Kingswood, Buckinghamshire
Encyclopedia
Kingswood is a hamlet
of 30 dwellings on the South side of the A41
from Waddesdon
to Bicester
and between the villages of Ludgershall
and Grendon Underwood
in Buckinghamshire
, England
. Kingswood is also a civil parish
within Aylesbury Vale
district. Parish matters are currently administered via a parish meeting
. There is one public house, The Plough and Anchor, and a derelict Village Hall blown down in the strong gale of 1987.
The hamlet name refers to the nearby Bernwood Forest
, an ancient woodland that was the property of the king, though it has since been completely deforested
.
The houses within the hamlet form part of a larger community encompassing a further 30 dwellings within adjoining parishes and includes a burial ground, another public house, The Crooked Billet and a Mission Hall at the crossroads built around 1850 and left in trust in 1905 by Henry Grattan Guinness
(1835–1910) for the salvation or edification of souls.
The old Roman Akeman Street was the main route to Cirencester, Cheltenham and Bath and the Crooked Billet an important coaching inn / staging post.
The original trustees of the Mission Hall were William Kirby, Sydney Hopcroft, James & John Taylor and William Wellings; and adjoining land then owned by Amy Wellings on one side and William Daniels on the other.
Henry Grattan Guinness established the East London Training Institute for Home and Foreign Missions in Stepney Green in 1873, across the road from the Mission Hall of his friend, Thomas Barnardo and moved to larger premises in Harley House in Bow later in that year. The Institute was interdenominational and international, opening its own missions in Congo (1878), Peru (1897), India (1899), Borneo (1948), Nepal (1954), and Irian Jaya (1957). Present day Latin Link descends from the Peru mission.
In the late 19th century the Brill/Wotton Tramway had a spur to Kingswood.
1871-04-01 Wotton to Quainton Road opened [Wotton Tramway]
1871-08-19 Wood Siding to Wotton opened [Wotton Tramway]
1871-11- Brill to Wood Siding opened [Wotton Tramway]
1871-11- Wood Siding, Church Siding
1872-01- Wotton, Westcott, Waddesdon Road, Quainton Road (Wotton Tramway)
1872-04- Brill
1891-07-01 Verney Junction to Aylesbury started [Metropolitan]
1892-09-01 Aylesbury to Amersham opened
The Metropolitan extended its route north from Baker Street through Harrow and Rickmansworth to Aylesbury and bought out the Aylesbury & Buckingham Railway from Aylesbury via Quainton Road to Verney Junction - and took over the operation of the Wotton Tramway from Quainton Road to Brill. At the same time Manchester, Sheffield, & Lincolnshire Railway extended its main line south to meet the Metropolitan at Quainton Road and then ran along the latter to Finchley Road, where it diverged west to a separate terminus at Marylebone.
Therefore it seems that in the latter half of the 1800s Kingswood was not only on the main coaching route to Cirencester, Cheltenham and Bath but also right in the middle of great infrastructure developments linking it to major hubs North and South. This could explain why such an eminent person as Henry Grattan Guinness decided to site his only known UK chapel in Kingswood.
of Tetchwick, located to the south west of the main village on a spar road off the main A41.
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of 30 dwellings on the South side of the A41
A41 road
The A41 is a formerly-major trunk road in England that links London and Birkenhead, although it has now largely been superseded by motorways. It passes through or near various towns and cities including Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton,...
from Waddesdon
Waddesdon
Waddesdon is a village within the Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England, 6 miles from Aylesbury on the A41 road. The centre of a civil parish, including the hamlets of Eythrope, Wormstone and Woodham, Waddesdon was an agricultural settlement with milling, silk weaving and lace making...
to Bicester
Bicester
Bicester is a town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in England.This historic market centre is one of the fastest growing towns in Oxfordshire Development has been favoured by its proximity to junction 9 of the M40 motorway linking it to London, Birmingham and...
and between the villages of Ludgershall
Ludgershall, Buckinghamshire
Ludgershall is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is near the boundary with Oxfordshire, about south-east of Bicester and west of Waddesdon....
and Grendon Underwood
Grendon Underwood
Grendon Underwood is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the west of the county, close to the boundary with Oxfordshire and near the Roman road Akeman Street....
in 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...
. Kingswood is also a civil parish
Parish
A 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...
within 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. Parish matters are currently administered via a parish meeting
Parish meeting
A parish meeting, in England, is a meeting to which all the electors in a civil parish are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of the parish council itself, with statutory powers, and electing a...
. There is one public house, The Plough and Anchor, and a derelict Village Hall blown down in the strong gale of 1987.
The hamlet name refers to the nearby Bernwood Forest
Bernwood Forest
Bernwood was one of several forests of the ancient kingdom of England and was a Royal hunting forest. It is thought to have been set aside as Royal hunting land when the Anglo-Saxon kings had a palace at Brill in the 10th century and was a particularly favoured place of Edward the Confessor, who...
, an ancient woodland that was the property of the king, though it has since been completely deforested
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
.
The houses within the hamlet form part of a larger community encompassing a further 30 dwellings within adjoining parishes and includes a burial ground, another public house, The Crooked Billet and a Mission Hall at the crossroads built around 1850 and left in trust in 1905 by Henry Grattan Guinness
Henry Grattan Guinness
Henry Grattan Guinness D. D. was an Irish Protestant Christian preacher, evangelist and author. He was the great evangelist of the Evangelical awakening and preached during the Ulster Revival of 1859 which drew thousands to hear him...
(1835–1910) for the salvation or edification of souls.
The old Roman Akeman Street was the main route to Cirencester, Cheltenham and Bath and the Crooked Billet an important coaching inn / staging post.
The original trustees of the Mission Hall were William Kirby, Sydney Hopcroft, James & John Taylor and William Wellings; and adjoining land then owned by Amy Wellings on one side and William Daniels on the other.
Henry Grattan Guinness established the East London Training Institute for Home and Foreign Missions in Stepney Green in 1873, across the road from the Mission Hall of his friend, Thomas Barnardo and moved to larger premises in Harley House in Bow later in that year. The Institute was interdenominational and international, opening its own missions in Congo (1878), Peru (1897), India (1899), Borneo (1948), Nepal (1954), and Irian Jaya (1957). Present day Latin Link descends from the Peru mission.
In the late 19th century the Brill/Wotton Tramway had a spur to Kingswood.
1871-04-01 Wotton to Quainton Road opened [Wotton Tramway]
1871-08-19 Wood Siding to Wotton opened [Wotton Tramway]
1871-11- Brill to Wood Siding opened [Wotton Tramway]
1871-11- Wood Siding, Church Siding
1872-01- Wotton, Westcott, Waddesdon Road, Quainton Road (Wotton Tramway)
1872-04- Brill
1891-07-01 Verney Junction to Aylesbury started [Metropolitan]
1892-09-01 Aylesbury to Amersham opened
The Metropolitan extended its route north from Baker Street through Harrow and Rickmansworth to Aylesbury and bought out the Aylesbury & Buckingham Railway from Aylesbury via Quainton Road to Verney Junction - and took over the operation of the Wotton Tramway from Quainton Road to Brill. At the same time Manchester, Sheffield, & Lincolnshire Railway extended its main line south to meet the Metropolitan at Quainton Road and then ran along the latter to Finchley Road, where it diverged west to a separate terminus at Marylebone.
Therefore it seems that in the latter half of the 1800s Kingswood was not only on the main coaching route to Cirencester, Cheltenham and Bath but also right in the middle of great infrastructure developments linking it to major hubs North and South. This could explain why such an eminent person as Henry Grattan Guinness decided to site his only known UK chapel in Kingswood.
Tetchwick
Within Kingswood parish is the hamletHamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Tetchwick, located to the south west of the main village on a spar road off the main A41.