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

in the

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 ...

of the

City of Milton Keynes The City of Milton Keynes is a Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is the northernmost district of the South East England Regions of England, Regio ...

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. The village is about west of Olney, and north of

Newport Pagnell Newport Pagnell is a town and civil parish in the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The Office for National Statistics records Newport Pagnell as part of the Milton Keynes urban area. The town is separated from the rest of the u ...

and about from

Central Milton Keynes Central Milton Keynes is the central business district of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England and a civil parish in its own right, with a town council. The district is approximately long by wide and occupies some of the highest land in ...

. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 209.

History

The

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, 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 ...

is derived from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

for "Hrafn's farm". In 1255 a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

of Augustinian

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

s was founded in Ravenstone by King Henry III. It was dissolved in 1525 and its lands granted to

Cardinal Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( ; – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic cardinal. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling f ...

; and then in 1544

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

seized all of Wolsey's estates including Ravenstone Priory. After changing hands privately a number of occasions, the building was eventually demolished, and today nothing remains standing. The oldest parts of the

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

All Saints All Saints' Day is a Christian holiday. All Saints, All Saints Day or Feast of All Saints may also refer to: Art and entertainment * ''All Saints'' (film), a 2017 Christian drama film * ''All Saints'' (TV series), an Australian hospital drama * ...

are 11th-century. The church includes the tomb of Heneage Finch, 1st

Earl of Nottingham :''See also Earl of Winchilsea'' Earl of Nottingham is a title that has been created seven times in the Peerage of England. It was first created for John de Mowbray, 1st Earl of Nottingham, John de Mowbray in 1377, at the coronation of Richard ...

. He had the neighbouring almshouses built, originally six for men and six for women, now combined into six cottages. The original inhabitants had to be single and members of the Church of England, and received a small pension, firewood, and a new cloak every Christmas.

Scheduled monuments and listed buildings

The parish has one

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

(Ravenstone Priory), one grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

(the Church of All Saints) and a further 29 buildings or structured listed at. grade II.

Amenities

The only communal facility in Ravenstone is the village hall. A post office and The Wheatsheaf pub closed in the early 1990s.

Notes

Sources and further reading

* * *

External links

Ravenstone Home Page
{{authority control Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire Areas of Milton Keynes Villages in Buckinghamshire