Wendover
Encyclopedia
Wendover is a market town
that sits at the foot of the Chiltern Hills
in Buckinghamshire
, England
. It is also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale
district. The mainly arable parish is 5,832 acres (24 km²) in size and contains many hamlets that nestle in amongst the lush forest
on the surrounding hills.
deposits on its way.
The parish church of St Mary sits outside the town to the east on the hillside: a feature that is very common among towns with strong Celtic origins. There is a distinctive red brick, spired clock tower
at the crossroads in the centre of the town that was built in 1842. The tree lined Aylesbury Street includes the 16th-century timber framed Chiltern House and 18th-century Red House.
The town has had a Royal charter
to hold a weekly market
since 1464 meaning that officially it is a town rather than a village
, although today many residents of Wendover like to refer to it as the latter. It is part of a civil parish, and the parish uses the term "Parish Council" rather than "Town Council", as it would be entitled to.
Part of the town was once the property of Anne Boleyn
whose father held the manor
of Aylesbury
among his many estates. There is still a row of houses in the town today, known as Anne Boleyn's Cottages. The town is the birthplace of Gordon Onslow Ford
, British
surrealist
artist
, and it is believed to be the birthplace of the medieval chronicler Roger of Wendover
. The town is also the birth-place of Cecilia Payne, who discovered that the Sun
is mainly composed of hydrogen
.
The town is at the terminus of the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal
, which joins Tring
summit level of the Grand Union main line beside Marsworth
top lock. Disused for over a century, the arm is in course of being restored by the Wendover Arm Trust. Remote and rural for almost all its length, the canal attracts much local wildlife.
The Aylesbury constituency
of which Wendover forms a part has elected a Conservative MP (currently David Lidington
) since 1924. Local elections, as in May 2011, often feature only Conservative, Liberal Democrat and independent candidates. The Wendover Parish Council, reelected in May 2011, has a small office in the town and operates a block grant from Aylesbury Vale District Council.
. The popularity is due partly to the town's easy access to London by road, partly to Wendover railway station
, served by Chiltern Railways
from London Marylebone
via Amersham
, and partly because it is so picturesque. Property values have risen dramatically in recent years since the completion of the Wendover Bypass, which removed a lot of traffic from the town's narrow streets.
There are four schools in the town; The John Hampden School, named after politician and English Civil War
participant John Hampden
, a community
infant school with approximately 275 pupils aged 4–7, Wendover Church of England Junior School, a voluntary controlled junior school
with approximately 360 pupils aged 7–11, The John Colet School
, named after the Renaissance humanist John Colet
, is a community secondary school
with approximately 1100 pupils aged 11–18, Wendover House School
a school for boys aged 11–16 who have special educational needs.
Wendover was well known for having a varied and diverse range of pubs, many of which have now closed due to the constraints and geographics of the day. The pubs that still exist today are The Red Lion, The George & Dragon, The White Swan, The King and Queen, The Pack Horse, The Marquis of Granby, which was renamed in 2010 and is now called The Village Gate, The Rose & Crown and The Shoulder of Mutton.
Wendover also plays host to the 'Coombe Hill Run' which usually occurs on the 1st Sunday of June every year. It begins and ends in the village and encompasses two very steep climbs up the Hill to the monument along with a very steep decline. Legend states that a boy from Wendover can only become a man once he has completed the course for the first time.
in Wendover civil parish
include:
and a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
, Wendover has much to offer both local people and visitors wishing to explore the local countryside. The area is very popular with walkers, cyclists and horse riders. The frequent train service from London Marylebone makes it an ideal destination for a day trip to the country. The Ridgeway National Trail, an 85-mile route that extends from Avebury
to Ivinghoe
, passes along Wendover High Street. Apart from the Ridgeway Trail there are 33 miles of public rights of way and bridleways criss-crossing the parish. These paths will take you over the open chalk downland of Coombe Hill, Buckinghamshire
, home to Britains longest surviving geocache, with its impressive monument to the Buckinghamshire men who died in the Boer War, or walk to the pretty hamlet of Dunsmore in the spring and enjoy the carpet of bluebells, or enjoy the shaded woods on Haddington Hill and Boddington Hill, belonging to Forest Enterprise (known locally as 'Wendover Woods
'). Here the visitor can enjoy specially prepared cycle routes, all ability walks, barbecue sites as well as play areas for children. Close to Boddington hill there are the remains of an Iron Age
hill fort
.
A further attraction is the walk along the Wendover Arm
of the Grand Union Canal
, extending for approximately five miles from the centre of Wendover, to Tring. This section of the canal is currently the subject of a long term restoration project and has become home to many varieties of wildlife, including a colony of Mandarin Duck
s.
rail line from London to the Midlands takes a route immediately to the West of Wendover - two hundred metres from the end of the High Street. This route was confirmed, with some minor amendments, on 20 December 2010. To the South, the line would pass through Wendover Dean and Great Missenden before going underground at Amersham
. To the North, it passes close by Aylesbury
. Protests have been launched about the route's location through areas of outstanding natural beauty and potential noise disruption, and a Wendover lobby group formed, with a 300 strong protest filmed by the BBC in December 2010.
, who lived at Rocketer Farm, and actor David Jason
, who now lives two miles away in Ellesborough
. It has been known to be a stopping off point for the Prime Minister
due to its proximity to Chequers
. The eminent physician Sir Thomas Barlow, who attended Queen Victoria
on her deathbed, owned Boswells (a large country house to the South of Wendover) until his death in 1945 and the actor John Junkin
lived in Wendover until his death in 2006.
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
that sits at the foot of the Chiltern Hills
Chiltern Hills
The Chiltern Hills form a chalk escarpment in South East England. They are known locally as "the Chilterns". A large portion of the hills was designated officially as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1965.-Location:...
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...
. It is also a civil parish 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. The mainly arable parish is 5,832 acres (24 km²) in size and contains many hamlets that nestle in amongst the lush forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
on the surrounding hills.
History
The town name is of Brythonic origin and means "white waters", pertaining to the stream that rises in the adjacent hills and flows through the middle of the town, bringing chalkChalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
deposits on its way.
The parish church of St Mary sits outside the town to the east on the hillside: a feature that is very common among towns with strong Celtic origins. There is a distinctive red brick, spired clock tower
Clock tower
A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Some clock towers are not true clock towers having had their clock faces added to an already existing building...
at the crossroads in the centre of the town that was built in 1842. The tree lined Aylesbury Street includes the 16th-century timber framed Chiltern House and 18th-century Red House.
The town has had a Royal charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
to hold a weekly market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
since 1464 meaning that officially it is a town rather than a village
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...
, although today many residents of Wendover like to refer to it as the latter. It is part of a civil parish, and the parish uses the term "Parish Council" rather than "Town Council", as it would be entitled to.
Part of the town was once the property of Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
whose father held the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, 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...
of Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
among his many estates. There is still a row of houses in the town today, known as Anne Boleyn's Cottages. The town is the birthplace of Gordon Onslow Ford
Gordon Onslow Ford
Gordon Onslow Ford was one of the last surviving members of the 1930s Paris surrealist group surrounding André Breton....
, British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
surrealist
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, and it is believed to be the birthplace of the medieval chronicler Roger of Wendover
Roger of Wendover
Roger of Wendover , probably a native of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, was an English chronicler of the 13th century.At an uncertain date he became a monk at St Albans Abbey; afterwards he was appointed prior of the cell of Belvoir, but he forfeited this dignity in the early years of Henry III,...
. The town is also the birth-place of Cecilia Payne, who discovered that the Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
is mainly composed of hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
.
The town is at the terminus of the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...
, which joins Tring
Tring
Tring is a small market town and also a civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in Hertfordshire, England. Situated north-west of London and linked to London by the old Roman road of Akeman Street, by the modern A41, by the Grand Union Canal and by rail lines to Euston Station, Tring is now largely a...
summit level of the Grand Union main line beside Marsworth
Marsworth
Marsworth is a village and also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is about two miles north of Tring, in Hertfordshire and six miles east of Aylesbury.-Early history:...
top lock. Disused for over a century, the arm is in course of being restored by the Wendover Arm Trust. Remote and rural for almost all its length, the canal attracts much local wildlife.
The Aylesbury constituency
Aylesbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Aylesbury is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The Conservative Party has held the seat since 1924, and held it at the 2010 general election with a 52.2% share of the vote.-Boundaries:...
of which Wendover forms a part has elected a Conservative MP (currently David Lidington
David Lidington
David Roy Lidington PC is a British Conservative Party politician, who has been Member of Parliament for Aylesbury since 1992...
) since 1924. Local elections, as in May 2011, often feature only Conservative, Liberal Democrat and independent candidates. The Wendover Parish Council, reelected in May 2011, has a small office in the town and operates a block grant from Aylesbury Vale District Council.
Facilities
Today the town is very popular with commuters working in LondonLondon
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...
. The popularity is due partly to the town's easy access to London by road, partly to Wendover railway station
Wendover railway station
Wendover railway station serves the town of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, as well as the villages of Ellesborough and Wendover Dean, amongst others. The station lies on the London Marylebone-Aylesbury line and is served by Chiltern Railways trains...
, served by Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways is a British train operating company. It was set up at the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, and operates local passenger trains from Marylebone station in London to Aylesbury and main-line trains on the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Snow Hill with its associated branches...
from London Marylebone
Marylebone station
Marylebone station , also known as London Marylebone, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. It stands midway between the mainline stations at Euston and Paddington, about 1 mile from each...
via Amersham
Amersham station
Amersham station is a London Underground and National Rail station in the town of Amersham, in the Chiltern district of Buckinghamshire, England.Amersham station is a terminus of the London Underground's Metropolitan Line...
, and partly because it is so picturesque. Property values have risen dramatically in recent years since the completion of the Wendover Bypass, which removed a lot of traffic from the town's narrow streets.
There are four schools in the town; The John Hampden School, named after politician and English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
participant John Hampden
John Hampden
John Hampden was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643) was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643)...
, a community
Community school
The term "community school" refers to types of publicly funded school in England, Wales, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand to a school that serves as both an educational institution and a centre of community life. A community school is both a place and a...
infant school with approximately 275 pupils aged 4–7, Wendover Church of England Junior School, a voluntary controlled junior school
Junior school
A junior school is a type of school which caters for children, often between the ages of 7 and 11.-Australia:In Australia, a junior school is usually a part of a private school that educates children between the ages of 5 and 12....
with approximately 360 pupils aged 7–11, The John Colet School
John Colet School
The John Colet School is a co-educational secondary school in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, England. In August 2011 the school became an Academy....
, named after the Renaissance humanist John Colet
John Colet
John Colet was an English churchman and educational pioneer.Colet was an English scholar, Renaissance humanist, theologian, and Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. Colet wanted people to see the scripture as their guide through life. Furthermore, he wanted to restore theology and rejuvenate...
, is a community secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
with approximately 1100 pupils aged 11–18, Wendover House School
Wendover House School
Wendover House School is a boys’ special school in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, England. It is a community school, which takes boys from the age of eleven through to the age of eighteen. The school has approximately seventy pupils....
a school for boys aged 11–16 who have special educational needs.
Wendover was well known for having a varied and diverse range of pubs, many of which have now closed due to the constraints and geographics of the day. The pubs that still exist today are The Red Lion, The George & Dragon, The White Swan, The King and Queen, The Pack Horse, The Marquis of Granby, which was renamed in 2010 and is now called The Village Gate, The Rose & Crown and The Shoulder of Mutton.
Wendover also plays host to the 'Coombe Hill Run' which usually occurs on the 1st Sunday of June every year. It begins and ends in the village and encompasses two very steep climbs up the Hill to the monument along with a very steep decline. Legend states that a boy from Wendover can only become a man once he has completed the course for the first time.
Hamlets
The many hamletsHamlet (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...
in Wendover civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
include:
- Cobblers Hill, located on a hill to the south of Wendover, along Cobblershill Lane.
- Concord, located south-south east of Wendover, just north of Kings Ash.
- Dean, located south of Wendover on Smalldean Lane between the hamlets of Smalldean and Little London.
- Hazeldean
- Kings Ash or Kingsash, located south-south east of Wendover on the Chesham Lane between the A413 roadA413 roadThe A413 is a major road in England that links Gerrards Cross to Towcester. It passes through various towns and villages including Buckingham, Aylesbury, Wendover, Winslow, Great Missenden and Amersham....
and the hamlet of Lee Gate. - Little London, located south of Wendover on Smalldean Lane between the hamlet of Dean and the village of DunsmoreDunsmore, BuckinghamshireDunsmore is a hamlet in the parish of Ellesborough, in Buckinghamshire, England. It occupies a hilltop position in the Chiltern Hills about 2 miles south of Wendover...
. - Lower Bacombe, located south of Wendover on the lane between the main town and Upper Bacombe.
- Scrubwood
- Smalldean, located south of Wendover on Smalldean Lane, between the southernmost roundabout of the Wendover bypass and the hamlet of Dean.
- The Hale, located east of Wendover along Hale Lane.
- Upper BacombeUpper BacombeUpper Bacombe and Lower Bacombe are two hamlets in the parish of Wendover, in Buckinghamshire, England. They are located to the south east of the main town, on and at the foot of Bacombe Hill....
, located south-south west of Wendover on Bacombe Hill, close of the parish boundary. - Wendover Dean, located south of Wendover on the A413 roadA413 roadThe A413 is a major road in England that links Gerrards Cross to Towcester. It passes through various towns and villages including Buckingham, Aylesbury, Wendover, Winslow, Great Missenden and Amersham....
, between Cobblershill Lane and Bowood Lane. - Wendover Marsh
- World's EndWorld's End, BuckinghamshireWorld's End is a hamlet north of Wendover, Buckinghamshire. It is part of the civil parish of Wendover which is in Aylesbury Vale district. Today the settlement straddles the B4009...
, located north west of Wendover where the B4009 road meets the A413 roadA413 roadThe A413 is a major road in England that links Gerrards Cross to Towcester. It passes through various towns and villages including Buckingham, Aylesbury, Wendover, Winslow, Great Missenden and Amersham....
.
Amenities
By virtue of its excellent location, sitting in a gap in the Chiltern HillsChiltern Hills
The Chiltern Hills form a chalk escarpment in South East England. They are known locally as "the Chilterns". A large portion of the hills was designated officially as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1965.-Location:...
and a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside considered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has been specially designated by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the United Kingdom government; the Countryside Council for Wales on...
, Wendover has much to offer both local people and visitors wishing to explore the local countryside. The area is very popular with walkers, cyclists and horse riders. The frequent train service from London Marylebone makes it an ideal destination for a day trip to the country. The Ridgeway National Trail, an 85-mile route that extends from Avebury
Avebury
Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles which is located around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, south west England. Unique amongst megalithic monuments, Avebury contains the largest stone circle in Europe, and is one of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain...
to Ivinghoe
Ivinghoe
Ivinghoe is a village and civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England, close to the border with Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. It is four miles north of Tring and six miles south of Leighton Buzzard, close to the village of Pitstone.The village name is Anglo-Saxon in...
, passes along Wendover High Street. Apart from the Ridgeway Trail there are 33 miles of public rights of way and bridleways criss-crossing the parish. These paths will take you over the open chalk downland of Coombe Hill, Buckinghamshire
Coombe Hill, Buckinghamshire
Coombe Hill is a hill in The Chilterns, located next to the hamlet of Dunsmore, Buckinghamshire, England, near the small town of Wendover, and overlooking Aylesbury Vale...
, home to Britains longest surviving geocache, with its impressive monument to the Buckinghamshire men who died in the Boer War, or walk to the pretty hamlet of Dunsmore in the spring and enjoy the carpet of bluebells, or enjoy the shaded woods on Haddington Hill and Boddington Hill, belonging to Forest Enterprise (known locally as 'Wendover Woods
Wendover Woods
Wendover Woods is an area of woodland on the north edge of the Chiltern Hills in England. Named after the nearby town of Wendover, the woods are owned by the Forestry Commission....
'). Here the visitor can enjoy specially prepared cycle routes, all ability walks, barbecue sites as well as play areas for children. Close to Boddington hill there are the remains of an Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
hill fort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...
.
A further attraction is the walk along the Wendover Arm
Wendover Arm Canal
The Wendover Arm Canal is part of the Grand Union Canal in England, and forms part of the British canal system. It originally linked the Grand Union Canal at Bulbourne near Star Top End in Hertfordshire to the town of Wendover in Buckinghamshire. The canal is miles long, but has been un-navigable...
of the Grand Union Canal
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...
, extending for approximately five miles from the centre of Wendover, to Tring. This section of the canal is currently the subject of a long term restoration project and has become home to many varieties of wildlife, including a colony of Mandarin Duck
Mandarin Duck
The Mandarin Duck , or just Mandarin, is a medium-sized perching duck, closely related to the North American Wood Duck. It is 41–49 cm long with a 65–75 cm wingspan.-Description:...
s.
High Speed 2 Rail Line
The proposed High Speed 2High Speed 2
High Speed 2 is a proposed high-speed railway between London and the Midlands, the North of England, and potentially at a later stage the central belt of Scotland. The project is being developed by High Speed Two Ltd, a company established by the British government...
rail line from London to the Midlands takes a route immediately to the West of Wendover - two hundred metres from the end of the High Street. This route was confirmed, with some minor amendments, on 20 December 2010. To the South, the line would pass through Wendover Dean and Great Missenden before going underground at Amersham
Amersham
Amersham is a market town and civil parish within Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire, England, 27 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills. It is part of the London commuter belt....
. To the North, it passes close by Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
. Protests have been launched about the route's location through areas of outstanding natural beauty and potential noise disruption, and a Wendover lobby group formed, with a 300 strong protest filmed by the BBC in December 2010.
Football Club
Wendover Football Club was founded over 100 years ago. The club currently shares the school fields of the John Colet School and a clubhouse is open each Saturday afternoon for either a first or a reserve team fixture. The team strip is Gold and Black stripes.Famous residents
The town was home to West End actress Margaret RawlingsMargaret Rawlings
Margaret Rawlings was a distinguished English stage actress, born in Osaka, Japan, daughter of the Rev George William Rawlings and his wife Lilian . She died two weeks three days before her 90th birthday....
, who lived at Rocketer Farm, and actor David Jason
David Jason
Sir David John White, OBE , better known by his stage name David Jason, is an English BAFTA award-winning actor. He is best known as the main character Derek "Del Boy" Trotter on the BBC sit-com Only Fools and Horses from 1981, the voice of Mr Toad in The Wind In The Willows and as detective Jack...
, who now lives two miles away in Ellesborough
Ellesborough
Ellesborough is a village and civil parish in Wycombe district in Buckinghamshire, England. The village is at the foot of the Chiltern Hills just to the south of the Vale of Aylesbury, two miles from Wendover and five miles from Aylesbury. It lies between Wendover and the village of Little Kimble...
. It has been known to be a stopping off point for the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
due to its proximity to Chequers
Chequers
Chequers, or Chequers Court, is a country house near Ellesborough, to the south of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England, at the foot of the Chiltern Hills...
. The eminent physician Sir Thomas Barlow, who attended 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....
on her deathbed, owned Boswells (a large country house to the South of Wendover) until his death in 1945 and the actor John Junkin
John Junkin
John Francis Junkin was an English radio, television and film performer and scriptwriter.In 1960 Junkin joined Joan Littlewood's Stratford East Theatre Workshop, and played the lead in the original production of Sparrows Can't Sing...
lived in Wendover until his death in 2006.