Chinnor
Encyclopedia
Chinnor is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire
about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Thame
. The village is a Spring line settlement
on the Icknield Way
below the Chiltern
escarpment. Since 1932 the civil parish has included the village of Emmington
.
Chinnor formerly had a cement
works and artisan
s supporting High Wycombe
's furniture
making industry, but in the 21st century is primarily a dormitory village
for Thame
, High Wycombe
, Aylesbury
and London
.
road. The site of an Iron Age
settlement from perhaps the 4th century BC has been excavated on the Chiltern ridge in the southern part of the parish. Traces of Romano-British occupation have ben found both on the same high ground and below on Icknield Way.
A twin barrow
on Icknield Way has been found to contain the weapons of a Saxon
warrior that have been dated to the 6th century. Chinnor's toponym
may originally have meant the ora ("slope") of a man called Ceonna. In subsequent centuries it was variously spelt Chennore and then Chynor.
, when the manor
was held by a Saxon royal servant called Lewin. The Domesday Book
of 1086 records Lewin as still holding Chinnor, but soon after it was in the hands of a member of the Norman
de Vernon family
. However, in 1194 Walter de Vernon refused to help Prince John in France and all his lands were confiscated.
In 1203 Chinnor and the neighbouring manor of Sydenham
were granted to Saer de Quincy
, whi in 1207 was created 1st Earl of Winchester
. However, in 1215 the Earl took part in the Baronial revolt against King John and his lands were confiscated. In 1216 all of the Earl's lands were supposed to have been restored to him, but Chinnor was granted to Walter de Vernon's grandson Hugh de la Mere in exchange for two palfrey
horses and a term of service at Wallingford Castle
. However, after the first Earl died in 1219 his son Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester
successfully sued for possession of Chinnor and Sydenham.
The 2nd Earl died in 1265 without a male heir. After the death of his widow Eleanor de Ferrers, the manor of Chinnor was divided between the Earl's three daughters Ellen, Lady Zouche
, Elizabeth, Countess of Buchan
and Margaret, Countess of Derby
. By 1279 Elizabeth's third of the manor had been transferred to Margaret. This made the de Ferrers family feudal
overlords of two thirds of Chinnor, which they retained until after 1517 when Walter Devereux, 9th Baron Ferrers of Chartley
sold Chinnor to an Alderman of the City of London
, Sir Stephen Jennings.
Jennings immediately re-sold Chinnor to Richard Fermor
of Easton Neston
, Northamptonshire
. In 1607 Fermor's grandson Sir George Fermor and great-grandson Sir Hatton Fermor sold Chinnor to Sir John Dormer, MP for Aylesbury
. In 1667 Sir John's grandson Robert Dormer, also MP for Aylesbury, bought the Zouche manor that had been separate since the 13th century (see above).
In 1739 Robert's grandson Lt. Gen. James Dormer, a member of the Kit-Cat Club
, sold Chinnor to a William Huggins. In 1761 Huggins left Chinnor to his daughter Jane and son-in-law Rev. James Musgrave, grandson of Sir Richard Musgrave, 2nd Baronet, of Hayton Castle. Chinnor remained in the family of the Musgrave Baronets until the death of Sir William Augustus Musgrave, 10th Baronet in 1875, when it passed to his brother-in-law Aubrey Wenman Wykeham, who took the name Wykeham-Musgrave. By then very little of the original lands remained with the manor. His son Wenman Aubrey Wykeham-Musgrave inherited both Chinnor and Thame Park but in 1917 the estates were broken up and sold.
of Saint Andrew
is from 1160. The nave
was rebuilt in the 13th century, when the present arcades
of four and a half bays
for first the north aisles and then the south aisle were built. Building of the present tower began towards the end of the 13th century. Early in the 14th century St. Andrew's was remodelled. The chancel
was entirely rebuilt, the tower was made higher and the porch was built. The aisles were widened, given new windows, and extended westwards to flank either side of the tower. A rood screen
was installed between the chancel and nave. The chancel and high altar were dedicated in 1326, which may therefore have been the year that the remodelling was completed. The high-pitched 13th century nave
roof was replaced, probably later in the 14th century, with a Perpendicular Gothic clerestory
and low-pitched roof.
The architect Richard Pace
built Saint Andrew's Rectory in 1813.
St. Andrew's was restored in 1863-66. The plans were by the architect Edward Banks of Wolverhampton
but were modified by the Oxford Diocesan
architect G.E. Street
and the Oxford architectural writer and publisher J.H. Parker
. The nave roof was restored to a high pitch and the chancel was raised above the nave. Clayton and Bell
restored the mediaeval stained glass
and added a new east window. The 14th century font
was replaced with a new one of Caen stone
. The 14th century rood screen was reduced in height. The chancel, nave and aisles were entirely refurnished. However, in 1930 the original font was retrieved and reinstalled.
In the south aisle is a carved recumbent effigy of a knight of about 1270 or 1300. St. Andrew's has also one of the largest collections of monumental brass
es in the country. Most are 14th or 15th century but there are also later brasses commemorating a churchwarden (died 1899) and his wife, and two soldiers killed in the First World War
.
By 1558 St. Andrew's had a ring
of four bells and a Sanctus bell. In the succeeding century all were replaced and the ring was increased to five. William Knight II of Reading
cast the oldest bell in about 1586. Further bells were cast by Henry Knight I in 1620, Ellis Knight I in 1635, and Henry Knight II in 1663. A tenor bell was cast in 1651, but in 1864 it was recast as two smaller bells increasing the ring to six. In 1965 John Taylor & Co of Loughborough
cast a new Sanctus bell and in 1969 the same company cast a new treble and second bell to replace the two 1864 bells.
St. Andrew's is now part of a single Benefice with the parishes of Sydenham, Aston Rowant
and Crowell
.
s. In 1732 a private house in Chinnor was licenced for Anabaptist worship, and in 1759 and 1768 six people from Chinnor worshipped at an Anabaptist meeting house in Princes Risborough
.
John Cennick
(1718–1755) preached in Chinnor but Chinnor Congregational Church was not built until 1805. It was enlarged in 1811 but suffered a schism
in 1826, when a rival second chapel was built. The schism had been healed by 1839, by which time the second chapel had been converted into the minister's manse
. By 1841 the minister had opened a British School
. A schoolroom was added to the chapel in 1884 and the chapel was restored in 1888. In 1893 funds were raised to add an infants' classroom to the school but by the end of the year the school had closed.
George Whitefield
(1714–1770) preached in Chinnor and in 1753 two private houses were licenced for Methodist worship. In 1759 Chinnor's Church of England rector reported that a third of the parish was Methodist. By 1768 the Methodists had opened a small school in Chinnor. In 1778 he reported that they were increasing but by 1784 the reported proportion had fallen to a quarter of the population. By 1854 Chinnor had a Primitive Methodist chapel. It was replaced by a new chapel built in 1873 which is now Chinnor Methodist
Church.
on the Chiltern escarpment at Wainhill, about 1 miles (1.6 km) east of Chinnor village. Chinnor had a watermill
, but by 1279 it had been transferred to the neighbouring manor of Henton
. In 1336 the Ferrers manor at Chinnor (see above) had a windmill. In 1789 a post mill
was built on the west side of the village, off Whites Field. It was dismantled in 1965 and is currently being rebuilt by the Chinnor Windmill Restoration Society. It is unusual in having 3 crosstrees and 6 quarterbars.
At the end of the 16th century Sir George Fermor (see above) enclosed
some of the woods in the parish. Attempts to enclose Chinnor's common land
s were ruled illegal and reversed in 1761 and 1817. Parliament passed an enclosure act for Chinnor in 1847 but the enclosure award to allocate the land was not implemented until 1854.
On 18 June 1643 during the English Civil War
a Royalist
force of 1,800 men led by Prince Rupert
arrived from Oxford, overcame the Parliamentarian
garrisons at Postcombe
and Chinnor and took 120 men prisoner. A pursuing Parliamentarian force intercepted them 7 miles (11.3 km) away near Chalgrove
, but in the resulting Battle of Chalgrove Field
the Royalists fought off their pursuers and returned with their prisoners to Oxford.
In the latter part of the 18th century a petition signed by the Rector and 13 tenant farmers
complained that Chinnor had such a "multitude" of alehouses that they were "a check to industry and good order". The petition claimed that the Chequers was a house of illfame and called for its licence not to be renewed.
The 1851 Census
recorded 268 lace-makers in Chinnor, including labourers' wives and 86 children. Chinnor still has a lace group.
Chinnor Cement and Lime Co. was founded in 1908 and became a public company in 1936. It established a quarry in the Chiltern escarpment south of the village and a cement works. By 1975 it employed 160 men and was undergoing expansion to double its capacity. It closed in 1989, its works have been demolished and in 2010–11 the site was redeveloped as a housing estate.
Chinnor grew most quickly in the 1960s - from a population of 1,961 in the 1951 Census
to 4,471 in the 1971 Census
. Chinnor was then largely concentrated around the main rectangular street plan of Station Road, Lower Road, High Street, and Church Road. The hamlet
of Oakley to the southwest was subsumed into the village around this time, when building along Oakley Road and the Mill Lane estate more than doubled the physical size of the village.
-making and sewing. In 1815 there were three schools teaching girls to make lace, which became an important local industry (see above). There were four schools for boys but there was no Church of England school until the 1850s.
In 1848 Magdalen College, Oxford
voted to fund a Church of England school. St. Andrew's Church of England Primary School was designed by G.E. Street and building began in 1857. Magdalen College provided further funds in 1859 and the landlord of the Crown Inn also gave funds. The school at last opened in 1860. In 1892 it was enlarged, again at Magdalen College's expense. It became a voluntary controlled school
in 1948 and taught children of all ages until a secondary modern school
was opened at Thame.
Chinnor now also has a community primary school. Secondary school pupils are schooled in Thame or Watlington
, and sixth formers in Henley
or Thame.
between and was built through the parish and opened in 1872. Chinnor railway station
was opened to serve the village. The railway was independent until the Great Western Railway
took it over in 1883. Sidings to serve Chinnor cement works were added in 1927. British Rail
ways closed the railway through Chinnor to passengers in 1957 and to freight in 1961. The section between Princes Risborough and Chinnor remained open to serve Chinnor cement works until 1989.
Since 1994 Chinnor railway station
has been the terminus of the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway heritage railway
line. Steam trains are run on some weekends and bank holiday
s.
Chinnor has direct bus links with Thame, High Wycombe
, and Princes Risborough railway station
on the Chiltern Main Line
.
, bassist in the Irish band U2
, was born in Chinnor in 1960. Former BBC TV
weatherman Bill Giles
is a resident of the village.
s: The Black Boy, The Crown, The Kings Head, The Red Lion and The Wheatsheaf. Former pubs include The Bird in Hand (closed 2000) and The Royal Oak (closed 2011). About 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of the village at Spriggs Alley in the Chilterns is the Sir Charles Napier Inn
gastropub
.
Chinnor Football Club
plays in the Hellenic Football League
Division One East. Chinnor Cricket Club plays in Oxfordshire Cricket Association League Division 9.
Chinnor has a public library, a village hall
and a Women's Institute.
South Oxfordshire
South Oxfordshire is a local government district in Oxfordshire, England. Its council is based in Crowmarsh Gifford, just outside Wallingford....
about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Thame
Thame
Thame is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southwest of the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury. It derives its toponym from the River Thame which flows past the north side of the town....
. The village is a Spring line settlement
Spring line settlement
Spring line settlements occur where a ridge of permeable rock lies over impermeable rock and there will be a line of springs along the boundary between the two layers....
on the Icknield Way
Icknield Way
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern England. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.-Background:...
below the Chiltern
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:...
escarpment. Since 1932 the civil parish has included the village of Emmington
Emmington
Emmington is a village about southeast of Thame in Oxfordshire.-History:Emmington is mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086. It says "William Peverel holds 10 hides in Emmington. Land for 5 ploughs. Now in demesne are 2 ploughs and six slaves and 10 villans and 4 bordars with 5 ploughs. There are...
.
Chinnor formerly had a cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
works and artisan
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
s supporting High Wycombe
High Wycombe
High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...
's furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
making industry, but in the 21st century is primarily a dormitory village
Commuter town
A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential, from which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Many commuter towns act as suburbs of a nearby metropolis that workers travel to daily, and many suburbs are commuter towns...
for Thame
Thame
Thame is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southwest of the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury. It derives its toponym from the River Thame which flows past the north side of the town....
, High Wycombe
High Wycombe
High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...
, 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...
and 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...
.
Pre-history
The Icknield Way is a pre-RomanRoman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
road. The site of an Iron Age
British Iron Age
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron-Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, and which had an independent Iron Age culture of...
settlement from perhaps the 4th century BC has been excavated on the Chiltern ridge in the southern part of the parish. Traces of Romano-British occupation have ben found both on the same high ground and below on Icknield Way.
A twin barrow
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
on Icknield Way has been found to contain the weapons of a Saxon
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
warrior that have been dated to the 6th century. Chinnor's toponym
Toponymy
Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...
may originally have meant the ora ("slope") of a man called Ceonna. In subsequent centuries it was variously spelt Chennore and then Chynor.
Manor
There are records of Chinnor existing in the reign of King 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....
, when 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...
was held by a Saxon royal servant called Lewin. 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 records Lewin as still holding Chinnor, but soon after it was in the hands of a member of the Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
de Vernon family
Vernon family
The Vernon family was a wealthy, prolific and widespread English family with 11th century origins in Vernon, France.-Vernon of Shipbrook, Cheshire:...
. However, in 1194 Walter de Vernon refused to help Prince John in France and all his lands were confiscated.
In 1203 Chinnor and the neighbouring manor of Sydenham
Sydenham, Oxfordshire
Sydenham is a village and civil parish about southeast of Thame in Oxfordshire. To the south the parish is bounded by the ancient Lower Icknield Way, and on its other side largely by brooks that merge as Cuttle Brook, a tributary of the River Thame....
were granted to Saer de Quincy
Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester
Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester was one of the leaders of the baronial rebellion against King John of England, and a major figure in both Scotland and England in the decades around the turn of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.Saer de Quincy's immediate background was in the Scottish...
, whi in 1207 was created 1st Earl of Winchester
Earl of Winchester
Earl of Winchester was a title that was created three times in the Peerage of England during the Middle Ages. The first was Saer de Quincy, who received the earldom in 1207/8 after his wife inherited half of the lands of the Beaumont earls of Leicester. This creation became extinct in 1265 upon the...
. However, in 1215 the Earl took part in the Baronial revolt against King John and his lands were confiscated. In 1216 all of the Earl's lands were supposed to have been restored to him, but Chinnor was granted to Walter de Vernon's grandson Hugh de la Mere in exchange for two palfrey
Palfrey
A palfrey is a type of horse highly valued as a riding horse in the Middle Ages. It is not a breed.The word "palfrey" is cognate with the German word for horse , "Pferd". Both descend from Latin "paraveredus", meaning a post horse or courier horse...
horses and a term of service at Wallingford Castle
Wallingford Castle
Wallingford Castle was a major medieval castle situated in Wallingford in the English county of Oxfordshire , adjacent to the River Thames...
. However, after the first Earl died in 1219 his son Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester
Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester
Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester was a medieval nobleman who was prominent on both sides of the Anglo-Scottish border, as Earl of Winchester and Constable of Scotland....
successfully sued for possession of Chinnor and Sydenham.
The 2nd Earl died in 1265 without a male heir. After the death of his widow Eleanor de Ferrers, the manor of Chinnor was divided between the Earl's three daughters Ellen, Lady Zouche
Baron Zouche
Baron Zouche is a title that has thrice been created in the Peerage of England.-Genealogy:The de la Zouche family descended from Alan de la Zouche, sometimes called Alan de Porhoët and Alan la Coche , a Breton who settled in England during the reign of Henry II. He was the son of Vicomte Geoffrey I...
, Elizabeth, Countess of Buchan
Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan
Alexander Comyn, 2nd Earl of Buchan was a Scoto-Norman magnate who was one of the most important figures in the 13th century Kingdom of Scotland. He was the son of William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan, and Marjory, Countess of Buchan, the heiress of the last native Scottish Mormaer of Buchan,...
and Margaret, Countess of Derby
William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby
William III de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby was an English nobleman and head of a family which controlled a large part of Derbyshire including an area known as Duffield Frith....
. By 1279 Elizabeth's third of the manor had been transferred to Margaret. This made the de Ferrers family feudal
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
overlords of two thirds of Chinnor, which they retained until after 1517 when Walter Devereux, 9th Baron Ferrers of Chartley
Walter Devereux, 1st Viscount Hereford
Walter Devereux, 9th Baron Ferrers of Chartley, created 1st Viscount Hereford was an English Peer.-Family:...
sold Chinnor to an Alderman of the City of London
Court of Aldermen
The Court of Aldermen is an elected body forming part of the City of London Corporation. The Court of Aldermen is made up of the twenty five Aldermen of the City of London, presided over by the Lord Mayor...
, Sir Stephen Jennings.
Jennings immediately re-sold Chinnor to Richard Fermor
Richard Fermor
Richard Fermor , was an English wool merchant. His father was also a wool merchant in Witney, Oxfordshire, called Thomas Fermor.He was a merchant of the staple at Calais.He married Anne, daughter of Sir William Browne, Lord Mayor of London...
of Easton Neston
Easton Neston
Easton Neston is a country house near Towcester, Northamptonshire, England, and is part of the Easton Neston Parish. It was designed in the Baroque style by the architect Nicholas Hawksmoor. Easton Neston is thought to be the only mansion which was solely the work of Hawksmoor...
, Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
. In 1607 Fermor's grandson Sir George Fermor and great-grandson Sir Hatton Fermor sold Chinnor to Sir John Dormer, MP for Aylesbury
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:...
. In 1667 Sir John's grandson Robert Dormer, also MP for Aylesbury, bought the Zouche manor that had been separate since the 13th century (see above).
In 1739 Robert's grandson Lt. Gen. James Dormer, a member of the Kit-Cat Club
Kit-Cat Club
The Kit-Cat Club was an early 18th century English club in London with strong political and literary associations, committed to the furtherance of Whig objectives, meeting at the Trumpet tavern in London, and at Water Oakley in the Berkshire countryside.The first meetings were held at a tavern in...
, sold Chinnor to a William Huggins. In 1761 Huggins left Chinnor to his daughter Jane and son-in-law Rev. James Musgrave, grandson of Sir Richard Musgrave, 2nd Baronet, of Hayton Castle. Chinnor remained in the family of the Musgrave Baronets until the death of Sir William Augustus Musgrave, 10th Baronet in 1875, when it passed to his brother-in-law Aubrey Wenman Wykeham, who took the name Wykeham-Musgrave. By then very little of the original lands remained with the manor. His son Wenman Aubrey Wykeham-Musgrave inherited both Chinnor and Thame Park but in 1917 the estates were broken up and sold.
Church of England
The earliest record of the Church of England parish churchChurch of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
of Saint Andrew
Saint Andrew
Saint Andrew , called in the Orthodox tradition Prōtoklētos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" , like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him...
is from 1160. The nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
was rebuilt in the 13th century, when the present arcades
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
of four and a half bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
for first the north aisles and then the south aisle were built. Building of the present tower began towards the end of the 13th century. Early in the 14th century St. Andrew's was remodelled. The chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
was entirely rebuilt, the tower was made higher and the porch was built. The aisles were widened, given new windows, and extended westwards to flank either side of the tower. A rood screen
Rood screen
The rood screen is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or wrought iron...
was installed between the chancel and nave. The chancel and high altar were dedicated in 1326, which may therefore have been the year that the remodelling was completed. The high-pitched 13th century nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
roof was replaced, probably later in the 14th century, with a Perpendicular Gothic clerestory
Clerestory
Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...
and low-pitched roof.
The architect Richard Pace
Richard Pace (Lechlade)
Richard Pace was a Georgian builder and architect in Lechlade, Gloucestershire, England. He served in the Life Guards 1784-88. Most of his known commissions were houses, in many cases for Church of England clergy. He also restored or refitted a small number of Church of England parish churches. He...
built Saint Andrew's Rectory in 1813.
St. Andrew's was restored in 1863-66. The plans were by the architect Edward Banks of Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
but were modified by the Oxford Diocesan
Diocese of Oxford
-History:The Diocese of Oxford was created in 1541 out of part of the Diocese of Lincoln.In 1836 the Archdeaconry of Berkshire was transferred from the Diocese of Salisbury to Oxford...
architect G.E. Street
George Edmund Street
George Edmund Street was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex.- Life :Street was the third son of Thomas Street, solicitor, by his second wife, Mary Anne Millington. George went to school at Mitcham in about 1830, and later to the Camberwell collegiate school, which he left in 1839...
and the Oxford architectural writer and publisher J.H. Parker
John Henry Parker
John Henry Parker CB , English writer on architecture and publisher, was the son of John Parker, a London merchant....
. The nave roof was restored to a high pitch and the chancel was raised above the nave. Clayton and Bell
Clayton and Bell
Clayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient workshops of English stained glass during the latter half of the 19th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton and Alfred Bell . The company was founded in 1855 and continued until 1993...
restored the mediaeval stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
and added a new east window. The 14th century font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
was replaced with a new one of Caen stone
Caen stone
Caen stone or Pierre de Caen, is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in northwestern France near the city of Caen.The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about 167 million years ago...
. The 14th century rood screen was reduced in height. The chancel, nave and aisles were entirely refurnished. However, in 1930 the original font was retrieved and reinstalled.
In the south aisle is a carved recumbent effigy of a knight of about 1270 or 1300. St. Andrew's has also one of the largest collections of monumental brass
Monumental brass
Monumental brass is a species of engraved sepulchral memorial which in the early part of the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood...
es in the country. Most are 14th or 15th century but there are also later brasses commemorating a churchwarden (died 1899) and his wife, and two soldiers killed in the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
By 1558 St. Andrew's had a ring
Change ringing
Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a series of mathematical patterns called "changes". It differs from many other forms of campanology in that no attempt is made to produce a conventional melody....
of four bells and a Sanctus bell. In the succeeding century all were replaced and the ring was increased to five. William Knight II of Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
cast the oldest bell in about 1586. Further bells were cast by Henry Knight I in 1620, Ellis Knight I in 1635, and Henry Knight II in 1663. A tenor bell was cast in 1651, but in 1864 it was recast as two smaller bells increasing the ring to six. In 1965 John Taylor & Co of Loughborough
Loughborough
Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...
cast a new Sanctus bell and in 1969 the same company cast a new treble and second bell to replace the two 1864 bells.
St. Andrew's is now part of a single Benefice with the parishes of Sydenham, Aston Rowant
Aston Rowant
Aston Rowant is a village and civil parish about south of Thame in South Oxfordshire, England. The parish includes the villages of Aston Rowant and Kingston Blount, and adjoins Buckinghamshire to the southeast....
and Crowell
Crowell
-Surname:* A. Elmer Crowell, Decoy Carver* Andrew Crowell, Australian rules footballer* Angelo Crowell, American football player* Benedict Crowell, general* Benjamin Crowell, author and open-source/free textbook advocate...
.
Anabaptist
In the 18th century Chinnor had a small number of AnabaptistAnabaptist
Anabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....
s. In 1732 a private house in Chinnor was licenced for Anabaptist worship, and in 1759 and 1768 six people from Chinnor worshipped at an Anabaptist meeting house in Princes Risborough
Princes Risborough
Princes Risborough is a small town in Buckinghamshire, England, about 9 miles south of Aylesbury and 8 miles north west of High Wycombe. Bledlow lies to the west and Monks Risborough to the east. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through the Chilterns,...
.
Congregational
The CongregationalistCongregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
John Cennick
John Cennick
John Cennick was an early Methodist and Moravian evangelist and hymnwriter. He was born in Reading, Berkshire, England to an Anglican family and raised in the Church of England....
(1718–1755) preached in Chinnor but Chinnor Congregational Church was not built until 1805. It was enlarged in 1811 but suffered a schism
Schism
- Religion :* Schism , a division or a split, usually between people belonging to an organization or movement, most frequently applied to a break of communion between two sections of Christianity that were previously a single body...
in 1826, when a rival second chapel was built. The schism had been healed by 1839, by which time the second chapel had been converted into the minister's manse
Manse
A manse is a house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of a Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist or United Church...
. By 1841 the minister had opened a British School
British and Foreign School Society
The British and Foreign School Society offers charitable aid to educational projects in the UK and around the world by funding schools, other charities and educational bodies...
. A schoolroom was added to the chapel in 1884 and the chapel was restored in 1888. In 1893 funds were raised to add an infants' classroom to the school but by the end of the year the school had closed.
Methodist
The MethodistMethodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
George Whitefield
George Whitefield
George Whitefield , also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican priest who helped spread the Great Awakening in Britain, and especially in the British North American colonies. He was one of the founders of Methodism and of the evangelical movement generally...
(1714–1770) preached in Chinnor and in 1753 two private houses were licenced for Methodist worship. In 1759 Chinnor's Church of England rector reported that a third of the parish was Methodist. By 1768 the Methodists had opened a small school in Chinnor. In 1778 he reported that they were increasing but by 1784 the reported proportion had fallen to a quarter of the population. By 1854 Chinnor had a Primitive Methodist chapel. It was replaced by a new chapel built in 1873 which is now Chinnor Methodist
Methodist Church of Great Britain
The Methodist Church of Great Britain is the largest Wesleyan Methodist body in the United Kingdom, with congregations across Great Britain . It is the United Kingdom's fourth largest Christian denomination, with around 300,000 members and 6,000 churches...
Church.
Social and economic history
By the early part of the 13th century there was a windmillWindmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
on the Chiltern escarpment at Wainhill, about 1 miles (1.6 km) east of Chinnor village. Chinnor had a watermill
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
, but by 1279 it had been transferred to the neighbouring manor of Henton
Henton, Oxfordshire
Henton is a hamlet in Oxfordshire, about west of Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire. Henton is in the civil parish of Chinnor, just off the Icknield Way, which has been a road since the Iron Age.-Railway:...
. In 1336 the Ferrers manor at Chinnor (see above) had a windmill. In 1789 a post mill
Post mill
The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. The defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single vertical post, around which it can be turned to bring the sails into the wind. The earliest post mills in England are thought to have...
was built on the west side of the village, off Whites Field. It was dismantled in 1965 and is currently being rebuilt by the Chinnor Windmill Restoration Society. It is unusual in having 3 crosstrees and 6 quarterbars.
At the end of the 16th century Sir George Fermor (see above) enclosed
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...
some of the woods in the parish. Attempts to enclose Chinnor's common land
Common land
Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
s were ruled illegal and reversed in 1761 and 1817. Parliament passed an enclosure act for Chinnor in 1847 but the enclosure award to allocate the land was not implemented until 1854.
On 18 June 1643 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...
a Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
force of 1,800 men led by Prince Rupert
Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, 1st Duke of Cumberland, 1st Earl of Holderness , commonly called Prince Rupert of the Rhine, KG, FRS was a noted soldier, admiral, scientist, sportsman, colonial governor and amateur artist during the 17th century...
arrived from Oxford, overcame 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...
garrisons at Postcombe
Postcombe
Postcombe is a village in the civil parish of Lewknor, about south of Thame in Oxfordshire. It is on the A40 road with the Chiltern Hills to the east and the M40 motorway just to the south....
and Chinnor and took 120 men prisoner. A pursuing Parliamentarian force intercepted them 7 miles (11.3 km) away near Chalgrove
Chalgrove
Chalgrove is a village and civil parish of some . It is in South Oxfordshire about southeast of Oxford. The parish includes the hamlet of Rofford and the former parish of Warpsgrove with which it merged in 1932....
, but in the resulting Battle of Chalgrove Field
Battle of Chalgrove Field
The Battle of Chalgrove was a small battle during the English Civil War in the county of Oxfordshire. It took place around 09:00 hours on the morning of 18 June 1643 in Chalgrove Field, northeast of Chalgrove in Oxfordshire...
the Royalists fought off their pursuers and returned with their prisoners to Oxford.
In the latter part of the 18th century a petition signed by the Rector and 13 tenant farmers
Husbandman
A Husbandman in England in the medieval and early modern period was a free tenant farmer. The social status of a husbandman was below that of a yeoman....
complained that Chinnor had such a "multitude" of alehouses that they were "a check to industry and good order". The petition claimed that the Chequers was a house of illfame and called for its licence not to be renewed.
The 1851 Census
United Kingdom Census 1851
The United Kingdom Census of 1851 recorded the people residing in every household on the night of 30 March 1851, and was the second of the UK censuses to include details of household members...
recorded 268 lace-makers in Chinnor, including labourers' wives and 86 children. Chinnor still has a lace group.
Chinnor grew most quickly in the 1960s - from a population of 1,961 in the 1951 Census
Census in the United Kingdom
Coincident full censuses have taken place in the different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom every ten years since 1801, with the exceptions of 1941 and in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State in 1921; simultaneous censuses were taken in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, with...
to 4,471 in the 1971 Census
Census in the United Kingdom
Coincident full censuses have taken place in the different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom every ten years since 1801, with the exceptions of 1941 and in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State in 1921; simultaneous censuses were taken in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, with...
. Chinnor was then largely concentrated around the main rectangular street plan of Station Road, Lower Road, High Street, and Church Road. The 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...
of Oakley to the southwest was subsumed into the village around this time, when building along Oakley Road and the Mill Lane estate more than doubled the physical size of the village.
Schools
By 1803 Chinnor had a school of industry that taught laceLace
Lace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was...
-making and sewing. In 1815 there were three schools teaching girls to make lace, which became an important local industry (see above). There were four schools for boys but there was no Church of England school until the 1850s.
In 1848 Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
voted to fund a Church of England school. St. Andrew's Church of England Primary School was designed by G.E. Street and building began in 1857. Magdalen College provided further funds in 1859 and the landlord of the Crown Inn also gave funds. The school at last opened in 1860. In 1892 it was enlarged, again at Magdalen College's expense. It became a voluntary controlled school
Voluntary controlled school
A voluntary controlled school is a state-funded school in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in which a foundation or trust has some formal influence in the running of the school...
in 1948 and taught children of all ages until a secondary modern school
Secondary modern school
A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed in most of the United Kingdom from 1944 until the early 1970s, under the Tripartite System, and was designed for the majority of pupils - those who do not achieve scores in the top 25% of the eleven plus examination...
was opened at Thame.
Chinnor now also has a community primary school. Secondary school pupils are schooled in Thame or Watlington
Watlington, Oxfordshire
Watlington is a market town and civil parish about south of Thame in Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Christmas Common and Greenfield, both of which are in the Chiltern Hills. The M40 motorway is from Watlington.-History:...
, and sixth formers in Henley
Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...
or Thame.
Transport
The Watlington and Princes Risborough RailwayWatlington and Princes Risborough Railway
The Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway was a railway branch line between Watlington and Princes Risborough which remained operational for over 88 years between 1872 and 1961....
between and was built through the parish and opened in 1872. Chinnor railway station
Chinnor railway station
Chinnor railway station in Oxfordshire is on the Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway. It was opened in 1872.-History:The line was projected to be extended to Wallingford, where it would complete a cross-country line between Cholsey and Princes Risborough. However, due to financial...
was opened to serve the village. The railway was independent until the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
took it over in 1883. Sidings to serve Chinnor cement works were added in 1927. British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
ways closed the railway through Chinnor to passengers in 1957 and to freight in 1961. The section between Princes Risborough and Chinnor remained open to serve Chinnor cement works until 1989.
Since 1994 Chinnor railway station
Chinnor railway station
Chinnor railway station in Oxfordshire is on the Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway. It was opened in 1872.-History:The line was projected to be extended to Wallingford, where it would complete a cross-country line between Cholsey and Princes Risborough. However, due to financial...
has been the terminus of the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway heritage railway
Heritage railway
thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...
line. Steam trains are run on some weekends and bank holiday
Bank Holiday
A bank holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom or a colloquialism for public holiday in Ireland. There is no automatic right to time off on these days, although the majority of the population is granted time off work or extra pay for working on these days, depending on their contract...
s.
Chinnor has direct bus links with Thame, High Wycombe
High Wycombe
High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...
, and Princes Risborough railway station
Princes Risborough railway station
Princes Risborough station is a railway station on the Chiltern Main Line that serves the town of Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire, England...
on the Chiltern Main Line
Chiltern Main Line
The Chiltern Main Line is an inter-urban, regional and commuter railway, part of the British railway system. It links London and Birmingham on a 112-mile route via the towns of High Wycombe, Banbury, and Leamington Spa...
.
Notable people
Rock musician Adam ClaytonAdam Clayton
Adam Charles Clayton is a musician, best known as the bassist of the Irish rock band U2. Clayton has resided in County Dublin since the time his family moved to Malahide when he was five years old in 1965...
, bassist in the Irish band U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, was born in Chinnor in 1960. Former BBC TV
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
weatherman Bill Giles
Bill Giles
William George Giles OBE is a former British weather forecaster and television presenter.-Early life:...
is a resident of the village.
Annual Beer Festival
The Summer Chinnor Beer festival takes place this year on the 27th August at the playing fields. The beer festival raises money for the local youth of Chinnor.Amenities
Chinnor village currently has five public housePublic 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...
s: The Black Boy, The Crown, The Kings Head, The Red Lion and The Wheatsheaf. Former pubs include The Bird in Hand (closed 2000) and The Royal Oak (closed 2011). About 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of the village at Spriggs Alley in the Chilterns is the Sir Charles Napier Inn
Sir Charles Napier Inn
The Sir Charles Napier Inn is a gastropub in Spriggs Alley about south of Chinnor, Oxfordshire, England. It was built in the 18th century and is named after Sir Charles Napier....
gastropub
Gastropub
Gastropub or Gastrolounge refers to a bar and restaurant that serves high-end beer and food.The term gastropub, a portmanteau of gastronomy and pub, originated in England in the late 20th century. English pubs were drinking establishments and little emphasis was placed on the serving of food. If...
.
Chinnor Football Club
Chinnor F.C.
Chinnor F.C. are a football club based in Chinnor, near Thame, Oxfordshire, England. It has been a member of Hellenic Football League Division One East since 2003.-History:...
plays in the Hellenic Football League
Hellenic Football League
The Hellenic Football League is an English football league covering an area including the English counties of Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, southern Buckinghamshire, southern Herefordshire, western Greater London, and northern Wiltshire. There is also one team from Hampshire.The league...
Division One East. Chinnor Cricket Club plays in Oxfordshire Cricket Association League Division 9.
Chinnor has a public library, a village hall
Village hall
In the United States, a village hall is the seat of government for villages. It functions much as a city hall does within cities.In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building within a village which contains at least one large room, usually owned by and run for the benefit of the local...
and a Women's Institute.