Finchampstead Ridges and the surrounding area was once part of a royal hunting forest, a well-stocked "larder" of deer and wild boar.

Legend tells that Prince Arthur, son of King Henry VII was hunting on the Ridges, when he heard of the arrival in England of his fiancée, Catherine of Aragon.

His party rode out to meet her, but ran across a party of Spaniards who warned the Prince that he should not look upon his bride until after they were married.

The Prince ignored their advice and arranged for Catherine's coach to ride along the Ridges, where the bride-to-be raised her veil for her future husband. As a result their marriage was said to be cursed, and Arthur died shortly the wedding. A plaque in Longwater Lane commemorates these events.