Thornborough 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 north

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, around 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 ...

History

The village name is

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, 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 t ...

in origin, and means "hill where thorn trees grow". It was recorded as ''Torneberge'' 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, as ''Tornburuwe'' in the 13th century, and as ''Thornborowe'' in the 16th century. An

inclosure act The inclosure acts created legal property rights to land previously held in common in England and Wales, particularly open fields and common land. Between 1604 and 1914 over 5,200 individual acts enclosing public land were passed, affecting 28,0 ...

for Thornborough, the ( 37 Geo. 3. c. ''49'' ), was passed in 1797. The village has the earthworks of a Roman village on its western border, in between Thornborough Bridge and the main village. Near the bridge on the north side of the road are the Thornborough Mounds, two

tumuli A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found through ...

in which Roman remains were found in 1839. They are a

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 ...

Buildings

There is a manor house with associated tithe barns in the centre of the village next to the pond. The village church, St Mary, is one of very few in Britain to have steel bells. The church has been repaired, restored and extended many times with some parts dating back to the 12th century. The tower was built early in the 15th century and the south porch about 1480. The village pub, The Two Brewers, is a thatched building with two bars. It has been run by the same family since 1982. A second pub, The Lone Tree, on the outskirts of the village on the

A421 The A421 is an important road for east/west journeys across south central England. Together with the A428, the A43 and A34, it forms the route from Cambridge through Milton Keynes to Oxford. The section between the A1 (near St Neots) and t ...

, was severely damaged by fire in November 2007. In serious need of repair, it was finally sold as a private dwelling in 2014. To the north of the village is the remains of an old windmill and on the

River Great Ouse The River Great Ouse ( ) is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the ...

are the buildings of what used to be a working watermill. The disused Buckingham Arm of the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...

runs between Buckingham and Western Milton Keynes to the north of Thornborough.

Thornborough Bridge

Located on the western boundary of the parish with Buckingham, Thornborough Bridge dates from the 14th century and is the only surviving mediaeval bridge in the county. The parish boundary follows the line of Padbury Brook (which joins the river Great Ouse at 'The Twins'). The new bridge taking the

was built in 1974.

References

External links

Parish Council website
Villages in Buckinghamshire Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire {{Buckinghamshire-geo-stub