Buckland Common
Encyclopedia
Buckland Common is a hamlet
in Buckinghamshire
, England
. It is located in the Chiltern Hills
, 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Wendover
and the same distance south of Tring
in Hertfordshire
with which it shares a boundary. The northern end of the settlement is delineated by a short section of Grim's Ditch
.
's time been the southern and upland part of the manor
of Buckland
which was under the control of the see
of Dorchester. Following the Norman Invasion
, Buckland had become incorporated into the estates owned by the Church of Lincoln
. This upland area would have originally comprised impenetrable scrub woodland but gradual clearance created pasture land which provided advantageous grazing for cattle and sheep. Perhaps this location was chosen on account of it being more sheltered lying as it does in a slight depression in comparison to the surrounding land. It is believed the first permanent settlement began in the 16th century, around the time when Henry VIII
seized the lands from the Earl of Warwick
in 1522.
Around 1540, Queen Mary I
granted a tenancy to Sir Anthony Browne
, whose daughter Elizabeth married Baron Richard Dormer
a wealthy landowner from Wing
. Richard's descendant the First Earl of Carnarvon
was killed during the English Civil War
at the first Battle of Newbury
. The Parliamentarians
sequestrated the lands around 1653 although they were subsequently restored to the Carnarvon estate.
. This coincided with a number of kilns being built before 1700. These made use of local clay deposits to make pottery with a distinctive manganese-brown which contributed to the development of the settlement during the first part of the 18th century. Fine examples of this pottery are to be found in the nearby Chequers
Museum. Clay pits were also extensibly dug to support a thriving brick making industry which survived into the 20th century.
This increasing industry also supported at least three beer houses. The oldest of these and first licensed in 1698 was The Boot, which in 1864 was renamed The Boot and Slipper and remained in business until 1976. The Britannia's early history is unknown but was the first to close in 1939. The Rose and Crown, licenced in 1863, changed its name in 1967 to The Horse and Hounds before ceasing to trade in 1984. All three are now private properties.
Establishment of the village of Buckland Common happened much later than other similar daughter settlements in this part of the Chilterns. The schism was eventually hastened by the action of the Commissioners for Enclosure
in 1842 who oversaw the dividing up of the 15 acres (60,702.9 m²) of common land between villagers, enabling the creation of a largely autonomous community. All that remained of the once extensive common was a small rectangular allotment of land known today as The Green which is owned and maintained by the Parish Council 'for the enjoyment of local people'.
Prior to 1860, Buckland Common did not have its own church, the local congregation using the church at Cholesbury. From this time it had a Strict Baptist
Chapel, followed by a rapidly built Anglican chapel of ease commissioned specifically to counter the impact of the non-conformist mission. The church was unable to sustain a congregation, was decommissioned and eventually was pulled down in 1939. The Baptist Chapel continued but was converted to a private dwelling in the 1980s. The graveyard of the baptist church remains open and is looked after by the Tring Baptist Church.
The Rothschild family
were prominent farmers and landowners. Around 1920 they were responsible for improving the tied cottages of their farm workers by building, in typical Rothschild style, two new terraces of cottages along Little Twye Road and replacing dilapidated tenements in Parrotts Lane.
Until 1934 Buckland Common remained a remote part of Buckland
Parish. Together with Cholesbury
, Hawridge
and St Leonards
, which are locally known as hilltop villages it now forms part of Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards
civil parish
. Until 1973 primary school age children from the village attended St Leonards National School in the nearby village of that name, which was founded in 1860. Since the closure of the school children attend Hawridge and Cholesbury Church of England School
in Hawridge
. The parish purchased land in 1974 which it divided into allotments for parishioners.
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...
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 located in 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:...
, 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Wendover
Wendover
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...
and the same distance south of 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...
in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
with which it shares a boundary. The northern end of the settlement is delineated by a short section of Grim's Ditch
Grim's Ditch
Grim's Ditch, Grim's Dyke or Grim's Bank is a name shared by a number of prehistoric bank and ditch earthworks...
.
Early Settlement
The area today called Buckland Common had in Edward the ConfessorEdward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
's time been the southern and upland part of 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 Buckland
Buckland, Buckinghamshire
Buckland is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. The village near the boundary with Hertfordshire, close to Aston Clinton.-History:...
which was under the control of the see
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
of Dorchester. Following the Norman Invasion
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
, Buckland had become incorporated into the estates owned by the Church of Lincoln
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
. This upland area would have originally comprised impenetrable scrub woodland but gradual clearance created pasture land which provided advantageous grazing for cattle and sheep. Perhaps this location was chosen on account of it being more sheltered lying as it does in a slight depression in comparison to the surrounding land. It is believed the first permanent settlement began in the 16th century, around the time when Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
seized the lands from the Earl of Warwick
Earl of Warwick
Earl of Warwick is a title that has been created four times in British history and is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the British Isles.-1088 creation:...
in 1522.
Around 1540, Queen Mary I
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
granted a tenancy to Sir Anthony Browne
Sir Anthony Browne (d.1548)
Sir Anthony Browne was an English courtier and Knight of the Shire.He was the son of Sir Anthony Browne, Standard Bearer of England and Governor of Queenborough Castle, by his wife Lucy Nevill, daughter of John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu and widow of Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam...
, whose daughter Elizabeth married Baron Richard Dormer
Baron Dormer
Baron Dormer, of Wyng or Wenge in the County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 30 June 1615 for Sir Robert Dormer, 1st Baronet. He had only twenty days earlier, on 10 June 1615, been created a Baronet, of Wenge in the County of Buckingham, in the Baronetage of...
a wealthy landowner from Wing
Wing
A wing is an appendage with a surface that produces lift for flight or propulsion through the atmosphere, or through another gaseous or liquid fluid...
. Richard's descendant the First Earl of Carnarvon
Earl of Carnarvon
Earl of Carnarvon is a title that has been created three times in British history. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1628 in favour of Robert Dormer, 2nd Baron Dormer. For more information on this creation, which became extinct in 1709, see the Baron Dormer.The title was created...
was killed during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
at the first Battle of Newbury
First Battle of Newbury
The First Battle of Newbury was a battle of the First English Civil War that was fought on 20 September 1643 between a Royalist army, under the personal command of King Charles, and a Parliamentarian force led by the Earl of Essex...
. The Parliamentarians
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...
sequestrated the lands around 1653 although they were subsequently restored to the Carnarvon estate.
18th Century Development
Through marriage the manor at Buckland passed to the Earls of ChesterfieldEarl of Chesterfield
Earls of Chesterfield, in the County of Derby, was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Philip Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope. He had already been created Baron Stanhope, of Shelford in the County of Nottingham, in 1616, also in the Peerage of England. Stanhope's youngest son...
. This coincided with a number of kilns being built before 1700. These made use of local clay deposits to make pottery with a distinctive manganese-brown which contributed to the development of the settlement during the first part of the 18th century. Fine examples of this pottery are to be found in the nearby 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...
Museum. Clay pits were also extensibly dug to support a thriving brick making industry which survived into the 20th century.
This increasing industry also supported at least three beer houses. The oldest of these and first licensed in 1698 was The Boot, which in 1864 was renamed The Boot and Slipper and remained in business until 1976. The Britannia's early history is unknown but was the first to close in 1939. The Rose and Crown, licenced in 1863, changed its name in 1967 to The Horse and Hounds before ceasing to trade in 1984. All three are now private properties.
19th Century and the Modern-day Village
Enclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...
in 1842 who oversaw the dividing up of the 15 acres (60,702.9 m²) of common land between villagers, enabling the creation of a largely autonomous community. All that remained of the once extensive common was a small rectangular allotment of land known today as The Green which is owned and maintained by the Parish Council 'for the enjoyment of local people'.
Prior to 1860, Buckland Common did not have its own church, the local congregation using the church at Cholesbury. From this time it had a Strict Baptist
Strict Baptist
Strict Baptists, also known as Particular Baptists, are Baptists who believe in a Calvinist or Reformed interpretation of Christian soteriology. The Particular Baptists arose in England in the 17th century and took their namesake from the doctrine of particular redemption.-Further reading:*History...
Chapel, followed by a rapidly built Anglican chapel of ease commissioned specifically to counter the impact of the non-conformist mission. The church was unable to sustain a congregation, was decommissioned and eventually was pulled down in 1939. The Baptist Chapel continued but was converted to a private dwelling in the 1980s. The graveyard of the baptist church remains open and is looked after by the Tring Baptist Church.
The Rothschild family
Rothschild banking family of England
The Rothschild banking family of England was founded in 1798 by Nathan Mayer von Rothschild who first settled in Manchester but then moved to London. Nathan was sent there from his home in Frankfurt by his father, Mayer Amschel Rothschild...
were prominent farmers and landowners. Around 1920 they were responsible for improving the tied cottages of their farm workers by building, in typical Rothschild style, two new terraces of cottages along Little Twye Road and replacing dilapidated tenements in Parrotts Lane.
Until 1934 Buckland Common remained a remote part of Buckland
Buckland, Buckinghamshire
Buckland is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. The village near the boundary with Hertfordshire, close to Aston Clinton.-History:...
Parish. Together with Cholesbury
Cholesbury
Cholesbury is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, on the border with Hertfordshire. It is situated in the Chiltern Hills, about east of Wendover, north of Chesham and from Berkhamsted....
, Hawridge
Hawridge
Hawridge, is a small village in the Chilterns in the county of Buckinghamshire, England and bordering the county boundary with Hertfordshire. It is from Chesham, from both Tring and Berkhamsted....
and St Leonards
St Leonards, Buckinghamshire
St Leonards is a small village in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is 3 miles east of Wendover and 4 miles south of Tring, Hertfordshire...
, which are locally known as hilltop villages it now forms part of Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards
Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards
Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards is a civil parish in the Chiltern district of the English county of Buckinghamshire. It is located in the Chiltern Hills just to the north of Chesham and forms a boundary along its length with Hertfordshire....
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...
. Until 1973 primary school age children from the village attended St Leonards National School in the nearby village of that name, which was founded in 1860. Since the closure of the school children attend Hawridge and Cholesbury Church of England School
Hawridge and Cholesbury Church of England School
Hawridge and Cholesbury Church of England School is a mixed Primary School for children between the ages of 4 - 11 in Hawridge, Buckinghamshire.-History:...
in Hawridge
Hawridge
Hawridge, is a small village in the Chilterns in the county of Buckinghamshire, England and bordering the county boundary with Hertfordshire. It is from Chesham, from both Tring and Berkhamsted....
. The parish purchased land in 1974 which it divided into allotments for parishioners.