Heath End is 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 ...
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
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 ...
in
Buckinghamshire, England. At the 2011 Census the population of the hamlet was included 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
Little Missenden
Little Missenden is a village and civil parish on the River Misbourne in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the Chiltern Hills, about southeast of Great Missenden and west of Amersham. The village lies on the River Misbourne in the Misbourne v ...
. During the 20th century, it became attached to
Great Kingshill to the south west. The old centre of the hamlet is where
Spurlands End Road meets Heath End Road. Although Heath End is now attached to Great Kingshill there are still road signs indicating to the hamlet.
The hamlet's name is derived from being historically located at the edge of a large area of
heathland
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...
(now vanished) called Wycombe Heath or Holmer Heath which once covered several thousand acres to the south.
There is some evidence in the Cartulary of
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 ...
that the hamlet was once known as Birchmere.
The Cartulary of Missenden Abbey
/ref>
References
Hamlets in Buckinghamshire
{{Buckinghamshire-geo-stub