Stoke Mandeville 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 the Vale of Aylesbury 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. It is located three miles (4.9 km) from Aylesbury and 3.4 miles (5.5 km) from the market town of

Wendover Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road a ...

. Although a separate civil parish, the village falls within the Aylesbury Urban Area. According to the Census Report the area of this parish is .

Stoke Mandeville Hospital Stoke Mandeville Hospital is a large National Health Service (NHS) hospital located on the parish borders of Aylesbury and Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, England. It is managed by Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. It was established i ...

, although named after the village, is located on 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 or m ...

's border with Aylesbury. The hospital has the largest spinal injuries ward in Europe, and is best known internationally as the birthplace of the

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

movement; the

Stoke Mandeville Games Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

, instituted in the hospital by Sir Ludwig Guttmann in 1948 evolved to become the first Paralympic Games in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1960, which were also the 9th Stoke Mandeville Games. Stoke Mandeville was also joint host of the 1984 Summer Paralympics with New York, with the wheelchair elements of the Games being held in the village. The village of Stoke Mandeville remains by far the smallest official host of a modern Olympic or Paralympic Games. The village continues to be known for its association with the Paralympic Games, being part of the Paralympic torch relay in every Games since 2012 (its contribution known as the 'Legacy flame'), and giving its name to the Paralympic Games mascot, Mandeville, in 2012.

History

The village was originally recorded as ''Stoches'' 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 manusc ...

of 1086, from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

word ''stoc'' meaning an outlying

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

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 ...

. The suffix Mandeville was first recorded in 1284 when the manor was listed as being in the hands of the powerful Norman

de Mandeville De Mandeville is the surname of an old Norman noble family originating from Normandy. The first records are about Geoffrey de Mandeville, Norman conqueror.Keats-Rohan, pp. 226–227. The de Mandeville family held lands in England and France. ...

family. The former

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

parish church, St Mary the Virgin, unusually stood alone on a damp site 1km from the old village for no apparent reason. Therefore it had been postulated that a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

was present on the site before the church was built. The church was condemned in the mid-20th century and was demolished in January 1966 by the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

. In 2018 in preparation for the construction of the

HS2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...

high-speed railway, archaeological excavations began on the site of the old church. As well as excavating the church, the process involved moving the remains of those buried in the churchyard, which dates back to 1080. In September 2021, archaeologists from LP-Archaeology, led by Rachel Wood, announced the discovery of remains on the site of the church. They unearthed a possible square foundation trench enclosed by a circular ditch containing burials and two remarkable Roman statues. In January 2022 the archaeological excavation of the site, and the discovery of significant Roman statuary and burial urns, was featured in the BBC's ''

Digging for Britain ''Digging For Britain'' is a British television series focused on last and current year archaeology. The series is made by 360 Production (now Rare TV) for the BBC and is presented by Alice Roberts. It was first aired in August 2010. The series ...

''. The newer red brick parish church of St Mary, consecrated in July 1866 by the

Bishop of Oxford The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft, following the confirmation of his elect ...

Samuel Wilberforce Samuel Wilberforce, FRS (7 September 1805 – 19 July 1873) was an English bishop in the Church of England, and the third son of William Wilberforce. Known as "Soapy Sam", Wilberforce was one of the greatest public speakers of his day. Natural ...

, remains as the only church in the village apart from the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

church in Eskdale Road. Stoke Mandeville was also the location of the

, which first took place in 1948 thanks to doctor

Ludwig Guttmann Sir Ludwig Guttmann (3 July 1899 – 18 March 1980) was a German-British neurologist who established the Stoke Mandeville Games, the sporting event for people with disabilities (PWD) that evolved in England into the Paralympic Games. A Jewis ...

and are now known as the

IWAS World Games The International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports (IWAS) World Games (or IWAS World Games) are a multi-sport competition for athletes with a disability, which were the forerunner of the Paralympic Games. The competition has been formerly known as t ...

. The Games, which were held eight times at Stoke Mandeville, were the inspiration for the first Paralympic Games, also called ''The Stoke Mandeville Games'', which were organised in

in 1960. The wheelchair aspects of the 1984 Paralympics were also held in the village. The London 2012 Summer Paralympics mascot, Mandeville, was named after the village due to its legacy with the Games. Stoke Mandeville Stadium was developed alongside the hospital and is the National Centre for Disability Sport in the United Kingdom, enhancing the hospital as a world centre for paraplegics and spinal injuries. On 13 May 2000, the new Stoke Mandeville Millennium

village sign In many parts of England, an ornamental village sign is erected to announce the village name to those entering the village. They are typically placed on the principal road entrance or in a prominent location such as a village green. The design ...

was unveiled. It stands on a small brick

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...

on the green outside the

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

. The sign shows colourful images on both sides of aspects of village life over the centuries.

Transport

Stoke Mandeville railway station is on the

London to Aylesbury Line London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

between

Aylesbury station Aylesbury railway station is a railway station in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, on the London–Aylesbury line from via Amersham. It is from Aylesbury to Marylebone. A branch line from on the Chiltern Main Line terminates at the ...

and Wendover station, served by Chiltern Railways, which terminates at Aylesbury Vale Parkway northbound and

London Marylebone Marylebone station ( ) is a Central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the Marylebone area of the City of Westminster. On the National Rail network it is also known as London Marylebone and is the southern te ...

southbound. Arriva Shires & Essex number 50 bus also serves the area on Station Road, as do services 164 and 300 – which stops in the centre of the village.

High Speed 2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...

passes to the southwest of the village, but doesn't stop.

Education

Stoke Mandeville Combined School is a mixed community school which takes children from the age of four through to the age of eleven. (Year r – 6) The school has approximately 220 pupils. It also has a hearing impaired department, which currently helps up to 15 children through their school day.

Gallery

File:Stoke Mandeville School.JPG, The back of Stoke Mandeville Combined School File:Stoke Mandeville School balloons.JPG, Stoke Mandeville Combined School Balloon Release Event

References

External links

*
Stoke Mandeville StadiumStoke Mandeville Combined School websiteStoke Mandeville Guide
{{Authority control Villages in Buckinghamshire Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire Aylesbury Vale