Swanbourne is a 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 unitary authority area of

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. It lies about two miles (3.2 km) east of Winslow and three miles (4.8 km) west of

Stewkley Stewkley is a village and civil parish in the Buckinghamshire district of the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is about east of Winslow and about west of Leighton Buzzard. The civil parish includes the hamlets of No ...

, on the secondary road B4032.

History

The village name is

Anglo Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wi ...

in origin and may mean "swan stream". It was recorded as ''Suanaburna'' in the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of A ...

'' in 792. A grant of land was made to

Woburn Abbey Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors ...

in 1201."Parishes : Swanbourne"

Victoria History of the Counties of England The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...

, A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 3 (1927), pp. 427–432. The first vicar of the parish arrived in 1218 and the parish church was dedicated in 1230. The abbey was dissolved in 1538 and its lands were later sold by the Crown.History of Swanbourne: key dates
/ref> Swanbourne people supported Parliament in the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of Kingdom of England, England's governanc ...

. It was burnt down by

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

troops in 1643. The

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 ...

–

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...

turnpike road through Swanbourne opened in 1722. Common lands were

enclosed Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

in 1762–1763 and divided among 50 landowners. Swanbourne House was bought in 1798 by Thomas Fremantle (1765–1819) for his wife Elizabeth, known as Betsey, for 900 guineas. The Fremantle family, originally from

Aston Abbotts Aston Abbotts or Aston Abbots is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. It is about north of Aylesbury and south-west of Wing. The parish includes the hamlet of Burston and had a population of 426 at the 2021 Census. Manor "A ...

, had strong naval connections. Their eldest son Sir Thomas Francis Fremantle (1798–1890) became a prominent Tory politician. Their second son

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

(1800–1869) followed his father into the British Royal Navy and was instrumental in founding the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

, which accounts for the place names

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

, Swanbourne and Cottesloe in the

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

area. Another son, Captain Stephen Grenville Fremantle is also buried in the churchyard. Swanbourne House is still owned by the Fremantle family trust, but it is let to the private Swanbourne House School. The present head of the family is Commander John Tapling Fremantle, 5th Baron Cottesloe, a former

Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire There has been a Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire almost continuously since the position was created by King Henry VIII in 1535. The only exception to this was the English Civil War and English Interregnum between 1643 and 1660 when there was n ...

. He lives in the village, as does his daughter Elizabeth, the Hon. Mrs Duncan Smith, with her husband

Iain Duncan Smith Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born George Ian Duncan Smith; 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was ...

, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician. There was an agricultural strike in Swanbourne in 1873, led by some members of the Primitive Methodist Chapel, who had joined the National Agricultural Labourers' Union. Attached to the village is the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

of Nearton End.

Schools

The first Swanbourne school was founded in 1712 under the will of brothers William and Nicholas Godwin. The present Swanbourne Church of England School in Winslow Road is a mixed,

voluntary aided A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In ...

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

that forms a component of the Three Schools with

Mursley Mursley is a small village in and also a civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located about three miles east of Winslow and about seven miles south west of Central Milton Keynes. The village name is Old English in origin, and is t ...

Church of England School and

Drayton Parslow Drayton Parslow is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of Buckinghamshire, England, about south of Bletchley. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 596, increasing at the 2011 census to 614. Toponym In the 1 ...

Village School, under an agreement of 2009. Swanbourne in 2015/2016 had 115 pupils in four classes, aged seven to eleven, out of a total of 199 pupils at the three schools. The Swanbourne classes divide into sets for the core subjects. Half the pupils were from the catchment area and half from further afield. Swanbourne House School is a coeducational infants' and prep school for some 380 pupils from age three for day pupils and seven for boarders, up to the age of 13. It was founded in 1920.

Anthony Chenevix-Trench Anthony Chenevix-Trench (10 May 1919 – 21 June 1979) was a British schoolteacher and classics scholar. He was born in British India, educated at Shrewsbury School and Christ Church, Oxford, and served in the Second World War as an artillery o ...

taught English and history at the school for a term in the early 1970s, between being headmaster of

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

and headmaster of

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In ...

. It is currently part of the Stowe Group along with Stowe School and Winchester house. Jane Thorpe has been the head from September 2018 to July 2022. The private Ashbourne Day Nursery is also in Winslow Road.

Churches

St Swithun's Anglican Church, a Grade II* historic

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

, stands at the east end of the village, opposite Swanbourne House. The nave, chancel and tower date from the first half of the 13th century. The north aisle was added in the second half of the 15th century and the tower rebuilt half a century later. The church is in good repair. It contains some stained glass and a wooden ceiling, both probably dating from the 19th century. There are some medieval carvings and the remains of three medieval murals in the north aisle. The tower has a ring of six bells and a

sanctus The Sanctus ( la, Sanctus, "Holy") is a hymn in Christian liturgy. It may also be called the ''epinikios hymnos'' ( el, ἐπινίκιος ὕμνος, "Hymn of Victory") when referring to the Greek rendition. In Western Christianity, th ...

. There are

monumental brass A monumental brass is a type of engraved sepulchral memorial, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood. Made of hard latten or sheet brass, let into the pa ...

es on the south and north sides of the chancel. The latter, showing Thomas Adams (died 1626) and his family, bears the baneful inscription, . Swanbourne Baptist Church in Mursley Road, was built in 1809, rebuilt in 1863 and closed in 1972, when it was converted into a dwelling. Swanbourne Methodist Chapel is in Nearton End. The first place of worship was built for the

Primitive Methodists The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834). In the United States, the Primiti ...

in 1858. A new one superseded it in 1907. Formerly in the Stewkley Circuit, then the Leighton Buzzard Circuit, the church is now in the Vale of Aylesbury Circuit.

Business and transport

Swanbourne has a general store and sub-post office in Mursley Road. Also in Mursley Road is a pub/restaurant named ''The Betsey Wynne'', after Elizabeth Wynne Fremantle, the diarist ancestor of the Fremantles. It opened in July 2006 and specialises in English food and drink and self-grown produce, for which it has won some awards. It was taken over from the Swanbourne Estate by Oakman Inns and Restaurants Ltd in 2015. There are limited weekday bus services between Swanbourne and Winslow,

Bletchley Bletchley is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated in the south-west of Milton Keynes, and is split between the civil parishes of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and West Bletchley. Bletchley is best kn ...

Central Milton Keynes Central Milton Keynes is the central business district of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England and a civil parish in its own right, with a town council. The district is approximately long by wide and occupies some of the highest land in M ...

.LISTING OF BUS AND COACH SERVICES FROM SWANBOURNE
Retrieved 5 October 2012.

Swanbourne railway station Swanbourne was a railway station that served the villages of Swanbourne, Little Horwood and Mursley in north Buckinghamshire, England. It was on the mothballed Bicester to Bletchley line, roughly at the centre of a triangle drawn between ...

, on the Oxford to Cambridge 'Varsity Line', was open from 1851 to 1967. The station site is about from the village, halfway to Little Horwood and about the same distance from

. In summer 2020, the old station and platforms were demolished to clear the route for the new

East West Rail East West Rail is a major project to establish a strategic railway connecting East Anglia with Central, Southern and Western England. In particular, it plans to build (or rebuild) a line linking Oxford and Cambridge via Bicester, Milton Keyn ...

. The nearest station today is

, about away.

References

External links