San Diego Sarah on 20 Jun 2019  •  Link

Eton is an historic town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, but within the historic boundaries of Buckinghamshire, lying on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor and connected to it by Windsor Bridge.

The land that is now Eton once belonged to the manor of Queen Edith, wife of Edward the Confessor. The main road between Windsor and London went through there so a hamlet sprang up amid pasture meadows to maintain the road and the bridge.

In 1440, Henry VI chose Eton as the location for his new college, Eton College. Workmen were moved into Eton to build the college. All of the land immediately around the hamlet was granted to the college, which stopped further growth. The new college chapel made the village a pilgrimage point, and inns were set up along the high street.

During the English Civil War, after Windsor Castle was captured by parliamentarian forces, the Royalist army moved into Eton and attempted to retake the town, occupying the college. Efforts to retake Windsor were unsuccessful and the royalists eventually fled.

The college sometimes leased small plots of land to the village as an act of charity, leading to the construction of houses near the bridge. Scholars at the college also used to collect "salt" (money) from the inns of Eton High Street. This practice continued until 1845 when a scholar refused to associate with the inns because they were a "temptation" to Eton students.

William Oughtred (1574–1660), mathematician and cleric, was born here.

For more, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eto…

And just what sort of "temptation" might that be?