Halton is a small 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

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-e ...

district of the ceremonial county of

, England, located about two miles north 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 ...

and five miles southeast of

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

Geography

Halton lies just outside the

Metropolitan Green Belt The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It comprises parts of Greater London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, parts of two of the three districts of Bedfordshire and a s ...

so it has not been protected from postwar housing development. At its southern end it is contiguous with

, but it retains a separate, older village centre anchored by St Michael & All Angels Church and a community hall. There is a separate, modern Catholic Church. The Parish also includes

RAF Halton Royal Air Force Halton, or more simply RAF Halton, is one of the largest Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom. It is located near the village of Halton near Wendover, Buckinghamshire. The site has been in use since the First World W ...

, a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

(RAF) training station with a grass airfield used for glider training. Most modern housing in the village was built for RAF personnel, but some is now in private hands. A small shop mainly serves the RAF community. The base had a large military hospital employing hundreds of people, which was closed in 1995. The buildings remained until 2007/8 when they were demolished for the Princess Mary Gate housing scheme on land between Halton and Wendover. 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 Bedfordshi ...

above Halton is

Halton House 300px, Halton House, Buckinghamshire Halton House is a country house in the Chiltern Hills above the village of Halton in Buckinghamshire, England. It was built for Alfred ''Freiherr'' de Rothschild between 1880 and 1883. It is used as the main ...

, a

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peop ...

in the style of a French chateau, which is currently used as the main Officers' Mess for RAF Halton. It was originally built for

Alfred de Rothschild Alfred Charles ''Freiherr'' de Rothschild, CVO (20 July 1842 – 31 January 1918), was the second son of Lionel ''Freiherr'' de Rothschild and Charlotte ''Freifrau'' von Rothschild of the Rothschild family. Education As a young man, Alfred a ...

in 1880. The RAF demolished its domed winter garden to build an accommodation block.

Facilities

Halton Community Combined School is a mixed

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 ...

, which takes children from the age of four through to the age of eleven. The school has 91 pupils and was recently (Mar 2011
judged 'excellent'
by OFSTED, despite having 70% of its pupils from Forces backgrounds who move frequently. The Halton Tennis Centre has a small number of future athletes combining competitive tennis training with home schooling. The Centre was formerly run by the RAF, who still train there. The school also contains Halton Preschool, which is a mixed

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary sch ...

, which takes children from 2 to 4 in classes of 15 to 30

Transport

The nearest railway station is

, on the

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 Rail ...

line between Aylesbury and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it ...

(via

Amersham Amersham ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills, northwest of central London, from Aylesbury and from High Wycombe. Amersham is part of the London commuter be ...

). Journey times to London are under an hour. A single track railway line used to run from Halton, crossing the A413 by way of a level crossing, to a bay platform at the north end of Wendover station. Route 8 is served by

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Wendover arm of 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 ...

flows through Halton on its course from Wendover to join the Grand Union beside

Marsworth Marsworth is a village and a civil parish within the unitary authority area of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about north of Tring, Hertfordshire and east of Aylesbury. Early history The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, ''Mæssanw ...

lock near

Tring Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked to ...

Popular culture

Halton gave its name to the Handley Page Halton, a cargo version of the Halifax bomber. File:Haltonhouse-northface.jpg, Halton House Image:RAF Halton-Geograph-135448-by-Jarvis-Docherty.jpg, RAF Halton Image:Halton Airfield.jpg, Halton Airfield Image:RAF Halton Airfield - geograph.org.uk - 198188.jpg, The airfield at RAF Halton, taken from the air

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Buckinghamshire Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire Aylesbury Vale