Stoke Mandeville is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located three miles (4.9 km) from Aylesbury and 3.4 miles (5.5 km) from the market town of Wendover. Although a separate civil parish, the village falls within the

Aylesbury Urban Area Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycom ...

. According to the Census Report the area of this parish is . Stoke Mandeville Hospital, although named after the village, is located on the parish's border with Aylesbury. The hospital has the largest spinal injuries ward in Europe, and is best known internationally as the birthplace of the Paralympic movement; the Stoke Mandeville Games, instituted in the hospital by

Sir Ludwig Guttmann Sir Ludwig Guttmann (3 July 1899 – 18 March 1980) was a German-British neurologist who established the Stoke Mandeville Games, the sporting event for people with disabilities (PWD) that evolved in England into the Paralympic Games. A Jewish ...

in 1948 evolved to become the first

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1960, which were also the 9th Stoke Mandeville Games. Stoke Mandeville was also joint host of the 1984 Summer Paralympics with

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, with the wheelchair elements of the Games being held in the village. The village of Stoke Mandeville remains by far the smallest official host of a modern Olympic or Paralympic Games. The village continues to be known for its association with the Paralympic Games, being part of the Paralympic torch relay in every Games since 2012 (its contribution known as the 'Legacy flame'), and giving its name to the Paralympic Games mascot, Mandeville, in 2012.

History

The village was originally recorded as ''Stoches'' in the Domesday Book of 1086, 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 In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period la ...

word ''stoc'' meaning an outlying

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

or hamlet. The suffix Mandeville was first recorded in 1284 when the

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

was listed as being in the hands of the powerful Norman de Mandeville family. The former

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

parish church, St Mary the Virgin, unusually stood alone on a damp site 1km from the old village for no apparent reason. Therefore it had been postulated that a Roman

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

was present on the site before the church was built. The church was condemned in the mid-20th century and was demolished in January 1966 by the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the '' Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is hea ...

. In 2018 in preparation for the construction of the HS2 high-speed railway, archaeological excavations began on the site of the old church. As well as excavating the church, the process involved moving the remains of those buried in the churchyard, which dates back to 1080. In September 2021, archaeologists from LP-Archaeology, led by Rachel Wood, announced the discovery of remains on the site of the church. They unearthed a possible square foundation trench enclosed by a circular ditch containing burials and two remarkable Roman statues. In January 2022 the archaeological excavation of the site, and the discovery of significant Roman statuary and burial urns, was featured in the BBC's '' Digging for Britain''. The newer red brick parish church of

St Mary 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 ...

, consecrated in July 1866 by the Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce, remains as the only church in the village apart from the Methodist church in Eskdale Road. Stoke Mandeville was also the location of the Stoke Mandeville Games, which first took place in 1948 thanks to doctor

Ludwig Guttmann Sir Ludwig Guttmann (3 July 1899 – 18 March 1980) was a German-British neurologist who established the Stoke Mandeville Games, the sporting event for people with disabilities (PWD) that evolved in England into the Paralympic Games. A Jewis ...

and are now known as the IWAS World Games. The Games, which were held eight times at Stoke Mandeville, were the inspiration for the first

, also called ''The Stoke Mandeville Games'', which were organised in

in 1960. The wheelchair aspects of the 1984 Paralympics were also held in the village. The London 2012 Summer Paralympics mascot, Mandeville, was named after the village due to its legacy with the Games.

Stoke Mandeville Stadium Stoke Mandeville Stadium is the National Centre for Disability Sport in England. It is sited alongside Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. Stoke Mandeville Stadium is owned by WheelPower, the national organisation for whee ...

was developed alongside the hospital and is the National Centre for Disability Sport in the United Kingdom, enhancing the hospital as a world centre for paraplegics and spinal injuries. On 13 May 2000, the new Stoke Mandeville Millennium village sign was unveiled. It stands on a small brick

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

on the green outside the primary school. The sign shows colourful images on both sides of aspects of village life over the centuries.

Transport

Stoke Mandeville railway station Stoke Mandeville railway station serves the village of Stoke Mandeville, south of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. The station is on the London - Aylesbury line and is served by Chiltern Railways trains. It is between and stations. B ...

is on the London to Aylesbury Line between Aylesbury station and Wendover station, served by Chiltern Railways, which terminates at

Aylesbury Vale Parkway Aylesbury Vale Parkway railway station is a railway station serving villages northwest of Aylesbury, England. It also serves the Berryfields and Weedon Hill housing developments north of the town. The station and all trains serving it are oper ...

northbound and London Marylebone southbound. Arriva Shires & Essex number 50 bus also serves the area on Station Road, as do services 164 and 300 – which stops in the centre of the village. High Speed 2 passes to the southwest of the village, but doesn't stop.

Education

Stoke Mandeville Combined School is a mixed community school which takes children from the age of four through to the age of eleven. (Year r – 6) The school has approximately 220 pupils. It also has a hearing impaired department, which currently helps up to 15 children through their school day.

Gallery

File:Stoke Mandeville School.JPG, The back of Stoke Mandeville Combined School File:Stoke Mandeville School balloons.JPG, Stoke Mandeville Combined School Balloon Release Event

References

External links

*
Stoke Mandeville StadiumStoke Mandeville Combined School websiteStoke Mandeville Guide
{{Authority control Villages in Buckinghamshire Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire Aylesbury Vale