Little Horwood
| Little Horwood | |
|---|---|
| Population | Expression error: "366[1]" must be numeric |
| OS grid reference | SP790306 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MILTON KEYNES |
| Postcode district | MK17 |
| Dialling code | 01296 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Buckinghamshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
Little Horwood is a village and also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located about four miles ESE of Buckingham, two miles north east of Winslow.
The village name 'Horwood' is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'dirty or muddy wood'. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 792 the village was recorded as Horwudu.
The parish church dedicated to St Nicholas has a perpendicular style tower built of large blocks of ashlar, the remainder of the church externally dates from the restoration of 1889 by the architect J P St Aubyn. This architect's work, today, is not always viewed kindly. His Victorian Gothicisation of so many churches and houses has been described in terms ranging from vandalism to ruthless. Little Horwood church was lucky, as the interior survived relatively unscathed; and the early 16th century wall paintings depicting the seven deadly sins survived as did the Jacobean pulpit, and the decorated style chancel arch. The Tower has 5 bells with a tenor of 9cwt 2qtrs 22lbs, tuned to the note of G
The manor of Little Horwood anciently belonged to the abbot and convent of St Albans, though it was seized by the Crown in the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the mid 16th century. It was later sold to George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham who remodelled the manor house, which is now demolished.
1 mile south east of the village is Horwood House. Not to be confused with Little Horwood Manor, which is a comparatively modern house.