Wingrave
Encyclopedia
Wingrave is a village in Buckinghamshire
, England located about four miles north east of Aylesbury
and three miles south west of Wing
.
The civil parish is called Wingrave with Rowsham within Aylesbury Vale
district and incorporates the hamlet
of Rowsham
.
Wingrave is twinned with La Bouëxière
in France
.
as Withungrave and in 1163 as Wiungraua. It comes from Old English
Wiwinga grāf or Wēoinga grāf = "the grove
of the people referred to by Wing, Buckinghamshire
" or "the grove of the people of the heathen temple".
Estate until well into the 20th century and are very sought after today, commanding a very high price.
Wingrave Manor, also known as 'The Old Manor House' is a Victorian
half timbered pastiche of nearby Ascott House
. Like many of the village's cottages it too was built by Hannah de Rothschild in 1876. Why she built a large house barely two miles from her own home Mentmore Towers
(one of the largest mansions in Buckinghamshire
) can only be the subject of conjecture. The design of the house while similar to Ascott, does not have the same lightness of touch as Ascott, so is unlikely to have been designed by Ascott's architect George Devey
. The Rothschild family do not appear to have ever lived at Wingrave, as the house was soon let to the Stewart-Freeman Family who enlarged it in 1885 and eventually purchased it in 1898.
lived at The Abbey
in nearby Aston Abbotts
, and his Military Intelligence of the exiled government lived at Addington House in nearby Addington
, near Winslow. The offices of the Czechoslovak Government in Exile were at various locations in London.
President Beneš donated a bus shelter to the villages of Aston Abbotts and Wingrave in 1944. This is on the A418 between the two villages. Following the departure of President Beneš's officials in 1945, the Manor was leased to an order of nuns who cared for disabled children on the site for over twenty-five years. In 1998 President Václav Havel
, the first post-communist President of the Czech Republic, visited Wingrave to mark its Czech connections.
in Wing
or a selective school in Aylesbury
.
. MacIntyre school subsequently moved to a new purpose built premises in 2006 approximately 100 metres from the Manor House having sold off the manor house for development. The school cares for children described as having complex learning difficulties, many on the autism spectrum, and was greatly supported by Bob Monkhouse
during his lifetime. The school offers residential and day placements.
and St Paul
,where Rev Derek Witchell is Reverend. Wingrave also has a Methodist church at Nup End. The former URC Church closed in 2005, although the Congregational churchyard remains as a memorial garden.
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 located about four miles north east 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...
and three miles south west of Wing
Wing, Buckinghamshire
Wing is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. The village is on the main A418 road between Aylesbury and Leighton Buzzard...
.
The civil parish is called Wingrave with Rowsham within Aylesbury Vale
Aylesbury Vale
The Aylesbury Vale is a large area of flat land mostly in Buckinghamshire, England. Its boundary is marked by Milton Keynes to the north, Leighton Buzzard and the Chiltern Hills to the east and south, Thame to the south and Bicester and Brackley to the west.The vale is named after Aylesbury, the...
district and incorporates 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 Rowsham
Rowsham
Rowsham is a hamlet in the parish of Wingrave, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located to the south of the main village on the A418 road that links Bierton with Wing.The hamlet name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'Hrothwulf's home'...
.
Wingrave is twinned with La Bouëxière
La Bouëxière
La Bouëxière is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department of Brittany in north-western France.It is situated from Rennes in the forest of Rennes.-Twin towns:La Bouëxière is twinned with two villages, Wingrave in England and Hambrücken in Germany....
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Etymology
Its name occurs in the Domesday BookDomesday 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 Withungrave and in 1163 as Wiungraua. It comes from Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
Wiwinga grāf or Wēoinga grāf = "the grove
Sacred grove
A sacred grove is a grove of trees of special religious importance to a particular culture. Sacred groves were most prominent in the Ancient Near East and prehistoric Europe, but feature in various cultures throughout the world...
of the people referred to by Wing, Buckinghamshire
Wing, Buckinghamshire
Wing is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. The village is on the main A418 road between Aylesbury and Leighton Buzzard...
" or "the grove of the people of the heathen temple".
Architecture
Around the recreation ground and in other parts of the village are many houses and cottages of varying sizes, constructed in Tudor Revival style, erected by Hannah de Rothschild in the 19th century. These houses, which display her personal cypher 'H de R' were homes for estate employees. They remained part of the MentmoreMentmore
Mentmore is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about three miles east of Wingrave, three miles south east of Wing.The village toponym is derived from the Old English for "Menta's moor"...
Estate until well into the 20th century and are very sought after today, commanding a very high price.
Wingrave Manor, also known as 'The Old Manor House' is a Victorian
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...
half timbered pastiche of nearby Ascott House
Ascott House
Ascott House, sometimes referred to as simply Ascott, is situated in the hamlet of Ascott near Wing in Buckinghamshire, England. It is set in a estate....
. Like many of the village's cottages it too was built by Hannah de Rothschild in 1876. Why she built a large house barely two miles from her own home Mentmore Towers
Mentmore Towers
Mentmore Towers is a 19th century English country house in the village of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire. The house was designed by Joseph Paxton and his son-in-law, George Henry Stokes, in the revival Elizabethan and Jacobean style of the late 16th century called Jacobethan, for the banker and...
(one of the largest mansions 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....
) can only be the subject of conjecture. The design of the house while similar to Ascott, does not have the same lightness of touch as Ascott, so is unlikely to have been designed by Ascott's architect George Devey
George Devey
George Devey was a British architect, born in London, the second son of Frederick and Ann Devey. Devey was educated in London, after leaving school he initially studied art, with an ambition to become a professional artist...
. The Rothschild family do not appear to have ever lived at Wingrave, as the house was soon let to the Stewart-Freeman Family who enlarged it in 1885 and eventually purchased it in 1898.
Czech Connection
It was the last Stewart-Freeman daughter, Mary Eveline, Countess of Essex, (who was divorced from the Earl of Essex) who leased the house (Wingrave manor), to the exiled Czechoslovak government. They leased it for £20 a week as a residence for the employees and families of the Private Office of President Beneš (called the Chancellery). During this time the President Dr. Edvard BenešEdvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš was a leader of the Czechoslovak independence movement, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the second President of Czechoslovakia. He was known to be a skilled diplomat.- Youth :...
lived at The 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,...
in nearby Aston Abbotts
Aston Abbotts
Aston Abbotts is a village and civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated about four miles north of Aylesbury and three miles south west of Wing. The parish had a population of 404 according to the 2001 census.The village name 'Aston' is a common one...
, and his Military Intelligence of the exiled government lived at Addington House in nearby Addington
Addington, Buckinghamshire
Addington is a village and civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England, about west of Winslow and south east of Buckingham. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 145....
, near Winslow. The offices of the Czechoslovak Government in Exile were at various locations in London.
President Beneš donated a bus shelter to the villages of Aston Abbotts and Wingrave in 1944. This is on the A418 between the two villages. Following the departure of President Beneš's officials in 1945, the Manor was leased to an order of nuns who cared for disabled children on the site for over twenty-five years. In 1998 President Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
, the first post-communist President of the Czech Republic, visited Wingrave to mark its Czech connections.
Wingrave C of E Combined School
Wingrave C of E Combined school is the only primary school in the village, and takes children from Wingrave, Cublington, Rowsham and Aston Abbotts. The current site was built in 1974, after the old schools at Wingrave and Aston Abbotts closed. It teaches around 120 pupils from the ages of 4 to 11. The current acting Headteacher is Val Britnell. The primary school has very close links to the church. Every year the school travels to the Parish Church for a Harvest festival. There at the age of 11, the pupils move to either Cottesloe SchoolCottesloe School
-About the School:The Cottesloe School, formerly known as Wing County Secondary School, is a co-educational secondary school located on the outskirts of Wing, Buckinghamshire. It occupies a very large rural site with views of the countryside in one direction and overlooking Wing village and its...
in Wing
Wing, Buckinghamshire
Wing is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. The village is on the main A418 road between Aylesbury and Leighton Buzzard...
or a selective school in 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...
.
MacIntyre School
In 1972 the Manor was sold to become MacIntyre SchoolMacIntyre School
MacIntyre School is a mixed Independent school for children with extreme special needs and severe learning difficulties. It is situated in the village of Wingrave near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.The school provides residential and day placements....
. MacIntyre school subsequently moved to a new purpose built premises in 2006 approximately 100 metres from the Manor House having sold off the manor house for development. The school cares for children described as having complex learning difficulties, many on the autism spectrum, and was greatly supported by Bob Monkhouse
Bob Monkhouse
Robert Alan "Bob" Monkhouse, OBE was an English entertainer. He was a successful comedy writer, comedian and actor and was also well known on British television as a presenter and game show host...
during his lifetime. The school offers residential and day placements.
Churches
Wingrave has a parish Church of St PeterSaint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
and St Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
,where Rev Derek Witchell is Reverend. Wingrave also has a Methodist church at Nup End. The former URC Church closed in 2005, although the Congregational churchyard remains as a memorial garden.