Aston Clinton is a historic village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in the

Vale of Aylesbury The Aylesbury Vale (or Vale of Aylesbury) is a geographical region in Buckinghamshire, England, which is bounded by the Borough of Milton Keynes and South Northamptonshire to the north, Central Bedfordshire and the Borough of Dacorum ( Hertfo ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-eas ...

, England. The village lies at the foot of the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England. The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshir ...

, between the Wendover and Aylesbury arms of the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter s ...

. Surrounding towns include

Wendover Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road ...

to the south,

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamsh ...

to the west, and

Tring Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked t ...

to the east - across the nearby county border with Hertfordshire.

History

It is believed that the village started at the crossing of two Roman roads, Akeman Street and Icknield Way, both of which are still main roads in the village. After the fall of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medite ...

, it became a

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...

settlement and remains of a Saxon cemetery were found during the construction of the Aston Clinton Bypass. Before the Norman conquest of England in 1066 the settlement was probably held under patronage of King Edward the Confessor. The village is recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 where in Old English it was called ''Estone'', which means "eastern estate". The manor, later to be known as Aston Clinton, was for a short period after 1100 under the control of Edward de Salisbury, who was King Henry I's standard-bearer. In 1217 King Henry III gave it to Sir William de Farendon. However, by 1237 the manor was owned by the de Clinton family, hence the name at that time of ''Aston de Clinton''. William de Clinton separated out from Aston Clinton to a new manor called

Chivery Chivery is a hamlet located in the Chiltern Hills in the present day parish of Aston Clinton, in Aylesbury Vale District in the county of Buckinghamshire, England. Chivery's southern boundary is formed by the ancient earthworks known as Gri ...

as a dowry for his daughter Alice. Sometime after 1239,

King Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...

granted the estates to the Montacutes, who were the ancestors of the

Earls of Salisbury Earl of Salisbury is a title that has been created several times in English and British history. It has a complex history, and is now a subsidiary title to the marquessate of Salisbury. Background The title was first created for Patrick de Sa ...

. Their descendant the Countess of Salisbury was beheaded by

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...

in 1541. Successive families have owned the manor, passing by marriage from the Hastings to the Barringtons, Gerards, and then to Lord Lake of Aston Clinton later to become

Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake (27 July 1744 – 20 February 1808) was a British general. He commanded British forces during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and later served as Commander-in-Chief of the military in British India. Background He w ...

. On 22 September 1934, a twin-engined biplane named ''Youth of New Zealand'' of Sir Alan Cobham's National Aviation Displays, crashed into a field near the canal at Aston Clinton. The ''Youth of New Zealand'' had just departed from

Heston Aerodrome Heston Aerodrome was an airfield located to the west of London, England, operational between 1929 and 1947. It was situated on the border of the Heston and Cranford areas of Hounslow, Middlesex. In September 1938, the British Prime Minister, ...

after being refuelled when it crashed, killing all four crew. The probable cause was the failure of a bolt through metal fatigue. The car manufacturer

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated ...

took one part of its name from the nearby Aston Hill combining it with that of its co-founder Lionel Martin. The firm had great success in the Aston Clinton Hillclimb competition up nearby

Aston Hill Aston Hill Bike Park is located adjacent to Wendover Woods on the ridge of the Chiltern Hills, above Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire. It is managed by Forestry England Forestry England is a division of the Forestry Commission, respons ...

. A plaque now marks the site. The modern parish of Aston Clinton was created in 1934. Of the other

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

manors:- Dundridge; Chivery; St Leonards and Vaches, historically all closely associated with Aston Clinton, only Chivery and Vaches have remained distinct parts of Aston Clinton, which now forms part of Aylesbury Vale District. Dundridge manor became part of the ecclesiastical parish of St Leonards which has itself since 1934 become part of the parish of Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards.

The village today

There are many historic buildings with listed status in Aston Clinton including Anthony Hall, a concert hall situated in the centre of the village which was donated to the community by the widow of Anthony Nathan de Rothschild. To the south-east of the village in Green Park was the former Aston Clinton House. The village also contains St. Michael and All Angels parish church, dating from the late medieval period. The village was used as a filming location for the 1962 film ''

Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Hum ...

''. The TV programme ''

Hotel Babylon Hotel Babylon may refer to: Television * Hotel Babylon (BBC series), a 2000s BBC drama series * Hotel Babylon (music programme), a 1990s ITV late night music programme Literature * ''Hotel Babylon'' (novel), a novel by Imogen Edwards-Jones * ...

'' was filmed in Aston Clinton. Aston Clinton Household Recycling Centre opened in 2009 and was built to the north of the village off the A41 Aston Clinton bypass. In 2011 a new industrial park opened in Aston Clinton called Halton Brook Business Park, designed and developed by Horstonbridge Development Management which replaced an old dairy, demolished in 2006, that once stood in the same location. Two companies currently occupy Halton Brook, Zethon & DeSoutter Medical.

Notable residents

Composer and lutenist Daniel Bacheler was born in the village in 1572. The BAFTA and Oscar winning special effects make-up artist David Malinowski lives in the village. Australian Formula One driver Mark Webber lists Aston Clinton as his home in England where he lives with his partner Ann Neal.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census there were 1,518 households in Aston Clinton with a Population of 3,682: 1,784 males and 1,898 females. In accordance with the government plans to boost housing supply, due to the rising population, there has been an increase in new housing developments in Aston Clinton: The Burnhams (19 dwellings), Stratford Close (20 dwellings), 28 flats near the surgery, four detached houses to the south of London Road Pavilion Gardens (14 dwellings) and The Willows (three large detached houses).

Geography

Aston Clinton is located at the northern edge of the

, Buckinghamshire, to the east of Aylesbury. Aston Clinton Civil Parish is bordered by other civil parishes to the: *North by: Bierton with Broughton,

Hulcott Hulcott is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is north of Aylesbury, off the road that runs between Bierton and Rowsham. It is in the civil parish of Bierton with Broughton The village topony ...

(

Bucks Bucks may refer to: Places * Buckinghamshire, England, abbreviated Bucks * Bucks, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community * Bucks, Illinois, United States, an unincorporated community * Bucks, Michigan, an unincorporated community ...

) & Tring Rural ( Herts) *East by: Buckland (

) *South by: Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards &

(

) *West by: Halton & Weston Turville (

)

Transport

Historically, the A41 passed through Aston Clinton. A bypass was built around the north of the village, it was opened on the 3 October 2003. The village lies on several bus routes, with direct services to Aylesbury, Watford, Leighton Buzzard and Dunstable.

Education

Aston Clinton School is a combined primary school located in the village. The school badge bears resemblance to the Rothschild coat of arms, since the family built the first schools in the village.

References

External links

British History Online – The parishes of Aylesbury hundred: Aston ClintonBritish History Online – Aston Clinton

Domesday Book - Aston ClintonAston Clinton School

St Michael and All Angels Church

Aston Clinton Baptist Church

Aston Park Tennis Club

Aston Clinton Bowls Club

Saxon remains found in 2001 when the bypass was being built.
{{authority control Villages in Buckinghamshire Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire Aviation accidents and incidents locations in England