Hedgerley 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 ...

South Bucks South Bucks was one of four local government districts in the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in South East England. The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, by the amalgamation of the area of Beac ...

district in Buckinghamshire, England. The parish is centred south-east of Beaconsfield and south-west of

Gerrards Cross Gerrards Cross is a town and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England, separated from the London Borough of Hillingdon at Harefield by Denham, south of Chalfont St Peter and north bordering villages of Fulmer, Hedgerley, Iver Heath and ...

. The parish has incorporated the formerly separate parish of Hedgerley Dean since 1934 (which was once a hamlet in parish of

Farnham Royal Farnham Royal is a village and civil parish within Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the south of the county, immediately north of Slough (with which it is contiguous), and around 22 miles west of Charing Cross, Central London. Within the par ...

). 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 ...

name "Hedgerley" 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 ...

meaning "Hycga's woodland clearing". In

manorial Manorialism, also known as the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, sometimes forti ...

rolls in 1195 it was recorded as ''Huggeleg''.

Architecture and geography

Situated in the foothills of the Chiltern Hills, Hedgerley is a linear layout of red-brick and timber-framed cottages, amongst which Victoria Cottages date from the 16th century.Pevsner, 1973, page 160 It is bounded to the north by the M40 motorway. The old Quaker House on the northern edge of the village dates from 1487. The Church of England parish church of

Saint Mary the Virgin Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

was designed by the Gothic Revival architect Benjamin Ferrey and built in 1852. The Tudor Revival Rectory was built in 1846.

In film, fiction and the media

The 1953 British film

Genevieve Genevieve (french: link=no, Sainte Geneviève; la, Sancta Genovefa, Genoveva; 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) is the patroness saint of Paris in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Her feast is on 3 January. Genevieve was born in Nanterre a ...

was shot on roads around Pinewood Studios and the couples stop for a “hair of the dog” at the old (now demolished) One Pin pub with Genevive seen driving down Hedgerley Hill as well as actors

John Gregson Harold Thomas Gregson (15 March 1919 – 8 January 1975), known professionally as John Gregson, was an English actor of stage, television and film, with 40 credited film roles. He was best known for his crime drama and comedy roles. He was cr ...

and

Dinah Sheridan Dinah Sheridan (born Dinah Nadyejda Ginsburg; 17 September 1920 – 25 November 2012) was an English actress with a career spanning seven decades. She was best known for the films '' Genevieve'' (1953) and '' The Railway Children'' (1970); the l ...

filmed in Collinswood Road. Scenes from

Lionel Jeffries Lionel Charles Jeffries (10 June 1926 – 19 February 2010) was an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He appeared primarily in films and received a Golden Globe Award nomination during his acting career. Early life Jeffries was born in ...

' 1972 family film ''

The Amazing Mr Blunden ''The Amazing Mr. Blunden'' is a 1972 British family mystery film involving ghosts directed by Lionel Jeffries. It was based on the 1969 novel ''The Ghosts'' by Antonia Barber. It stars Laurence Naismith, Lynne Frederick, Garry Miller, Rosa ...

'' were filmed in the village and at the church. The village including the fields and woods of the parish featured in the episode "Secrets & Spies" of '' Midsomer Murders''.

Demography

The village's most notable resident was the infamous

Judge Jeffreys George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, PC (15 May 1645 – 18 April 1689), also known as "the Hanging Judge", was a Welsh judge. He became notable during the reign of King James II, rising to the position of Lord Chancellor (and serving a ...

(1645–89). A few fields in the parish are called the sea fields as in spring they become full with bluebells.

References

Sources

External links

{{authority control Villages in Buckinghamshire Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire