Pitstone (formerly Pightelsthorn, with possible variation Pychelesthorn in 1399) is a village and

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 ...

in east Buckinghamshire, England. It is at the foot of the central range of the Chiltern Hills, centred east of Aylesbury and south of Leighton Buzzard. It directly adjoins the village of

Ivinghoe Ivinghoe is a village and civil parish in east Buckinghamshire, England, close to the border with Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. It is northwest of London, north of Tring and south of Leighton Buzzard, close to the village of Pitstone. Ety ...

, and the two villages share some facilities.

History

The village name is Anglo-Saxon in origin, and means 'Picel's thorn tree'. It was recorded in 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 as ''Pincelestorne''. Pitstone was given to the

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

at Ashridge by the

Earl of Cornwall The title of Earl of Cornwall was created several times in the Peerage of England before 1337, when it was superseded by the title Duke of Cornwall, which became attached to heirs-apparent to the throne. Condor of Cornwall * Condor of Cornwall, ...

in 1283. In 1290

King Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal ...

spent

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

in Pitstone at the estate that had been given to the abbey, and stayed for five weeks, during which time he held

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

in Ashridge. His stay caused great inconvenience to the local inhabitants of the village who were legally obliged to keep the king and his court. It was described in a Victorian gazetteer by John Marius Wilson as "7 miles in length and 1 in breadth. Post-town, Tring. Acres, 2,836 [] Real property, £3,692. Pop., 581. Houses, 109. The property is divided among a few.". Its area dropped between 1851 and 1891 from the said number acres to 1,644. The number of houses rose most steeply in the 1950s, from 169 to 252.

Landmarks and neighbourhoods

Its Castlemead area of housing and business units was named after Castle Cement Company which was the last owner of the Pitstone

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

works, which operated from 1937 to 1991. The area around St Mary's Church is known as Church End. A notable building is

Pitstone Windmill Pitstone Windmill is a listed building, Grade II* listed windmill in England. It is thought to have been built in the early 17th century, and stands in the northeastern corner of a large field near the Civil parish, parish boundary of Ivinghoe ...

, which is owned by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. The windmill was formerly capable of rotating to face the prevailing wind, as evidenced by the wheel protruding from one side of the structure. Although it no longer can do so, the wheel remains and its pivot point is clearly visible. Pitstone Green Museum provides working insights into agricultural history and various supporting trades. The museum is to the south of the village proper on a farm.

Pitstone Hill Pitstone Hill is a biological Site of Special Scientific Importance east of Pitstone in Buckinghamshire. It is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is crossed by the Ridgeway National Trail. The site is chalk grassland on a ...

, above the village, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), designated for its botanical interest. The hill is crossed by the

Ridgeway National Trail The ancient tree-lined path winds over the downs countryside The Ridgeway is a ridgeway or ancient trackway described as Britain's oldest road. The section clearly identified as an ancient trackway extends from Wiltshire along the chalk r ...

. A former chalk quarry has been converted to

College Lake nature reserve College Lake is a 65 hectare nature reserve in a former chalk quarry in Pitstone in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire. It is one of the flagship reserves of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, and it has ...

, a flagship reserve of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, and the area east of the lake within the nature reserve is a geological SSSI,

Pitstone Quarry Pitstone Quarry is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Pitstone, Buckinghamshire. It is the area between the lake and the railway line in College Lake nature reserve. The site exposes deposits of the Middle and Late Pleistocene, ...

Geography

The elongated civil parish is semi-urban in the extreme west north-west (WNW) and is otherwise rural and elevated, rising to the opposite direction. Approximately following the north-west border is the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...

. Its population rose in the ten years to 1961 from 544 to 766.

Sport and leisure

Pitstone has a Non-League football team Pitstone & Ivinghoe United F.C. who play at The Recreation Ground on Vicarage Road. The village also has a cricket team, Ivinghoe & Pitstone United Cricket Club who play in the Mid Bucks Cricket League on Saturdays at the Recreation Ground; they also play friendly matches on Sundays and mid-week evening knock-outs. There are records of cricket being played at the Pitstone Recreation Ground since 1856, when the village took on (and beat) Luton. ucks Advertiser, 12 July 1856, p. 8 ‘Cricket: Pitstone v Luton’ Pitstone is the home of internationally acclaimed cyclist, Nick Clarke who holds the record for the RRA "Side to Side" record of Pembroke to Great Yarmouth.

References

External links