User:Waysider1925/Drafts 3

for Bledlow

Bledlow is a village and ecclesiastical parish lying along the western boundary of Buckinghamshire adjoining Oxfordshire. It is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) from Princes Risborough and 2 miles (3.2 km) from Chinnor in Oxfordshire across the county boundary. High Wycombe is 10 miles (16 km) to the south-west and Aylesbury is 9.5 miles (15.3 km) to the north-west. It forms part of the civil parish of Bledlow-cum-Saunderton.

The village lies on the north side of the Chiltern Hills and the ecclesiastical parish (and the medieval Manor) originally included the high ground to the south, which is known as Bledlow Ridge, but this has been a separate parish since 1868.

The parish church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, dates from the 13th century and the Manor House, opposite the church, is the residence of Lord Carrington.

Name

The earliest mention of Bledlow is in a 10th century manuscript where it appears as Bleddanhǣw. Bledde was an Anglo-Saxon personal name and Bleddan was the genitive form (i.e. Bledde's). Hǣw meant a hill or tumulus and in southern England usually indicated a burial mound. So in modern English the name meant 'Bledde's tomb'. In Domesday Book, in 1086, it appeared as Bledelai and the modern spelling, Bledlow, is seen in 1485.

Church of the Holy Trinity

The present church was almost all built in the 13th century....

References

Books mentioned in the Notes

• Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names based on the collections of the English Place-Name Society, ed:Victor Watts (Cambridge University Press. 2004)
• Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names, ed: E. Ekwal (Oxford University Press. #)
• Domesday Book vol 13 Buckinghamshire. Text & translation edited by John Morris (Phillimore, Chichester. 1978)
• Lipscomb, The History and Antiquitires of the County of Buckingham. Volume 2(London. 1847)
• Mawer, A. and Stenton, F.M: The Place Names of Buckinghamshire (Cambridge, 1925)
• Pevsner, Nikolaus & Elizabeth Williamson: Buckinghamshire (The Buildings of England - Penguin Books. 2nd edition. 1994)
• RCHMB = Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England): An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Buckinghamshire, Volume 1 (1912)
• VHCB = Victoria History of the County of Buckingham, Volume 2, ed: William Page F.S.A. (1908)