Fat Duck. Nice pub but food is expensive.
• The Crown ( other end of the High Street ). Also nice pub, food not quite so expensive but remember this IS Bray!