Great Horwood is a small village and is also a

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 ...

within the unitary authority area of Buckinghamshire, England with a population of about 1025 people (2001 Census). It is about five miles ESE of Buckingham, six miles WSW of Milton Keynes.

History and locale

The village name 'Horwood' is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'muddy wood'. The affix 'Great' was added later to differentiate it from the adjacent village

Little Horwood Little Horwood is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, within the Buckinghamshire Council unitary authority area. The village is about four miles east-south-east of Buckingham and two miles north-east of Winslow. Heritage ...

. In the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' in 792 the village was recorded as ''Horwudu''. The village was from ancient times on the periphery of the Whaddon Chase:

royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

hunting land that stretched across the north part of the

Aylesbury Vale The Aylesbury Vale (or Vale of Aylesbury) is a geographical region in Buckinghamshire, England, which is bounded by the Borough of Milton Keynes and South Northamptonshire to the north, Central Bedfordshire and the Borough of Dacorum (Hertford ...

. In 1447 the village was granted

Royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but s ...

to hold a weekly

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

, thus becoming a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

. The rents from the market were collected by New College, Oxford. Great Horwood is no longer a market town. In 1996, the lordship of the manor of Great Horwood was sold by New College to D. Jackson "Jack" Smith, an American lawyer and former member of the Tennessee House of Representatives. A

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 ...

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 ...

border of Great Horwood is Singleborough.

Notable buildings

Both Great Horwood village itself and Singleborough have Conservation Areas and there are 46 Grade II

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 ...

s in the Parish. Great Horwood has two historic

pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

: The Crown is situated on the village green and The Swan Inn on Winslow Road. As of January 2019 both pubs are no longer open to the public. The parish church is dedicated to St James. The village is also home to Great Horwood Church of England Combined School, which is a mixed

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

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 e ...

. It is a

voluntary controlled A voluntary controlled school (VC school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a Christian denomination) has some formal influence in the running of the school. Such schools have less autonomy than ...

school, which takes children from the age of four through to the age of eleven. The school has approximately 160 pupils. Its catchment area also includes the villages of Thornborough, Nash,

Beachampton Beachampton is a village and civil parish beside the River Great Ouse in the unitary authority area of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is about east of Buckingham and a similar distance west of Milton Keynes. History The village toponym i ...

and Whaddon.

Pictures

Image:mary great horwood.jpg, Entrance to Mary's? Image:church great horwood.jpg, Great Horwood Church Image:gararge great horwood.jpg, Garages in Great Horwood Image:the swan great horwood.jpg, The Swan, Great Horwood Image:Great Horwood road 2007.jpg, Horses seen in the village

References

External links

Great Horwood Church of England Combined SchoolGreat Horwood Football Club

{{authority control Villages in Buckinghamshire Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire