Grendon Underwood

Grendon Underwood
St. Leonard's parish church
Population	1,625
OS grid reference	SP685205
District	Aylesbury Vale
Shire county	Buckinghamshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Aylesbury
Postcode district	HP18
Dialling code	01296
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Buckinghamshire
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Buckingham
Website	Grendon Underwood, Buckinghamshire

Grendon Underwood is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the west of the county, close to the boundary with Oxfordshire and near the Roman road Akeman Street now known as the A41. The village sits between Woodham and Edgcott and has a population of approximately 1500 (in 2012).

History

The toponym is derived from the Old English for 'green hill near a wood', though the 'Underwood' part of the name was only added in the medieval period to differentiate the village from nearby Long Crendon and to signify the village's position close to the Bernwood Forest. The Domesday Book of 1086 records the village as Grennedone. The manor of Grendon anciently belonged to the St Amand family. Almeric de St Amand of this family was one of the godfathers of King Edward I, who was baptised in 1239.

In 1642, Grendon Underwood lay on the forest tracks used by gypsies and strolling players (travelling performers) and was visited more than once by William Shakespeare, who stayed at the house, formerly an inn, now known as Shakespeare House, currently (2012) a five star guest house and Grade II listed, part Elizabethan former coaching inn What Around 1809, Underwood Junction was the point at Greatmoor, just east of Grendon Underwood village, at which the Alternative Route of the London Extension of the Great Central Railway left the original main line. This was a little north of the point where the main line joined the previous Metropolitan Railway's line from Verney Junction to Aylesbury, and thence to London. The latter junction no longer exists, as the line to Verney Junction has been closed and dismantled as part of the Beeching Axe in the 1960's.

During the Second World War Grendon Hall was Station 53a of the Special Operations Executive (SOE).

Current Village

The Church of England parish church of Saint Leonard dates from the 12th or early 13th century. The village has a public house, The Swan. Grendon Underwood Combined School is a community school with about 280 pupils. The village has a single village shop and The Grendon Garage.

Grendon underwood once bordered Bernwood Forest, the nearest remnants of which are now Grendon Wood and Dodderhall Wood, which are detached from the village itself by approx 500 metres. Both woods are now silvicultural and classified as ancient forest and are sites of special scientificic interest (SSSI's). This offers protected status to some of the endangered species of animals residing therein such as Bechstein's bats, and breeding nightingales. There are also 35 species of butterflies such as Purple Emperor, Brown Hairstreak, Black Hairstreak, Wood White, the Silver Washed Fritillary, High Brown Fritillary, Marsh Fritillary, Pearl-Bordered Fritillary and Small Pearly-Bordered Fritillary.

Grendon Prisons

Grendon Underwood has two prisons, both are remotely located one mile away from the church and main village. The B-Category prison HMP Grendon is the UK's only therapeutic community for the treatment of serious offenders. HMP Grendon opened in 1962 as an experimental prison for inmates with psychiatric anti-social personality disorders. The facility holds approx 238 cat B male prisoners (April 2012). HMP Spring Hill is a D-Category open prison.

The Grendon Festival (GrendON)

This a Biennial event (every 2 years), with live music, comedians and a CAMRA supported real ale festival. The Grendon festival has a series of live tribute bands such as Kazabian , Noasis, Killerz, and Kings of Lyon, national and local bands such as Stoke Mandville Band, 48Krash. The festival, which takes place every other year, started out in 2006 with 300 people attending. In 2010 it attracted 2,000 and in 2012 organisers expected 4,000 attendees. However the event was postponed in May 2012 due to severe flooding and was successfully rescheduled to September 2012.

External links

• Village Website
• The Grendon Underwood / Beachborough Project
• Grendon Underwood entry at GENUKI
• The Meds Collective perform at Grendon Festival
• Howling For Heaven - Grendon Festival Road Tripl
• Kazabian (Kasabian Tribute act at GrendON 2012