The history of Eton

The Saxon settlement of “Eyton” or “Eytun”, meaning a settlement on an island, was probably established sometime between the 7th and 10th centuries.

The first certain knowledge of the town is that it was a royal manor held by Queen Edith, wife of King Edward the Confessor, whom she married in 1043. The town of “Etonne” was recorded in William the Conqueror's Domesday survey in 1086. The main river crossing to Windsor was by ferry or by a rickety wooden bridge, and the horses were usually stabled in Eton. King Stable Street exists to this day.

By 1198 Eton was large enough to be referred to as a “vill” or town, and was of comparable size to Windsor.

In 1440, Henry VI, aged only 18, was given Papal permission to found the College of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Eton. His great foundation of Eton College has altered the town's life for the last 560 years. Eton's growth has been restricted by the river to the south and east, the College to the north, and the survival of ancient Lammas and common rights on much of the rest of the land.

However, even at the first national census in 1801, the population of Eton, excluding the College boys, was 2026 compared with Windsor's 3122. One lesser known but proud claim to distinction is that Eton was the first town in the country to have a complete modern drainage system. Eton also possesses the earliest Victorian post box in England, which is still in service.

To mark the Millennium, the internationally renowned artist, Wendy Ramshaw OBE, was commissioned to produce a Public Art feature to be sited on the approach to Eton from Windsor. Wendy, acclaimed for public commissions at St. John's College Oxford and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, designed a series of stainless steel bollards to span the bridge on the Eton side, and a tower bollard with a lens to view the High Street.

We hope this insight into Eton’s heritage will have wetted your appetite. To take a virtual tour of Eton click here