Akeley 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in north-west

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-ea ...

, England. The village is on the

A413 road The A413 is a major road in England that runs between Gerrards Cross (west of London) to Towcester (northwest of Milton Keynes). It passes through or near various towns and villages including (in northbound order) Amersham, Great Missenden, ...

, between

Lillingstone Dayrell Lillingstone Dayrell is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in Aylesbury Vale, about three and a half miles north of Buckingham, eight miles west of Milton Keynes and five miles south of Towcester. Lillingstone Dayrell with Luffield Ab ...

and

Maids Moreton Maids Moreton is a village and civil parish in north-west Buckinghamshire, England, around north of Buckingham. The village sits on top of a plateau overlooking Buckingham and is less than 1km away from the Foxcote Reservoir SSSI Description a ...

, and around north of Buckingham. The 2011 Census recorded the population of the parish as 514, down from 545 at the 2001 Census.

Village background

The village name is derived from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

for "Oak Field". 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 recorded it as ''Achelei''. The village was controlled by the

Cluniac The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wi ...

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...

of nearby

Newton Longville Newton Longville is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is about south-west of Bletchley. History The toponym "Newton" is derived from the Old English for "new farm". It is record ...

on behalf of the priory of

Saint Faith Saint Faith or Saint Faith of Conques (Latin: Sancta Fides; French: Sainte-Foy; Spanish: Santa Fe) is a saint who is said to have been a girl or young woman of Agen in Aquitaine. Her legend recounts how she was arrested during persecution of Chri ...

in Longueville in northern France.Page, 1927, pp. 144-147 The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of St. James the Apostle was built in Akeley in 1154. It was rebuilt to designs by the Gothic Revival architect John Tarring in 1854 and restored in 1901. By the mid 20th century St. James' had fallen into disrepair and in 1982 it was demolished. Akeley presently does not have its own parish church; it is part of the North Buckingham

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

. Akeley once had a medieval deer park, and a school where poor children were taught to make

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

Amenities

The village is a small primary school St James Church of England School, and outside the village the large Cognita run private

Akeley Wood School Akeley Wood School is a coeducational private primary and secondary school, with an attached sixth form near Buckingham. It is owned by Cognita, which is an independent schools company.School's homepage introduction. The school accommodate ...

. The village has a pub (Bull & Butcher) and opened a new village hall in 2006. Akeley hosts an annual horticultural show, which has been run since 1976.

Stockholt

The ancient

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 depicts ...

of Stockholt once lay within the parish boundary. It has been amalgamated with the modern village.

References

Sources

* *

External links

North Buckingham Parish
* Villages in Buckinghamshire Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire {{Buckinghamshire-geo-stub