Halton is a small village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

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 ...

district of the ceremonial county of

, England, located about two miles north of

Wendover Wendover is a 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 along t ...

and five miles southeast of

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...

History and development

Medieval Halton was held by the monastery of Christchurch, Canterbury, along with

Monks Risborough Monks Risborough is a village and ecclesiastical parish in the civil parish of Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, England, lying between Princes Risborough and Great Kimble. The village lies at the foot of the northern scarp of the Chiltern Hi ...

, and after the Reformation, passed to the Bradshawe family of

and later to the Fermor family. In 1720, James Fermor sold the estate to

Sir Francis Dashwood Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron le Despencer, PC, FRS (December 1708 – 11 December 1781) was an English politician and rake, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1762–1763) and founder of the Hellfire Club. Life and career Early life Dashwood was ...

West Wycombe West Wycombe is a small village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, famed for its manor houses and its hills. It is west of High Wycombe. The historic village is largely a National Trust property and receives a large annual influx ...

. It remained in the Dashwood's ownership until Baron

Lionel de Rothschild Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (22 November 1808 – 3 June 1879) was a British Jewish banker, politician and philanthropist who was a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England. He became the first practising Jew to sit a ...

acquired the estate in 1851. 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- ...

above Halton is Halton House, a

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

in the style of a French chateau, which is currently used as the main Officers' Mess for RAF Halton. It was originally built for Alfred de Rothschild in 1880. The RAF demolished its domed winter garden to build an accommodation block. Halton lies just outside the

Metropolitan Green Belt The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It comprises parts of Greater London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, parts of two of the three districts of Bedfordshire and a s ...

so it has not been protected from postwar housing development. At its southern end it is contiguous with

, but it retains a separate, older village centre anchored by St Michael & All Angels Church, which dates from 1813, built on the site of a 16th-century church, and a community hall. There is a separate, modern Catholic Church. The Parish also includes RAF Halton, a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) training station with a grass airfield used for glider training. Most modern housing in the village was built for RAF personnel, but some is now in private hands. A small shop mainly serves the RAF community. The base had a large

military hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned or operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a m ...

employing hundreds of people, which was closed in 1995. The buildings remained until 2007/8 when they were demolished for the Princess Mary Gate housing scheme on land between Halton and Wendover.

Facilities

Halton Community Combined School is a mixed

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, which takes children from the age of four through to the age of eleven. The school has 91 pupils and was recently (Mar 2011
judged 'excellent'
by OFSTED, despite having 70% of its pupils from Forces backgrounds who move frequently. The Halton Tennis Centre has a small number of future athletes combining competitive tennis training with home schooling. The centre was formerly run by the RAF, who still train there. The school also contains Halton Preschool, which is a mixed

preschool A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...

, which takes children from 2 to 4 in classes of 15 to 30.

Transport

The nearest railway station is

, on the

Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways (legal name The Chiltern Railway Company Limited) is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains. Chiltern Rail ...

line between Aylesbury and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

(via

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 ...

). Journey times to London are under an hour. A single track railway line used to run from Halton, crossing the A413 by way of a level crossing, to a bay platform at the north end of Wendover station. Route 8 is served by

Arriva Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortl ...

and is a bus from and to the Main Point at RAF Halton. The Wendover arm of the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...

flows through Halton on its course from Wendover to join the Grand Union beside

Marsworth Marsworth is a village and a civil parish within the unitary authority area of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about north of Tring, Hertfordshire and east of Aylesbury. Early history The village name is Old English language, Anglo Saxon in o ...

lock near

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 ...

Popular culture

Halton gave its name to the Handley Page Halton, a cargo version of the Halifax bomber. File:Haltonhouse-northface.jpg, Halton House Image:RAF Halton-Geograph-135448-by-Jarvis-Docherty.jpg, RAF Halton Image:Halton Airfield.jpg, Halton Airfield Image:RAF Halton Airfield - geograph.org.uk - 198188.jpg, The airfield at RAF Halton, taken from the air

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Buckinghamshire Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire Aylesbury Vale