Great Kingshill is a small village in the
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
of
Hughenden Hughenden may refer to:
*Hughenden, Queensland, a town in Australia
* Hughenden, Alberta, a village in central Alberta, Canada
*Hughenden Valley, a village in Buckinghamshire, England
*Hughenden Manor, a mansion in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Eng ...
in
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...
, England. It is located in the
Chiltern Hills
The Chiltern Hills or the Chilterns are a chalk escarpment in southern England, located to the north-west of London, covering across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire; they stretch from Goring-on-Thames in the south- ...
, about five miles west of
Amersham
Amersham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills, northwest of central London, south-east of Aylesbury and north-east of High Wycombe. Amersham is part of the London commuter belt.
There ar ...
and two and a half miles south of
Great Missenden
Great Missenden is a village and civil parish in the Misbourne Valley in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England, situated between the towns of Amersham and Wendover. It adjoins the village of Little Kingshill, and is a mile from Lit ...
.
Village
The village name 'Kingshill' is fairly self-explanatory, meaning a hill in possession of the
king
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
. Local
folklore
Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...
suggests it was
King John who provided the name; there is certainly evidence of King John granting the manor at Kingshill to Hugh de Gournay in 1213, although this same document states that the land was previously possessed by Geoffrey fitzPeter. The affix 'Great' was added later to differentiate between Great Kingshill and neighbouring
Little Kingshill. There is some evidence of a settlement called ''Pirenore'' that was granted to
Missenden Abbey
Missenden Abbey is a former Arrouasian ( Augustinian) monastery, founded in 1133 in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. The abbey was dissolved in 1538, and the abbey church demolished. In 1574 a house, also known as Missenden Ab ...
in 1275. The settlement was discovered in Brand's Fee in Great Kingshill, and evidence suggests it was settled between the 11th and 16th centuries. It is possible that the settlement was wiped out by
bubonic plague
Bubonic plague is one of three types of Plague (disease), plague caused by the Bacteria, bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and ...
.
Great Kingshill has a small local common, forming the heart of the village. It contains a younger children's playground, an older children's playground, football goals and a cricket area which is use by the Great Kingshill Cricket Club in the summer. There are also small festivals held here on evenings during the summer.
The village has its own primary school. Many of the village children attend Great Kingshill school, as do children from a wide surrounding area. The school's most recent
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...
report judged the school to be "Good" overall and "Outstanding" in some areas. Great Kingshill school is geographically located in the neighbouring hamlet of
Cryers Hill. Great Kingshill is also home to
Pipers Corner School, an all girl
private school
A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...
.
According to the 2001 census by the Hughenden Parish Council (a parish of the Wycombe District Council), Great Kingshill had a population of 1,170 in an area of 35 hectares.
See also
*
Heath End, Buckinghamshire
References
External links
Great Kingshill Primary SchoolGreat Kingshill village websiteGreat Kingshill Cricket ClubPipers Corner School
{{authority control
Villages in Buckinghamshire