Pitstone (formerly Pightelsthorn, with possible variation Pychelesthorn in 1399) is a 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 east

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 at the foot of the central range of 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- ...

, centred east 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 ...

and south of

Leighton Buzzard Leighton Buzzard ( ) is a market town in Bedfordshire, England, in the southwest of the county and close to the Buckinghamshire border. It lies between Aylesbury, Tring, Luton/ Dunstable and Milton Keynes, near the Chiltern Hills. It is nor ...

. It directly adjoins the village of Ivinghoe, and the two villages share some facilities.

History

The village name is

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

in origin, and means 'Picel's thorn tree'. It was 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 as ''Pincelestorne''. Pitstone was given to the

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

Ashridge Ashridge is a Estate (land), country estate and stately home in Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in the Chiltern Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, about north of Berkhamsted and north west of London. The estate comprises ...

by the

Earl of Cornwall The title of Earl of Cornwall was created several times in the Peerage of England before 1337, when it was superseded by the title Duke of Cornwall, which became attached to heirs-apparent to the throne. Condor of Cornwall *Condor of Cornwall, ...

in 1283. In 1290

King Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

spent

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

in Pitstone at the estate that had been given to the abbey, and stayed for five weeks, during which time he held

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in Ashridge. His stay caused great inconvenience to the local inhabitants of the village who were legally obliged to keep the king and his court. It was described in a Victorian gazetteer by John Marius Wilson as "7 miles in length and 1 in breadth. Post-town, Tring. Acres, 2,836 [] Real property, £3,692. Pop., 581. Houses, 109. The property is divided among a few.". Its area dropped between 1851 and 1891 from the said number acres to 1,644. The number of houses rose most steeply in the 1950s, from 169 to 252.

Landmarks and neighbourhoods

Its Castlemead area of housing and business units was named after Castle Cement Company which was the last owner of the Pitstone

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

works, which operated from 1937 to 1991. The area around St Mary's Church is known as Church End. A notable building is Pitstone Windmill, which is owned by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

. The windmill was formerly capable of rotating to face the prevailing wind, as evidenced by the wheel protruding from one side of the structure. Although it no longer can do so, the wheel remains and its pivot point is clearly visible. Pitstone Green Museum provides working insights into agricultural history and various supporting trades. The museum is to the south of the village proper on a farm. Pitstone Hill, above the village, is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

(SSSI), designated for its botanical interest. The hill is crossed by the Ridgeway National Trail. A former chalk quarry has been converted to College Lake nature reserve, a flagship reserve of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, and the area east of the lake within the nature reserve is a geological SSSI, Pitstone Quarry.

Geography

The elongated civil parish is semi-urban in the extreme west north-west (WNW) and is otherwise rural and elevated, rising to the opposite direction. Approximately following the north-west border is 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 ...

. Its population rose in the ten years to 1961 from 544 to 766.

Sport and leisure

Pitstone has a

Non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

team Pitstone & Ivinghoe United F.C. who play at The Recreation Ground on Vicarage Road. The village also has a cricket team, Ivinghoe & Pitstone United Cricket Club who play in the Mid Bucks Cricket League on Saturdays at the Recreation Ground; they also play friendly matches on Sundays and mid-week evening knock-outs. There are records of cricket being played at the Pitstone Recreation Ground since 1856, when the village took on (and beat) Luton. ucks Advertiser, 12 July 1856, p. 8 ‘Cricket: Pitstone v Luton’ Pitstone is the home of internationally acclaimed cyclist, Nick Clarke who holds the record for the RRA "Side to Side" record of Pembroke to Great Yarmouth.

References

External links