Taplow

The name of Taplow is derived from Taeppa, a Saxon warrior whose grand burial site high above the Thames was excavated in 1883. Nothing is known of Taeppa himself, but the items discovered at the site are on display in the British Museum. To the north of the village lies the country house of Cliveden (National Trust), once the home of Lady Nancy Astor, the first woman to take her seat as a Member of Parliament. The first house on the site was built in 1666 for the Duke of Buckingham, but the present magnificent mansion, most of which is now a hotel, dates from the 19th century. It was in 1740 that Rule Britannia was first performed, in the presence of Frederick, Prince of Wales. Thomas Arne set to music words written by James Thomson. The splendid grounds include a great formal parterre with fountains, temples and statuary, a water garden and a wonderful rose garden. Some of the great names in architecture and garden design had a hand in the Cliveden of today: the house and terrace are the work of Sir Charles Barry, the rose garden was designed by Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe, and the renowned Italian country house architect Giacomo Leoni was responsible for the Octagonal Temple, now a chapel, where the American-born millionaire William Waldorf Astor, his son Waldorf and the ashes of Waldorf’s wife Nancy are buried.