Turnfurlong
Encyclopedia
Turnfurlong is an area 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...

 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 roughly defined as the area of housing that adjoins the two roads, Turnfurlong and Turnfurlong Lane (about a mile in combined length).

History

Turnfurlong Lane originated as a farm track that linked Walton hamlet with Bedgrove Farm
Bedgrove
Bedgrove is one of the housing estates of the modern town of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, though it takes its name from a farm and hamlet that stood in the area until the area was cleared for building in the late 1950s. At the time it was built it was the largest housing estate of its kind in the...

 and there was a small farmstead part way along the track called Turnfurlong, roughly in the location of what is now the back of Aylesbury Grammar School
Aylesbury Grammar School
Aylesbury Grammar School is a single-sex male grammar school in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, which educates 1,250 pupils.-Admissions:As a selective state school, its entry requirements are dictated by the exam taken at the age of 10-11...

. Within the first ten years of the 20th century the new grammar school and the adjoining town cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...

 were in place on the edge of Walton hamlet, and it is at about this time that the farmstead of Turnfurlong disappeared from period maps.

Between the First World War and the Second World War Aylesbury was expanding in population and the stretch of Turnfurlong Lane between Walton and what is now Wendover Way was built up with three-bedroomed semi-detached
Semi-detached
Semi-detached housing consists of pairs of houses built side by side as units sharing a party wall and usually in such a way that each house's layout is a mirror image of its twin...

 family homes by the bookbinders Hazell, Watson and Viney for their employees. It is at about this time that the adjoining Fair Mile, Walton Way and Clinton Crescent were constructed for the same purpose.

Following the Second World War prefabs were sited temporarily on what is now King Edward Avenue and the Grange School
The Grange School, Aylesbury
The Grange School is a co-educational secondary school in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.It is a community school, which takes children from the age of 11 through to the age of 18. The school has approximately 1250 pupils....

 and Aylesbury High School
Aylesbury High School
Aylesbury High School was founded in 1959, in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, when the previously co-educational Aylesbury Grammar School became boys-only. The two schools remain on adjacent sites. The current headteacher is Alan Rosen....

 were both opened, though the latter is strictly within the boundary of Walton hamlet.

The latter part of Turnfurlong Lane was developed in stages between the 1960s and 1990s. Worthy of note are the development around Webster Road, built on the site of the old Aylesbury United football ground, the Foxhills development and the large Bedgrove development.

Etymology

The origin of the name Turnfurlong is uncertain. A theory as to the origin of the name is that it was the boundary between two furlong
Furlong
A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to 220 yards, 660 feet, 40 rods, or 10 chains. The exact value of the furlong varies slightly among English-speaking countries....

s or fields, being the point where the plough
Plough
The plough or plow is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture...

 needed to be turned, though there is no supporting evidence of this theory.

Schools

The aforementioned Grange School is the only secondary school in the area, though there are four primary schools, two infant
Infant
A newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...

 and two junior
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....

, in Turnfurlong.

Turnfurlong Infant School is a community school that takes children from ages 4 to 7. It has approximately 260 pupils.

Turnfurlong Junior School is a community school that takes children from ages 7 to 11. It has approximately 350 pupils. Its uniform is a red jumper or fleece with a white shirt.

St Joseph's Catholic Infant School is a mixed Roman Catholic primary school. It was opened in 1971, when demand for spaces at RC schools in the area meant that the school on the adjacent site - what is now St Edward's Junior School - could no longer take children under the age of 7. St Joseph's is a voluntary aided
Voluntary aided school
A voluntary aided school is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust owns the school buildings, contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school...

 infant school, which takes children from the age of 4 through to the age of 7. The school has approximately 200 pupils. The school is controlled by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton and its motto is "I am special in God's eyes".

St Edward's Catholic Junior School is a mixed Roman Catholic voluntary aided junior school, which takes children from ages 7 to 11. It has approximately 240 pupils.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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