Great Brickhill
Encyclopedia
Great Brickhill is a village
and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale
district, Buckinghamshire
, England
. It is in the very north of the non-metropolitan county, just outside and overlooking, Milton Keynes
.
origins, which is a common occurrence in this part of the country. The Brythonic breg means 'hill', and the Anglo Saxon hyll also means 'hill'. In the Domesday Book
of 1086 the village was recorded as Brichelle. The affix 'Great' was added in the 12th century to differentiate from nearby Bow Brickhill
and Little Brickhill
, though since that time Little Brickhill has far outgrown the other two.
Great Brickhill was described in 1806 in Magna Britannia
as follows:
The Victoria History of the Counties of England provides substantially more detail on the manorial record, but does not mention the Beauchamps (apart from one mention of 'the wife of the Earl of Warwick').
In 1643 Great Brickhill was touched by the English Civil War
. The Parliamentarian
Earl of Essex
and his army camped in the village for a month. Great Brickhill was considered a strategic site due to its elevation and proximity to Watling Street
(now the A5 road), at the time the main approach road to London
from the north. However, there were no battle
s or even skirmishes here.
. This new city
on the doorstep of Great Brickhill comes closer every year: already parts of the parish have been swallowed. It may be that this will one day be Great Brickhill's fate too. Conversely, and to much local amusement/bemusement, a speculator recently bought a tract of agricultural land near the village and resold it at enormous profit as individual plots that might one day become part of the city. This was despite the fact that the land does not have planning permission
for any such use and the relevant local authorities say that it will never receive such permission.
The high brick wall, reminiscent of that at nearby Woburn
, which runs for some distance adjacent to the road, now neglected and ruined in places, surrounds the 70-acre (280,000 m²) park which once housed the principal seat of the Duncombe family, Great Brickhill Manor. The last manor house
to occupy this park was built circa 1835, a large square brick stuccoed building of no particular architectural merit – old photographs show a slight Italianate
influence in the design, a style later made popular by Queen Victoria
at Osborne House
. This house was demolished in 1937 after serving for a time as Stratton Park Preparatory School
.
The Duncombe family (the head of whom since 1859 has been a Baronet
) continue to live in the village and own the estate; however, they now reside at what used to be the old Rectory
near the church. Ironically the rectory is shielded from the empty site of the family's former more splendid home by a battlemented folly wall, built by a former Duncombe who disliked the vicar
so much that he did not wish to see him or his home!
The parish church
of St. Mary the Virgin is a Grade II* listed building, dating back to the 13th century.
Another large house in the area was Stockgrove, built in the 1920s on the site of a much older mansion (see "Magnus Britannia" above) this Georgian
-style house was built by the industrialist Sir Ferdinand Kroyer-Kielberg. The estate was divided and sold in the 1950s. The house for a time became a 'Special School' and in the 1990s was divided into luxury apartments.
Great Brickhill today has only one shop: like so many other villages its bakery
and post office
are long closed. The local public house
, the 'Old Red Lion', continues however to provide a much-needed service and has a flourishing trade.
The village primary school is High Ash Church of England Combined School, which is a mixed, voluntary controlled, Church of England
school. It takes children from the age of four through to the age of twelve and has approximately 240 pupils. It is one of several Buckinghamshire schools which host mobile phone
masts
. Contracts between Buckinghamshire County Council and various mobile phone operators generate an income of £145,000 per annum, of which about £59,000 comes from contracts for masts that are installed in schools.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale
Aylesbury Vale
The Aylesbury Vale is a large area of flat land mostly in Buckinghamshire, England. Its boundary is marked by Milton Keynes to the north, Leighton Buzzard and the Chiltern Hills to the east and south, Thame to the south and Bicester and Brackley to the west.The vale is named after Aylesbury, the...
district, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is in the very north of the non-metropolitan county, just outside and overlooking, Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
.
History
The village name is a compound of Brythonic and Anglo SaxonOld English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
origins, which is a common occurrence in this part of the country. The Brythonic breg means 'hill', and the Anglo Saxon hyll also means 'hill'. In the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086 the village was recorded as Brichelle. The affix 'Great' was added in the 12th century to differentiate from nearby Bow Brickhill
Bow Brickhill
Bow Brickhill is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is a short distance south east of Milton Keynes itself....
and Little Brickhill
Little Brickhill
Little Brickhill is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Milton Keynes and ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. It is just outside and overlooking Milton Keynes itself, two and a half miles west of Woburn in Bedfordshire....
, though since that time Little Brickhill has far outgrown the other two.
Great Brickhill was described in 1806 in Magna Britannia
Magna Britannia
Magna Britannia, being a concise topographical account of the several counties of Great Britain was an ambitious topographical and historical survey published by the antiquarians Daniel Lysons and his brother Samuel Lysons in several volumes between 1806 and 1822...
as follows:
- Great-Brickhill, in the hundred and deanery of NewportNewport PagnellNewport Pagnell is a town in the Borough of Milton Keynes , England. It is separated by the M1 motorway from Milton Keynes itself, though part of the same urban area...
, lies about two miles and a half to the south-east of Fenny StratfordFenny StratfordFenny Stratford is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England and in the Civil Parish of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford. Originally an independent town, it was included in the Milton Keynes "designated area" area in 1967...
. The manorManorialismManorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
was anciently in the BeauchampWilliam de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of WarwickWilliam de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick was an English nobleman and soldier, described as a “vigorous and innovative military commander”...
s, from whom it passed by female heirs to the Bassets and Greys. Richard Grey, Earl of KentKentKent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, sold it in 1514 to Sir Charles SomersetSomersetThe ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, of whose son, Sir George it was purchased in 1549, by the Duncombes: from this family it passed, by female heirs, to the Bartons and Paunceforts, and is now the property of Philip Duncombe Pauncefort esq. - The manor of Smewnes-Grange, in this parish, became the property of Woburn AbbeyWoburn AbbeyWoburn Abbey , near Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the seat of the Duke of Bedford and the location of the Woburn Safari Park.- Pre-20th century :...
, in 1293. King Edward VIEdward VI of EnglandEdward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
granted it to Edward Stanton esq. of whose descendant it was purchased in 1792, (under an act of parliament which had passed the preceding year,) by the present proprietor, Edward Hanmer esq. of Stockgrove. This manor extends into the parish of SoulburySoulburySoulbury is a village and also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Aylesbury Vale, about three miles south of the Milton Keynes urban area, three miles north of Wing. The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'stronghold in a...
: the manor-house, which was built by Edward Stanton, the grantee, within a moated site near the River OuzelRiver OuzelThe River Ouzel , also known as the River Lovat, is a river in England, and a tributary of the River Great Ouse. It rises in the Chiltern Hills and flows 20 miles north to join the Ouse at Newport Pagnell....
, has long been suffered to go to decay. - In the parishParishA parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
church are memorials of the families of Duncombe, Barton, Pauncefort, and Chase. The advowson of the rectory is annexed to the manor. This parish was inclosed by an act of parliamentParliament of Great BritainThe Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland...
, passed in 1776, when an allotment of land was assigned to the rectorRectorThe word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
, in lieu of titheTitheA tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
s, and an allotment to the poor in lieu of their right of cutting furze.
The Victoria History of the Counties of England provides substantially more detail on the manorial record, but does not mention the Beauchamps (apart from one mention of 'the wife of the Earl of Warwick').
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. The Parliamentarian
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
Earl of Essex
Earl of Essex
Earl of Essex is a title that has been held by several families and individuals. The earldom was first created in the 12th century for Geoffrey II de Mandeville . Upon the death of the third earl in 1189, the title became dormant or extinct...
and his army camped in the village for a month. Great Brickhill was considered a strategic site due to its elevation and proximity to Watling Street
Watling Street
Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...
(now the A5 road), at the time the main approach road to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
from the north. However, there were no battle
Battle
Generally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, or combatants. In a battle, each combatant will seek to defeat the others, with defeat determined by the conditions of a military campaign...
s or even skirmishes here.
Modern Great Brickhill
That Great Brickhill survives today as a village is due in no small part to the objections of its residents to the ever-increasing development of Milton KeynesMilton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
. This new city
New town
A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...
on the doorstep of Great Brickhill comes closer every year: already parts of the parish have been swallowed. It may be that this will one day be Great Brickhill's fate too. Conversely, and to much local amusement/bemusement, a speculator recently bought a tract of agricultural land near the village and resold it at enormous profit as individual plots that might one day become part of the city. This was despite the fact that the land does not have planning permission
Planning permission
Planning permission or planning consent is the permission required in the United Kingdom in order to be allowed to build on land, or change the use of land or buildings. Within the UK the occupier of any land or building will need title to that land or building , but will also need "planning...
for any such use and the relevant local authorities say that it will never receive such permission.
The high brick wall, reminiscent of that at nearby Woburn
Woburn, Bedfordshire
Woburn is a small Saxon village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is situated about southeast of the centre of Milton Keynes, and about south of junction 13 of the M1 motorway and is a popular tourist attraction.-History:...
, which runs for some distance adjacent to the road, now neglected and ruined in places, surrounds the 70-acre (280,000 m²) park which once housed the principal seat of the Duncombe family, Great Brickhill Manor. The last manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
to occupy this park was built circa 1835, a large square brick stuccoed building of no particular architectural merit – old photographs show a slight Italianate
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
influence in the design, a style later made popular by Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
at Osborne House
Osborne House
Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat....
. This house was demolished in 1937 after serving for a time as Stratton Park Preparatory School
Preparatory school (UK)
In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...
.
The Duncombe family (the head of whom since 1859 has been a Baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
) continue to live in the village and own the estate; however, they now reside at what used to be the old Rectory
Rectory
A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...
near the church. Ironically the rectory is shielded from the empty site of the family's former more splendid home by a battlemented folly wall, built by a former Duncombe who disliked the vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
so much that he did not wish to see him or his home!
The parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of St. Mary the Virgin is a Grade II* listed building, dating back to the 13th century.
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
-style house was built by the industrialist Sir Ferdinand Kroyer-Kielberg. The estate was divided and sold in the 1950s. The house for a time became a 'Special School' and in the 1990s was divided into luxury apartments.
Great Brickhill today has only one shop: like so many other villages its bakery
Bakery
A bakery is an establishment which produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries and pies. Some retail bakeries are also cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to consume the baked goods on the premises.-See also:*Baker*Cake...
and post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
are long closed. The local public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, the 'Old Red Lion', continues however to provide a much-needed service and has a flourishing trade.
The village primary school is High Ash Church of England Combined School, which is a mixed, voluntary controlled, Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
school. It takes children from the age of four through to the age of twelve and has approximately 240 pupils. It is one of several Buckinghamshire schools which host mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
masts
Cell site
A cell site is a term used to describe a site where antennas and electronic communications equipment are placed, usually on a radio mast, tower or other high place, to create a cell in a cellular network...
. Contracts between Buckinghamshire County Council and various mobile phone operators generate an income of £145,000 per annum, of which about £59,000 comes from contracts for masts that are installed in schools.