Turville 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 Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the Chiltern Hills, west 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, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

, east-southeast of Watlington, north of Henley-on-Thames and 2 miles (3 km) from the Oxfordshire border. The name is Anglo-Saxon in origin and means 'dry field'. It was recorded in the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' in 796 as ''Thyrefeld''. The manor of Turville once belonged to the abbey at St Albans, but was seized by the Crown in the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1547. The

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

has since been rebuilt as Turville Park, and was held by the Hoare Nairne family for most of the 20th century. The present incumbent of the manor is

Lord Sainsbury Baron Sainsbury was created in 1962 for Alan Sainsbury in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. There have been two other peers with the surname "Sainsbury" who included their surname as part of their titles; all are from the Sainsbury family, nam ...

. Turville was home to Ellen Sadler, who fell asleep in 1871, aged eleven, and purportedly did not wake for nine years, becoming known as the "Sleeping Girl of Turville". The case attracted international attention from newspapers, medical professionals and the public. Rumours persist in the region that Sadler was visited by royalty for a "

laying on of hands The laying on of hands is a religious practice. In Judaism ''semikhah'' ( he, סמיכה, "leaning f the hands) accompanies the conferring of a blessing or authority. In Christian churches, this practice is used as both a symbolic and formal met ...

".Barham, Tony (1973). ''Witchcraft in the Thames Valley''. Spurbooks. pp. 20–27. . The local pub is the Bull and Butcher. Turville Hill is a Site of Special Scientific Importance, and it includes

Cobstone Windmill Cobstone Mill was built around 1816 on Turville Hill in Buckinghamshire, England, and overlooks the village of Turville. It is a smock mill that replaced the original mill that had stood there since the 16th century. The machinery was previously ...

Notable people

Geoffrey de Turville Geoffrey de Turville or de Tourville (died 1250) was an English-born judge and cleric in thirteenth century Ireland, who held office as Bishop of Ossory and Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and was noted as an extremely efficient administrator. His ...

(died 1250), Lord Chancellor of Ireland * Charles François Dumouriez (1739-1823), French royalist general * Ellen Sadler (1859-1901), "The Sleeping Girl of Turville", tourist attraction *

Lord Sainsbury of Turville David John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville, , raeng.org.uk. Accessed 8 September 2022. (24 October 1940) is a British politician, businessman and philanthropist. From 1992 to 1997, he served as chairman of Sainsbury's, the supermarket c ...

(born 1940), businessman, politician, and philanthropist *Sir John Mortimer, (1923-2009), Barrister, playwright, novelist

Transport

There are no public transport routes (either bus or rail) that serve the village.

In literature

* Edward Mayhew, one of the two main characters in

Ian McEwan Ian Russell McEwan, (born 21 June 1948) is an English novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of th ...

On Chesil Beach ''On Chesil Beach'' is a 2007 novella by the British writer Ian McEwan. It was selected for the 2007 Booker Prize shortlist. ''The Washington Post'' and Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic Jonathan Yardley placed ''On Chesil Beach'' on his to ...

, comes from Turville.

Filming location

The 1942

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever s ...

film ''

Went the Day Well? ''Went the Day Well?'' is a 1942 British war film adapted from a story by Graham Greene and directed by Alberto Cavalcanti. It was produced by Michael Balcon of Ealing Studios and served as unofficial propaganda for the war effort. The film shows ...

'', in which German paratroopers invade a small English village, was filmed in Turville, as were many of the scenes from the 1963 comedy film '' Father Came Too!'' The whole of ''The Large Rope'', a 1953 B-movie starring Donald Houston, was filmed in the village, as were the dream scene in '' Bride and Prejudice'' and a brief scene in ''

I Capture the Castle ''I Capture the Castle'' is the first novel of List of English writers (R–Z), English author Dodie Smith, written during the Second World War when she and her husband Alec Beesley, an English conscientious objector, moved to California. She ...

''. In June 2012, filming for the live-action Disney film

Maleficent Maleficent ( or ) is a fictional character who appears as the main antagonist in Walt Disney Productions' 16th animated feature film, ''Sleeping Beauty'' (1959). She is represented as an evil fairy and the self-proclaimed " Mistress of All Evil ...

took place just outside the village.

in the neighbouring parish of

Ibstone Ibstone (previously Ipstone) is a village and civil parish within Wycombe district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the Chiltern Hills on the border with Oxfordshire, about south of Stokenchurch. The village name is Anglo Saxon in ori ...

, used in '' Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'', overlooks the village of Turville. Additionally, many of the outdoor scenes of television show '' Goodnight Mr Tom'' were filmed in Turville. Scenes have also been shot in the village for '' Midsomer Murders'', ''

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

'', ''

Marple Marple may refer to: Places * Marple, Greater Manchester, a town close to Stockport, in England ** Marple Bridge, a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, in Greater Manchester ** Marple railway station in Marple, Greater Manches ...

'', ''

Foyle's War ''Foyle's War'' is a British detective drama television series set during and shortly after the Second World War, created by '' Midsomer Murders'' screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV after the long-running series ...

'', '' Little Britain'', the 2008 Christmas special of ''

Jonathan Creek ''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the titular character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician while also solvi ...

'', the British drama ''

An Education ''An Education'' is a 2009 coming-of-age drama film based on a memoir of the same name by British journalist Lynn Barber. The film was directed by Lone Scherfig from a screenplay by Nick Hornby. It stars Carey Mulligan as Jenny, a bright school ...

'' and the 2009 BBC adaptation of ''

The Day of the Triffids ''The Day of the Triffids'' is a 1951 post-apocalyptic novel by the English science fiction author John Wyndham. After most people in the world are blinded by an apparent meteor shower, an aggressive species of plant starts killing people. A ...

''. The fourth episode of the first series of ''

Killing Eve ''Killing Eve'' is a British spy thriller television series, produced in the United Kingdom by Sid Gentle Films for BBC America and BBC Three. The series follows Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), a British intelligence investigator tasked with capturi ...

'' was shot in the village, with an armed ambush and car chase shot in the village centre and on the surrounding country roads. The village was the location for outdoor scenes in the sitcom ''

The Vicar of Dibley ''The Vicar of Dibley'' is a British sitcom which originally ran on BBC One from 10 November 1994 to 1 January 2007. It is set in a fictional small Oxfordshire village called Dibley, which is assigned a female vicar following the 1992 changes ...

''. In the series, the church of St Mary the Virgin was renamed St Barnabus 'sic'' The music video for the song "Apparition" by Stealing Sheep was shot in the village.

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Buckinghamshire Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire