Speen is a village in the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England. The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire. ...

, an

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...

, situated 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 authority ...

Lacey Green Lacey may refer to: People Surname A–L * Andrew Lacey (1887–1946), Australian politician * Bill Lacey (American football) (born 1971), American football player and coach * Bill Lacey (footballer) (1889–1969), Irish footballer * Bob Lacey ...

, in

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 ...

, England. The centre of the village (depicted by the village sign) is south-east of

Princes Risborough Princes Risborough () is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England, about south of Aylesbury and north west of High Wycombe. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through the Chilterns, the south end ...

, and north of

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...

. The village is a short distance 'as the crow flies' from

Hampden House Hampden House is a country house in the village of Great Hampden, between Great Missenden and Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire. It is named after the Hampden family. The Hampdens (later Earls of Buckinghamshire) are recorded as owning the ...

, originally owned by

John Hampden John Hampden (24 June 1643) was an English landowner and politician whose opposition to arbitrary taxes imposed by Charles I made him a national figure. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and cousin to Oliver Cromwell, he was one of th ...

and a further distance from

Chequers Chequers ( ), or Chequers Court, is the country house of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. A 16th-century manor house in origin, it is located near the village of Ellesborough, halfway between Princes Risborough and Wendover in Bucking ...

, the country residence of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. The village has an annual fete which is usually held on the first weekend of July and a bi-annual arts festival which has been running for many years. The festival consists of entertainment shows, a theatre production and general activities on Speen Playing Field.

History

The village name originates from

Anglo Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a 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-Saxons happened wit ...

. The exact meaning is unclear, but possibly meaning 'wood-chip place'. The name of the village corresponds to the location of the hamlet in the

Chiltern Forest Chiltern can refer to the following places: In England: * Chiltern Hills, an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, known locally as "the Chilterns" ** Chiltern District, a local government district in Buckinghamshire named after the hills ** Chilte ...

where

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s were regularly felled. The

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

church was built by men of the village in 1802. The flints were apparently collected in their aprons by local women from surrounding fields, helped by their children. It is a Grade II listed building.

Surrounding Lands and Population

The village is the style of a traditional 18th century, still consisting a mixture of woodland and agricultural fields surrounding the village. Due to the geographical location of the village no railway station was built. There are approximately 165 houses in the village which has a population at the time of the 2011

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 637 and has an estimated population of 654 in 2019.

Speen Festival

The village has a bi-annual culture and arts festival. The festival runs in September in odd numbered year and the 2017 festival ran from Saturday 2 September 2017 to Sunday 17 September 2017. The first Speen Festival in 2001 was based on a festival (The Leaves of Time) held in 1999 to celebrate the passing of the Millennium.

Notable residents

* In 1928 the artist

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cra ...

moved to ''Pigotts'' at Speen, where he set up a printing press, and lettering workshop and alternative community. He is buried in the Baptist churchyard. * The composer

Edmund Rubbra Edmund Rubbra (; 23 May 190114 February 1986) was a British composer. He composed both instrumental and vocal works for soloists, chamber groups and full choruses and orchestras. He was greatly esteemed by fellow musicians and was at the peak o ...

lived at Valley Cottage, Highwood Bottom, Speen, for many years following his marriage in 1933.Jenny Pery, ''Benedict Rubbra: Point of Balance'' (Halstar Publications: Wellington, 2008), 15.

References

External links

Speen history and local walksThe Speen Village WebsiteSpeen Festival
{{authority control Villages in Buckinghamshire Wycombe District