Nash is a village and also a

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, England, within the

Buckinghamshire Council Buckinghamshire Council is the Local Government in England, local authority for the Buckinghamshire (district), Buckinghamshire district in England. It is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, performing both county and district- ...

unitary authority area A unitary authority is a type of local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed ...

. It is in the north of the county, about south-west of

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...

and east of

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of ...

. According to the 2011 census, the population total of Nash was 417.

History

The village name is

Anglo Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to Ge ...

in origin, and means "at the ash-tree". 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 the village was recorded as ''Esse''. The name went through 'Ash' and 'La Nash' to 'Nash'. Between 1870 and 1872, Nash was described as

"NASH, a hamlet in Whaddon parish, Bucks; 5½ miles E of Buckingham. Acres, 1, 430. Real property, £1, 813, Pop., 462. Houses, 103. The property is divided chiefly among five. The hamlet forms chief part of the chapelry of Thornton-cum-Nash; and contains the church of that chapelry, a Baptist chapel, and a national school. Nash Common is a meet for the Whaddon Chase hounds."

Nash was designated a civil parish between 1896 and 1899. Before this it was classed as a hamlet within the parish of Whaddon. Although there has never been a separate manor in Nash, the manor in neighbouring Whaddon has historically been referred to as the manor of Whaddon and Nash. The earliest mention of the manor pre-dates the modern name of 'Nash', and refers to the manor as that of 'Whaddone with Esse'.

Government

The village is served by a parish council of seven members, who are elected every four years, with the next elections set to take place in 2019. However much of the parish council's role is to advise the Aylesbury Vale District Council and

Buckinghamshire County Council Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the east, Greater London ...

who make most of the decisions with regards to maintenance and planning. The village is part of the

Great Horwood Great Horwood is a small village and is also a civil parish within the unitary authority area of Buckinghamshire, England with a population of about 1025 people (2001 Census). It is about five miles ESE of Buckingham, six miles WSW of Milton Ke ...

ward of the Aylesbury Vale District Council. At the county level, the village is part of the Winslow electoral division. Its parliamentary constituency is

Geography

The village is located 46 miles (75 km) north west of London and is about above sea level. According to the

British Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance Earth science, geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. ...

, the bedrock consists of

Mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from ''shale'' by its lack of fissility.Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology.'' New York, New York, ...

with superficial deposits of sand and gravel from river terraces and glaciofluvia deposits. The first Land Utilisation Survey of Britain in the 1930s, found the land around Nash to be predominantly 'Meadowland and Permanent Grass', with some areas of 'Forest and Woodland'.

Demography

The most recent,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, census of the UK put the total population of Nash at 417. The population has grown sharply since the lowest recorded population total of 214, which was found in the 1961 census. The population previously went through a long period of decline between 1871 (when the highest total population of 460 was recorded) and 1961. The ethnic composition of Nash is overwhelmingly white, with just 14 individuals identifying as being from other ethnic groups in the 2011 census. Just over 60% of the population identify as Christian, whilst more than 37% either stated that they are not religious, or did not state their religion. The 2011 census also recorded that 43% of the population were in full-time employment, and 11.4% in part-time employment. Just 2% of the population were identified as being unemployed, which is lower than the average for Aylesbury Vale (3.1%), and England (4.4%).

Economy

Of the 212 members of the population in employment, the majority appear to commute to work, with some of the highest employing industries including 'Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motor Cycles' (18.9%) and 'Manufacturing' (9.4%), neither of which take place within the village. Other sectors with high levels of employment include 'Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities' (13.2%) and 'Education' (12.7%). This contrasts greatly from some of the traditional industries which were previously common in the village. In 1881, the main industries of the parish were agriculture (40% of the population), and textiles (31% of the population).

Culture and community

Community facilities

After the village school closed in 1948, the building was converted into a community hall for the use of the villagers. The hall is also available for hire, and is used to host several community events throughout the year, as well as the local youth club each week.

Landmarks

The All Saints Church in Nash dates from 1857 when the foundation stone was laid. It was based on designs by renowned architect

George Edmund Street George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Though mainly an eccl ...

Education

Nash has not had its own school since it closed in 1948. It now sits within the catchment area of schools in local villages. For aged 4 to 7 this is Whaddon Church of England School, and for 7+ it is covered by

Church of England School.

References

External links

The Nash Village website
!-- Note: WGS84 lat/long, converted from OSGB36 grid ref --> {{authority control Villages in Buckinghamshire Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire