Wotton Underwood
| Wotton Underwood | |
|---|---|
 All Saints' parish church | |
| Population | 119 [1] |
| OS grid reference | SP6816 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Aylesbury |
| Postcode district | HP18 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Buckinghamshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
Wotton Underwood is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale District of Buckinghamshire, about 7 miles (11 km) north of Thame in neighbouring Oxfordshire.
The toponym is derived from the Old English for "farm near a wood". It is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of AD 848 as Wudotun and in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Oltone. The affix "Underwood" was added later to distinguish the village from other places also called Wotton. The affix means "near the wood" and refers to the village's nearness to the ancient Bernwood Forest.[2]
The present manor house in the village, Wotton House, dates from the early eighteenth century but has been much altered since, notably by John Soane in the 1820s.
South Pavilion, the former home of actor John Gielgud, was bought by Tony and Cherie Blair for £4m, in 2008.[3]
Railways
The Brill Tramway, originally known as the Wotton Tramway and, from 1899, part of the Metropolitan Railway, which served the area, had a station named Wotton which closed in 1935 with the rest of the line.[4]
The Great Central Railway built a line from Grendon Underwood to Princes Risborough, and upon that opened a station at Wotton in 1906; this closed in 1953.[5]
Notable residents
- The Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos
- William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville
- John Gielgud
- Tony Blair[6]
References
- ^ Neighbourhood Statistics 2011 Census, Accessed 3 February 2013
- ^ Seen as Wotton Under Bernewode, in 1377; Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; CP 40/466; Edward III; 1377; last entry on image: http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT4/E3/CP40no466/aCP40no466fronts/IMG_0221.htm
- ^ Jones, Sam (5 May 2008). "Blairs pay £4m for Gielgud's former home". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
- ^ Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (November 2006). "Historical Background". Aylesbury to Rugby. Midland Main Lines. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 1-904474-91-8.
- ^ Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (November 2006). "figs. 61,62". Aylesbury to Rugby.
- ^ Swaine, Jon (3 April 2010). "Tony Blair 'has blighted Buckinghamshire village'". Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
Further reading
- Page, William, ed. (1927). Victoria County History: A History of the County of Buckingham, Volume 4. pp. 130–134.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - Pevsner, Nikolaus (1973) [1966]. The Buildings of England: Berkshire. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 302–303. ISBN 0-14-071019-1.
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External links
Media related to Wotton Underwood at Wikimedia Commons
