Leckhampstead 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 unitary authority area of
Buckinghamshire, England. It is near the boundary with
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
, about north east of
Buckingham, and west of
Milton Keynes. The village is on the
River Leck, a
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...
of the
River Great Ouse.
History
The
toponym
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
is derived 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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...
for "homestead where leeks are grown". 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 manus ...
of 1086 the village was recorded as ''Lechamstede''.
In the middle of the 16th century the village was split into two halves, Leckhampstead Magna and Leckhampstead Parva, with the foundation of a
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 ...
in the latter. However within a couple of centuries the two halves were joined up again when the incumbent of Leckhampstead Magna inherited Leckhampstead Parva.
The manor and living of Leckhampstead were given to
Martha Lovelace who was the daughter of the
Governor of New York. She married Henry Beauclerk and their only son, also called Henry, inherited the manor in 1788. This Henry had already been given the living of the
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
of the
Assumption of the Blesséd Virgin Mary.
The church building is
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
, with a tower that was added in the 13th century. It is a
Grade I listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
References
Works cited
*
Further reading
*
External links
North Buckingham Parish
{{authority control
Villages in Buckinghamshire
Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire