Long Crendon
Encyclopedia
Long Crendon is a village and civil parish within Aylesbury Vale
district in Buckinghamshire
, England
, about 3 miles (5 km) west of Haddenham
and 2 miles (3 km) north-west of Thame
in neighbouring Oxfordshire
.
The village has been called Long Crendon only since the English Civil War
. The "Long" prefix refers simply to the length of the village at that time, and was added to differentiate it from nearby Grendon Underwood
. Previously it was simply known as Crendon. This name is Old English and means Creoda's Hill (in 1086 it was listed in the Domesday Book
as Crededone).
of the feudal honour held by Walter Giffard
(died 1102), created Earl of Buckingham by William the Conqueror
. The Manor
in Long Crendon was once a great building that housed the later Earls of Buckingham
and over the years the various manorial
estates
in the village have passed through the hands of the Crown, Oxford University, the Earls of March
and the Marquis of Buckingham. The latter is presently the Lord of the Manor
of Long Crendon.
In 1162 an order of Augustinian
monk
s was founded in the village at nearby Notley Abbey
. The park in which the abbey stood was donated to the abbey itself by the incumbent of the manor, the Earl of Buckingham. At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries
the annual income was calculated as over £437: an immense amount of money for the time. The abbey still stands, but as a secular manor house. In the 20th century it was the marital home of actors Sir Laurence Olivier
and Vivien Leigh
.
may2006.jpg)
In 1218 Long Crendon was granted a royal charter
to hold a weekly market; the monies from which were to be collected by William Earl Marshall who owned the manor at that time. The town (as it was then) was certainly important in this period as it shared the distinction with Aylesbury
as being the only places in the whole of England where needles
were made. The royal charter was later rescinded and the market moved and joined with the existing one in nearby Thame.
The Church of England parish church
of St Mary
dates from the 12th century. The building underwent major renovation and refurbishment that was due to be completed early in 2008. The village has also a Baptist
church and a Roman Catholic church.
aug2005.jpg)
aug2005.jpg)
Long Crendon Courthouse is a 15th century timber frame building
. Manorial courts were held here from the reign of King Henry V
until the Victorian era
. The National Trust
bought the courthouse in 1900. The lower floor is residential; the upper floor can be visited.
There was a Long Crendon Rural District
from 1894 to 1934.
s (one of which has recently become a Nepalese restaurant), two inns a small square with about six small shops, an Indian restaurant, a traditional English restaurant 'The Mole and Chicken' (just outside the village in the hamlet of Easington), a hairdresser, a primary school, playing fields and two parks. Long Crendon School is a mixed, community school
, which has about 240 pupils from the ages of four to 11.
Long Crendon has two youth football clubs. Crendon Corinthians Youth Football Club (CCYFC) has over 250 members, with 14 teams, including 3 girls teams, across 11 age groups from Under 6 to Under 16. The teams compete in 3 different leagues: South Bucks Mini Soccer Conference U7-U10, Booker Wholesale League U11-U16, Bucks Girls League U11 and U13 Girls teams. The club was awarded FA Charter Standard Status in 2004 and was named as the Berks & Bucks FA Charter Standard Club of the year in June 2010. Long Crendon Youth FC are an FA Charter Standard Club fielding an Under 18s team, competing in the South Bucks Youth League.
Midsomer Murders
, the ITV
crime series is often filmed in Long Crendon with locals posing as extras.
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 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...
, about 3 miles (5 km) west of Haddenham
Haddenham, Buckinghamshire
Haddenham is a large village and is also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. Its estimated population in 2011 is 8,385 It is about south-west of Aylesbury and north-east of Thame.-History:...
and 2 miles (3 km) north-west 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....
in neighbouring Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
.
The village has been called Long Crendon only since the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. The "Long" prefix refers simply to the length of the village at that time, and was added to differentiate it from nearby Grendon Underwood
Grendon Underwood
Grendon Underwood is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the west of the county, close to the boundary with Oxfordshire and near the Roman road Akeman Street....
. Previously it was simply known as Crendon. This name is Old English and means Creoda's Hill (in 1086 it was listed in 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...
as Crededone).
History
"Crendon" was the caputCaput
The Latin word caput, meaning literally "head" and by metonymy "top", has been borrowed in a variety of English words, including capital, captain, and decapitate...
of the feudal honour held by Walter Giffard
Walter Giffard, 1st Earl of Buckingham
Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville, 1st Earl of Buckingham was a Norman magnate and one of the few proven Companions of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The caput of his feudal honour was at Crendon, Buckinghamshire....
(died 1102), created Earl of Buckingham by William the Conqueror
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
. The Manor
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
in Long Crendon was once a great building that housed the later Earls of Buckingham
Earl of Buckingham
The peerage title Earl of Buckingham was created several times in the Peerage of England.It was first created in 1097 for Walter Giffard, but became extinct in 1164 with the death of the second earl. It may have been created again in 1164 for Richard de Clare , who died without issue in 1176...
and over the years the various manorial
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...
estates
Estate (house)
An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is the modern term for a manor, but lacks the latter's now abolished jurisdictional authority...
in the village have passed through the hands of the Crown, Oxford University, the Earls of March
Earl of March
The title The Earl of March has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of England. The title derived from the "marches" or boundaries between England and either Wales or Scotland , and was held by several great feudal families which owned lands in those border...
and the Marquis of Buckingham. The latter is presently the Lord of the Manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
of Long Crendon.
In 1162 an order of Augustinian
Augustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
s was founded in the village at nearby Notley Abbey
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
. The park in which the abbey stood was donated to the abbey itself by the incumbent of the manor, the Earl of Buckingham. At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
the annual income was calculated as over £437: an immense amount of money for the time. The abbey still stands, but as a secular manor house. In the 20th century it was the marital home of actors Sir Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
and Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier was an English actress. She won the Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire , a role she also played on stage in London's West End, as well as for her portrayal of the southern belle Scarlett O'Hara, alongside Clark...
.
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; the monies from which were to be collected by William Earl Marshall who owned the manor at that time. The town (as it was then) was certainly important in this period as it shared the distinction with 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...
as being the only places in the whole of England where needles
Sewing needle
A sewing needle is a long slender tool with a pointed tip. The first needles were made of bone or wood; modern ones are manufactured from high carbon steel wire, nickel- or 18K gold plated for corrosion resistance. The highest quality embroidery needles are plated with two-thirds platinum and...
were made. The royal charter was later rescinded and the market moved and joined with the existing one in nearby Thame.
The Church of England parish church
Church 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 St Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
dates from the 12th century. The building underwent major renovation and refurbishment that was due to be completed early in 2008. The village has also a Baptist
Baptist Union of Great Britain
The Baptist Union of Great Britain, despite its name, is the association of Baptist churches in England and Wales. -History:...
church and a Roman Catholic church.
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
. Manorial courts were held here from the reign of King Henry V
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
until the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
. The National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
bought the courthouse in 1900. The lower floor is residential; the upper floor can be visited.
There was a Long Crendon Rural District
Long Crendon Rural District
Long Crendon was a rural district in the administrative county of Buckinghamshire, England from 1894 to 1934.It was formed by the Local Government Act 1894 from the parts of both the Bicester and the Thame Rural Sanitary Districts that were in Buckinghamshire...
from 1894 to 1934.
Amenities
The village has fourpublic 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 (one of which has recently become a Nepalese restaurant), two inns a small square with about six small shops, an Indian restaurant, a traditional English restaurant 'The Mole and Chicken' (just outside the village in the hamlet of Easington), a hairdresser, a primary school, playing fields and two parks. Long Crendon School is a mixed, community school
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...
, which has about 240 pupils from the ages of four to 11.
Long Crendon has two youth football clubs. Crendon Corinthians Youth Football Club (CCYFC) has over 250 members, with 14 teams, including 3 girls teams, across 11 age groups from Under 6 to Under 16. The teams compete in 3 different leagues: South Bucks Mini Soccer Conference U7-U10, Booker Wholesale League U11-U16, Bucks Girls League U11 and U13 Girls teams. The club was awarded FA Charter Standard Status in 2004 and was named as the Berks & Bucks FA Charter Standard Club of the year in June 2010. Long Crendon Youth FC are an FA Charter Standard Club fielding an Under 18s team, competing in the South Bucks Youth League.
Midsomer Murders
Midsomer Murders
Midsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...
, the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
crime series is often filmed in Long Crendon with locals posing as extras.