Tattenhoe and Tattenhoe Park are adjacent districts of 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...

, 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...

, in the ancient parish of Tattenhoe. It is located at the south-western edge of the city, not far from the ruins of Snelshall Priory

Snelshall Priory

Snelshall Priory was a Benedictine priory in Milton Keynes, the United Kingdom, built around 1200.The priory was started after Sybil d'Aungerville granted land at Tattenhoe to Lavendon Abbey, who most likely started a cell at Snelshall. Snelshall Priory paid 1 mark a year to Lavendon until 1232, at...

. It contains Howe Park Wood, one of England's few remaining primeval woodlands (though certainly coppiced) and home to a wide variety of wildlife, notably Odonata

Odonata

Odonata is an order of insects, encompassing dragonflies and damselflies . The word dragonfly is also sometimes used to refer to all Odonata, but the back-formation odonate is a more correct English name for the group as a whole...

.

The village was abandoned in the 16th century and had its own moat

Moat

A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...

ed 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...

 and church (1540, perhaps 12th C). By the time redevelopment began, it consisted of just three farms and St. Giles' Church

St. Giles' Church, Tattenhoe

St. Giles's Church is a small 16th century Church of England church in the estate of Tattenhoe, located to the west of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is of modest size but is a Grade 2* listed building.-Early history:...

, but was recognised as a village (rather than a hamlet

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...

) because it had its own 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...

.

In January 2006, the Haredim community of Stamford Hill

Stamford Hill

Stamford Hill is a place in the north of the London Borough of Hackney, England, near the border with Haringey. It is home to Europe's largest Hasidic Jewish and Adeni Jewish community.Stamford Hill is NNE of Charing Cross.-History:...

 (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...

) considered establishing a new settlement at Tattenhoe Park, but decided against it.

Its name is an Old English language

Old 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...

 word meaning 'Tatta's spur of land'. The village was first recorded (in the 12th century) as 'Thateo'; the village has also been known as 'Tattenho', 'Totenho' (xiii cent.); 'Tottynho' (16-17th C.); 'Tattenhall' (18-19th C.) and was given as 'Tottenhoe' 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...

 (1806).

Civil parish

The district is in the modern civil parish of Shenley Brook End

Shenley Brook End

Shenley Brook End is a village, district and civil parish in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. Together with its neighbouring parish, Shenley Church End and the districts of Shenley Wood and Shenley Lodge, the districts are collectively known as "The Shenleys".The name 'Shenley' is an Old...

.

External links

• Aerial picture of Tattenhoe from MKWEB
• Aerial picture of Tattenhoe Park from MKWEB
• Close-up of the parish church area (MKWEB)