Turville 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 ...

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 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- ...

, west of

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

, east-southeast of Watlington, north of

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames, in the South Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, west of M ...

and 2 miles (3 km) from the

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

border. The 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 'dry field'. It was recorded 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 ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...

'' in 796 as ''Thyrefeld''. The manor of Turville once belonged to the abbey at

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

, but was seized by the Crown in the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1547. The

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

has since been rebuilt as Turville Park, and was held by the Hoare Nairne family for most of the 20th century. The present incumbent of the manor is Lord Sainsbury. Turville was home to Ellen Sadler, who fell asleep in 1871, aged eleven, and purportedly did not wake for nine years, becoming known as the "Sleeping Girl of Turville". The case attracted international attention from newspapers, medical professionals and the public. Rumours persist in the region that Sadler was visited by royalty for a "

laying on of hands The laying on of hands is a religious practice. In Judaism, ''semikhah'' (, "leaning f the hands) accompanies the conferring of a blessing or authority. In Christianity, Christian churches, chirotony. is used as both a symbolic and formal met ...

".Barham, Tony (1973). ''Witchcraft in the Thames Valley''. Spurbooks. pp. 20–27. . The local pub is the Bull and Butcher. Turville is well known for its

carrots The carrot (''Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the Daucus ...

, and is informally referred to as the "carrot capital" of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Turville Hill Turville Hill is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Turville in Buckinghamshire. It is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Cobstone Windmill, also known as Turville Windmill, is located at the top. This is a ...

is a

Site of Special Scientific Importance 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 ...

, and it includes

Cobstone Windmill Cobstone Mill was built around 1816 on Turville Hill in Buckinghamshire, England, and overlooks the village of Turville. It is a smock mill that replaced the original mill that had stood there since the 16th century. The machinery was previously ...

Notable people

Geoffrey de Turville Geoffrey de Turville or de Tourville (died 1250) was an English-born judge and cleric in thirteenth-century Ireland, who held office as Bishop of Ossory and Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and was noted as an extremely efficient administrator. His c ...

(died 1250),

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, commonly known as the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was the highest ranking judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 until the end of 1800, it was also the hi ...

Charles François Dumouriez Charles-François du Périer Dumouriez (; 26 January 1739 – 14 March 1823) was a French military officer, French minister of foreign affairs, minister of Foreign Affairs, French minister of Defense, minister of War in a Constitutional Cabin ...

(1739-1823), French royalist general * Ellen Sadler (1859-1901), "The Sleeping Girl of Turville", tourist attraction *

Lord Sainsbury of Turville David John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville (born 24 October 1940) is a British politician, businessman and philanthropist. From 1992 to 1997, he served as chairman of Sainsbury's, the supermarket chain established by his great-grandfath ...

(born 1940), businessman, politician, and philanthropist *Sir

John Mortimer Sir John Clifford Mortimer (21 April 1923 – 16 January 2009) was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author. He is best known for short stories about a barrister named Horace Rumpole, adapted from episodes of the TV series '' R ...

, (1923-2009), Barrister, playwright, novelist

Transport

There are no public transport routes (either bus or rail) that serve the village.

In literature

* Edward Mayhew, one of the two main characters in

Ian McEwan Ian Russell McEwan (born 21 June 1948) is a British novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of the ...

's ''

On Chesil Beach ''On Chesil Beach'' is a 2007 novella by the British writer Ian McEwan. It was selected for the 2007 Booker Prize shortlist. ''The Washington Post'' and Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic Jonathan Yardley placed ''On Chesil Beach'' on his ...

'', comes from Turville.

Filming location

Turville is an English village, with several historic stone and timber houses around a village green. It has thus been used a filming location on numerous occasions: The 1942

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in west London, England. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on th ...

film ''

Went the Day Well? ''Went the Day Well?'' is a 1942 British war film adapted from a story by Graham Greene and directed by Alberto Cavalcanti. It was produced by Michael Balcon of Ealing Studios and served as unofficial propaganda for the war effort. The film shows ...

'', in which German paratroopers invade a small English village, was filmed in Turville, as were many of the scenes from the 1963 comedy film '' Father Came Too!'' The whole of ''The Large Rope'', a 1953 B-movie starring Donald Houston, was filmed in the village, as were the dream scene in ''

Bride and Prejudice ''Bride and Prejudice'' (also known as ''Bride and Prejudice: The Bollywood Musical'') is a 2004 romantic comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha. The screenplay by Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges is a Bollywood-style adaptation of Jane A ...

'' and a brief scene in ''

I Capture the Castle ''I Capture the Castle'' is Dodie Smith's first novel, written during the Second World War when she and her husband Alec Beesley, a conscientious objector, moved from their native England to California. Smith was already an established playwri ...

''. In June 2012, filming for the live-action Disney film ''

Maleficent Maleficent ( or ) is a fictional character who first appears in Walt Disney Productions' animated film, ''Sleeping Beauty (1959 film), Sleeping Beauty'' (1959). Maleficent is the self-proclaimed "Dark lord, Mistress of All Evil" based on the Wic ...

'' took place just outside the village.

in the neighbouring parish of Ibstone, used in ''

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 children's film, children's Musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes and produced by Albert R. Broccoli. It stars Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Gert Fröbe, Anna Quayle, ...

'', overlooks the village of Turville. Additionally, many of the outdoor scenes of television show ''

Goodnight Mr Tom ''Goodnight Mister Tom'' is a children's novel by English author Michelle Magorian, published by Kestrel in 1981. Harper & Row published an American edition the same year. Set during World War II, it features a boy abused at home in London wh ...

'' were filmed in Turville. Scenes have also been shot in the village for ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British Mystery fiction, mystery television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the ''Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series created by Caroline Graham (writer), Caroline Graham. ...

'', ''

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...

'', '' Marple'', ''

Foyle's War ''Foyle's War'' is a British detective drama television series set during and shortly after the Second World War, created by '' Midsomer Murders'' screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV after the long-running series ...

'', ''

Little Britain Little Britain may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little Britain'' (TV series), a British radio and then television series ** '' Little Britain USA'', an American spin-off * "Little Britain", a song by Dreadzone from the 1995 album ''Second ...

'', the 2008 Christmas special of ''

Jonathan Creek ''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery fiction, mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the title character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician whi ...

'', the British drama ''

An Education ''An Education'' is a 2009 coming-of-age drama film based on a memoir by journalist Lynn Barber. The film was directed by Lone Scherfig from a screenplay by Nick Hornby, and stars Carey Mulligan as Jenny, a bright schoolgirl, and Peter Sarsgaa ...

'' and the 2009 BBC adaptation of ''

The Day of the Triffids ''The Day of the Triffids'' is a 1951 post-apocalyptic novel by the English science fiction author John Wyndham. After most people in the world are blinded by an apparent meteor shower, an aggressive species of plant starts killing people. A ...

''. The fourth episode of the first series of ''

Killing Eve ''Killing Eve'' is a British spy thriller television series produced in the United Kingdom by Sid Gentle Films for BBC America and BBC Three (streaming service), BBC Three. The series follows Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), a British intelligence age ...

'' was shot in the village, with an armed ambush and car chase shot in the village centre and on the surrounding country roads. The village was the location for outdoor scenes in the sitcom ''

The Vicar of Dibley ''The Vicar of Dibley'' is a British sitcom. It consists of three series, which aired on BBC One from 10 November 1994 to 1 January 2000, and several specials, the most recent of which aired on 23 December 2020. It is set in the fictional Oxfor ...

''. In the series, the church of St Mary the Virgin was renamed St Barnabus 'sic'' The music video for the song "Apparition" by

Stealing Sheep Stealing Sheep are a pop band from Liverpool, England, who formed in 2010. The three members are Rebecca Hawley (vocals and keys), Emily Lansley (vocals, guitar, bass guitar) and Luciana Mercer (vocals and drum kit). The band released ''The M ...

was shot in the village.

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Buckinghamshire Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire