North Marston is a village and 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 authority ...

in the

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 ...

district in the ceremonial county of

, England. It is located about three miles south of

Winslow Winslow may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Winslow, Buckinghamshire, England, a market town and civil parish * Winslow Rural District, Buckinghamshire, a rural district from 1894 to 1974 United States and Canada * Rural Municipality of Winslow ...

, and four miles north of Waddesdon. The village name 'Marston' is a common one in England, and is

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

for 'farm by a marsh'. This refers to the common state of the land in the Aylesbury Vale, where the

water table The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated. T ...

is quite high. The prefix 'North' was added later to distinguish the village from nearby Fleet Marston. The population of the village is approximately 700 and there are about 280 houses. The facilities in North Marston include: *a village hall, which was built as a war memorial after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

*a pub called The Pilgrim (formerly, The Bell) that reopened on 1 May 2010 *a recreation ground and sports field (that is shared with Granborough) A recent project within the village has re-created the sports field, which is now called the North Marston and Granborough Community Sports Field. In the field there is a pavilion, football pitch, running track, nature trail and cricket nets. There is a cricket team (North Marston & Granborough Cricket Club). A community shop in the village is now established. Construction work started on The Shop North Marston on 11 November 2010 and opened in June 2011. The village borders with

Oving Oving may refer to: *Oving, Buckinghamshire *Oving, West Sussex Oving is a small village, and civil and ecclesiastical parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. The village lies about east of the city of Chichester. The civil p ...

, Pitchcott, Quainton, Hogshaw, Granborough,

Swanbourne Swanbourne is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of Buckinghamshire, England. It lies about two miles (3.2 km) east of Winslow and three miles (4.8 km) west of Stewkley, on the secondary road B4032. History The village na ...

and

Hoggeston Hoggeston is a village and civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located around south-east of Winslow, and around north of Aylesbury. It is in the civil parish of Dunton. The village name is Anglo-Saxo ...

St Mary's Church

The parish church is dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the foundation stones of the church on this site were laid around the 12th century. Pilgrim money enabled the nave roof to be raised and

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

windows put in. The inner part of the tower dates back to the 15th century: from 2002 to 2004 all of the outer stones were replaced due to crumbling. There are six bells in the tower – tuned to the key of F – and a tenor weight of 13-2-27 from 1925 (with original inscriptions dating from as far back as the 16th century). There is a plan to build a meeting room, with kitchen and toilet facilities on the north side of the church, to replace those facilities of the Methodist chapel, which it is planned to sell. Since 2004, when the Methodist Chapel closed, the Parish Church has been in a

Local Ecumenical Partnership In England and Wales, a local ecumenical partnership (or project) is a partnership between churches of different denominations. First piloted in 1964, over 850 now exist to promote unity between different Christian denominations. The missiol ...

with the Methodists.

Holy Well or Schorne Well

There is a holy well in the village, found by Sir

John Schorne Sir John Schorne (died 1313) was rector of North Marston in the English county of Buckinghamshire. He was a very pious man and was said to have effected many miraculous cures for gout and toothache. During a drought, he discovered a well, whose ...

, who was rector of the parish of North Marston in about 1290. He was referred to as a saint who, it is claimed, performed many miracles. It was he that blessed the village well and after his death it became a resort of great pilgrimage. Pilgrims probably stayed at one or two of the houses in Church Street that still stand today, but most of the houses were destroyed in a later fire. The Holy Well was renovated in 2004/2005, after many other designs had been put in place. On the day of its official reopening a poem was read; this can b
found here
with some 'before' and 'after' pictures.

Education

The North Marston Church of England School is a mixed Church of England primary school. It is a voluntary controlled school, which takes children from the age of four through to the age of eleven. The school has approximately 100 pupils. It is situated across the road from the parish church. The school has 3 "houses" each named for local reasons: Camden Neild (Red) Verney (Green) Schorne (Blue) There was also "The Schorne College" situated in the grounds of the church directly opposite the present site of the School The Village has a pre-school called Schorne Pre-School which has been running for around twenty years now.

Famous links in North Marston

- Local unofficial saint, and Rector of North Marston around 1290. * John Camden Neild - Miser to whose memory the chancel of North Marston was dedicated when Queen Victoria paid for its refurbishment; he had left her all his money.

References

Pictures of the village

File:North Marston 3.jpg, A picture of North Marston village in the year 2000. File:North Marston 2004.jpg, North Marston Village in 2004. File:North Marston 1.jpg, A picture of North Marston village in the year 2000. File:The Bell public house, North Marston - geograph.org.uk - 60130.jpg, The Bell (renamed The Pilgrim in 2010) public house in 2005. File:North Marsden school (2008).jpg, The local primary school in 2008. File:North Marsden school (2005).jpg, The local primary school in 2005.

External links

North Marston websiteChurch WebsiteNorth Marston SchoolNorth Marston BellsNorth Marston and Granborough Community SportsfieldNorth Marston Village Shop project
{{authority control Villages in Buckinghamshire Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire Holy wells in England