Knotty Green was once a rural
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 ...
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-ea ...
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. ...
. It is characterised by large houses set in their own extensive grounds and though it remains within 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 ...
of
Penn today it has become contiguous with the market town of
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 ...
. Houses in the area of Knotty Green are often some of the most expensive in the country with houses often exceeding 6,000 sq ft, and £3 million in value.
History
The centre of the old hamlet is still identifiable at the junction of Penn Road and
Forty Green Road where there remains a remnant of the old green from which the hamlet took part of its name. The name of the hamlet can be traced back to the 13th century. Knotty Green, or Nattuc as it was called in 1222, takes its name 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 ...
''nattuc'' (rough grass of tussocks) that grew on the green.
There are several surviving buildings built in the 15th and 16th centuries, including timber-framed hall house Baylins Farm (or Beelings Manor) dating back to 1450. Opposite the cricket pitch stands Hutchins Barn, a 16th-century timbered house with a
minstrels' gallery
A minstrels' gallery is a form of balcony, often inside the great hall of a castle or manor house, and used to allow musicians (originally minstrels) to perform, sometimes discreetly hidden from the guests below.
Notable examples
*A rare example ...
. Eghams Farm, built in
Tudor times, is a private residence and stands on a path leading to Hogback Wood.
In one corner of the small recreation area adjoining the cricket pitch, there is an old dew pond formerly used for sheep dipping and reputed to have been in existence for 400 years.
The development that followed the arrival of the railway in Beaconsfield in 1906 increased the population of the parish as a whole by nearly 50 per cent in five years, but it was confined to the Penn Road and Forty Green Road. There was still an obvious dividing line between the parishes of Penn and Beaconsfield, where the boundary stream ran under the Penn Road, and where Beaconsfield's pavement and new houses stopped abruptly. Development at this time included a house by the architect
Charles Voysey, completed in 1907. Knotty Green also contains a 20th-century water garden at Juniper Hill.
Present day
At the centre of the hamlet is Knotty Green
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
Club, and a children's playground. There are two pubs:
* The Royal Standard of England – thought to be the oldest
freehouse
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...
in England, the pub is located in the neighbouring hamlet of
Forty Green. Known as The Ship from 1213 to 1663, it adopted its current name when the restored monarch
Charles II allowed the name change as a reward for offering the supporters of his father, (
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
), a safe haven during the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
. Charles II is thought to have stayed at the
inn
Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...
with a
mistress
Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to:
Romance and relationships
* Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a ...
. A popular
filming location
A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage. In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew wil ...
, it has appeared in ''
Hot Fuzz
''Hot Fuzz'' is a 2007 action comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Starring Pegg, Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton, and Jim Broadbent, the film centres on two police officers investigating a series of mysteriou ...
'' and
''The Theory of Everything''.
* The Red Lion – dates back to 1753.
Notable residents
*
Val Doonican
Michael Valentine Doonican (3 February 1927 – 1 July 2015) was an Irish singer of traditional pop, easy listening, and novelty songs, who was noted for his warm and relaxed style. A crooner, he found popular success, especially in the Un ...
was one of Knotty Green's notable residents.
*
Michael Mosley (broadcaster) lives in Knotty Green with his wife and four children.
See also
*
Holly Mount, Knotty Green
References
External links
Knotty Green Village websiteThe Red Lion Knotty GreenA brief history of Knotty GreenKnotty Green Cricket ClubVisit BuckinghamshireThe Enid Blyton Society
{{Chiltern
Hamlets in Buckinghamshire