Bledlow is a village in the civil parish of

Bledlow-cum-Saunderton Bledlow-cum-Saunderton is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Wycombe district of Buckinghamshire, England. It contains the villages of Bledlow, Bledlow Ridge and Saunderton and the hamlet (place), hamlets of Crownfield, Forty Green ...

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 about WSW 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 is on the county boundary with

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. The toponym "Bledlow" is derived from

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 ...

and means "Bledda's burial mound". A 10th century document records it as ''Bleddanhloew''; the Domesday Book of 1086 records it as ''Bledelai''. A more common derivation is from "Bled-Hlaw" meaning Bloody Hill which commemorates an undated battle between Saxons and Danes.

Geography

The village is on the ancient Icknield Way and is where several

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

s form a small pool called the Lyde. The water from the springs is said to wear away the chalk on which the village stands, giving rise to the simple local medieval

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. From t ...

: The brook running from the pool into the nearby valley (called the Lyde Brook) provided water power for two watermills for many years. Bledlow's watermill is a tourist attraction. Above the village, carved into the chalk of Wain Hill is a large cross, similar to that found at Whiteleaf. There is also a

round barrow A round barrow is a type of tumulus and is one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe, they are found in many parts of the world, probably because of their simple construction and universal purpose. ...

on the hill. It is thought that this is the barrow or burial mound referred to in the village name. Within the parish of Bledlow-cum-Saunderton are several hamlets. The main one is Bledlow Ridge. The others are Forty Green (not to be confused with Forty Green near

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...

), Pitch Green, Rout's Green, Skittle Green and Holly Green.

Parish church

The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

of the Holy Trinity overlooks the Vale of Aylesbury. It has two aisles and the nave arcades include capitals made in about 1200. Other features of interest are the

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

, some fragments of wall paintings, and the 13th- or 14th-century south doorway and porch. It is a Grade I listed building.

Notable people

Actress Samantha Eggar lived in Bledlow as a child, and was a neighbour of Oliver Reed while there.

Transport

Bledlow railway station Bledlow railway station was an intermediate station on the Wycombe Railway which served the Buckinghamshire village of Bledlow from 1862 to 1963. It was one of two stations to serve the village, the other being on the Watlington and Princes Ri ...

was an intermediate station on the Wycombe Railway that served the village from 1862 to 1963. It was the first of two stations to serve the village, the second being on the Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway. It was to the south and closer to the village. It was opened in 1906 and closed in 1957. The potential for reopening the Wycombe Railway through Bledlow, which is now part of a long-distance footpath, was evaluated and dismissed by

Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways, formally The Chiltern Railway Company Limited, is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains. Chiltern Railw ...

, the franchise holder for the Chiltern Main Line that runs through Princes Risborough.

References

Sources and further reading

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External links

Bledlow-cum-Saunderton Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in Buckinghamshire