Great Kingshill is a small village in 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
Hughenden Hughenden may refer to:
*Hughenden, Queensland, a town in Australia
*Hughenden, Alberta, a village in central Alberta, Canada
*Hughenden Valley
Hughenden Valley (formerly called Hughenden or Hitchendon) is an extensive village and civil parish in ...
in
Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the
Chiltern Hills, about five miles west of
Amersham and two and a half miles south of
Great Missenden
Great Missenden is an affluent village with approximately 2,000 residents in the Misbourne Valley in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England, situated between the towns of Amersham and Wendover, with direct rail connections to London Mar ...
.
The village name 'Kingshill' is fairly self-explanatory, meaning a hill in possession of the
king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
. Local
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
suggests it was
King John who provided the name; there is certainly evidence of King John granting the manor at Kingshill to Hugh de Gournay in 1213, although this same document states that the land was previously possessed by Geoffrey fitzPeter. The affix 'Great' was added later to differentiate between Great Kingshill and neighbouring
Little Kingshill. There is some evidence of a settlement called ''Pirenore'' that was granted to
Missenden Abbey
Missenden Abbey (also referred to as Great Missenden Abbey) is a former Arrouaisian order, Arrouasian (Rule of St Augustine, Augustinian) monastery, founded in 1133 in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. The abbey was Dissolution of ...
in 1275. The settlement was discovered in Brand's Fee in Great Kingshill, and evidence suggests it was settled between the 11th and 16th centuries. It is possible that the settlement was wiped out by
bubonic plague.
Great Kingshill has a small local shop which is a member of the
Spar
SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...
franchise.
Opposite the shop is the local common, forming the heart of the village. It contains a younger children's playground, an older children's playground, football goals and a cricket area which is use by the Great Kingshill Cricket Club in the summer. There are also small festivals held here on evenings during the summer. Just opposite the common, there is a Red Lion Pub and Restaurant.
The village has its own primary school. Many of the village children attend Great Kingshill school, as do children from a wide surrounding area. The school's most recent
Ofsted report judged the school to be "Good" overall and "Outstanding" in some areas. Great Kingshill school is geographically located in the neighbouring hamlet of
Cryers Hill. Great Kingshill is also home to
Pipers Corner School, an all girl
independent school.
According to the 2001 census by the Hughenden Parish Council (a parish of the Wycombe District Council), Great Kingshill had a population of 1,170 in an area of 35 hectares.
See also
*
Heath End, Buckinghamshire
References
External links
Great Kingshill Primary SchoolGreat Kingshill village websiteGreat Kingshill Cricket ClubPipers Corner School
Villages in Buckinghamshire
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