Bledlow is a village in the

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 ...

of Bledlow-cum-Saunderton in Buckinghamshire, England. It is about WSW of Princes Risborough, and is on the county boundary with Oxfordshire. The

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

"Bledlow" is derived from

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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...

and means "Bledda's burial mound". A 10th century document records it as ''Bleddanhloew''; 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 manus ...

of 1086 records it as ''Bledelai''. A more common derivation is from "Bled-Hlaw" meaning Bloody Hill which commemorates an undated battle between Saxons and Danes.

Geography

The village is on the ancient

Icknield Way The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern and eastern England that runs from Norfolk to Wiltshire. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills. Background It is generally said to be, wi ...

and is where several

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...

s form a small pool called the Lyde. The water from the springs is said to wear away the chalk on which the village stands, giving rise to the simple local

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

nursery rhyme: The brook running from the pool into the nearby valley (called the Lyde Brook) provided water power for two

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

s for many years. Bledlow's watermill is a tourist attraction. Above the village, carved into the chalk of Wain Hill is a large cross, similar to that found at Whiteleaf. There is also a round barrow on the hill. It is thought that this is the barrow or burial mound referred to in the village name. Within the

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 o ...

of Bledlow-cum-Saunderton are several

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 ...

s. The main one is

Bledlow Ridge Bledlow Ridge is a village in the civil parish of Bledlow-cum-Saunderton in Buckinghamshire, England. In 2004 the population was 940. It is situated in the Chiltern Hills, about 4 miles SSW of Princes Risborough and on the road between the High ...

. The others are Forty Green (not to be confused with Forty Green near Beaconsfield), Pitch Green, Rout's Green,

Skittle Green Skittle Green is a hamlet (place), hamlet in the civil parish of Bledlow-cum-Saunderton in the county of Buckinghamshire, England. Skittle Green is northwest of the village of Bledlow, very near to the Oxfordshire boundary. External links * < ...

and Holly Green.

Parish church

The Church of England parish church of the Holy

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

overlooks the Vale of Aylesbury. It has two aisles and the nave arcades include capitals made in about 1200. Other features of interest are the font, some fragments of wall paintings, and the 13th- or 14th-century south doorway and porch. It is a

Grade I 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 Irel ...

Notable people

Actress

Samantha Eggar Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar (born 5 March 1939) is a retired British-American actress. After beginning her career in Shakespearean theatre she rose to fame for her performance in William Wyler's thriller '' The Collec ...

lived in Bledlow as a child, and was a neighbour of

Oliver Reed Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his ...

while there.

Transport

Bledlow railway station Bledlow railway station was an intermediate station on the Wycombe Railway which served the Buckinghamshire village of Bledlow from 1862 to 1963. It was one of two stations to serve the village, the other being on the Watlington and Princes Ri ...

was an intermediate station on the

Wycombe Railway The Wycombe Railway was a British railway between and that connected with the Great Western Railway at both ends; there was one branch, to . History The Wycombe Railway Company was incorporated by an act of Parliament passed in 1846. The act ...

that served the village from 1862 to 1963. It was the first of two stations to serve the village, the second being on the

Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway The Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway was an independent English railway company that opened a line between the Oxfordshire towns of Watlington and Chinnor in 1872. The branch, which connected to the Great Western Railway (GWR) mainli ...

. It was to the south and closer to the village. It was opened in 1906 and closed in 1957. The potential for reopening the Wycombe Railway through Bledlow, which is now part of a long-distance footpath, was evaluated and dismissed by Chiltern Railways, the franchise holder for the

Chiltern Main Line The Chiltern Main Line is a railway line which links London () and Birmingham ( Moor Street and Snow Hill), the United Kingdom's two largest cities, by a route via High Wycombe, Bicester, Banbury, Leamington Spa and Solihull. It is one of t ...

that runs through Princes Risborough.

References

Sources and further reading

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External links

Bledlow-cum-Saunderton Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in Buckinghamshire