Henley-on-Thames, set on a mile-long stretch of the Thames, is famous for its regatta, founded in 1839 and held every year in early July. At regatta times the banks are lined with hospitality tents and well-dressed spectators parade up and down. The river is also the focus for another annual event swan-upping, in late July. For 800 years the cygnets born to swans on the Thames have been caught and marked to distinguish their ownership.
Henley itself, which grew itself around a 12th-century river crossing, has a very attractive and compact town center with lots of half-timbered or soft-toned brick buildings of the 15th to 18th centuries. Look too for the flint and stone-checked 16th-century tower of St. Mary's Church, and the adjoining 15th-century Chantry House, timber-framed with jettied upper floors.
