Soulbury
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Soulbury is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Aylesbury Vale, about three miles south of Fenny Stratford, three miles north of Wing. The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'stronghold in a gully'. In the Domesday Book of 1086 the village was recorded as Soleberie.
[edit] The Parish
The parish contains the hamlets of :
- Hollingdon in the west,
- Chelmscote on the Stoke Hammond to Leighton Buzzard road,
- Bragenham to the east of the River Ouzel, and
- Stockgrove near Stockgrove Country Park on the border with Bedfordshire.
The parish extends as far as Rammamere Farm on Watling Street.
[edit] Liscombe Park
A 17th century mansion Liscombe Park, originally the seat of the Lovett Family was rebuilt in the 1920s by the Bonsor Family who live there today. The house is built of brick with small turrets and crennelations, in the style of an 18th century pseudo gothic castle. The interiors are a mixture of panelling and some 18th century styles. Near to the house is the former much older chapel, this today has been converted to a billiards room. The house is not open to the public, but the gardens are sometimes used for fairs and fetes.
The stable block has been converted to a leisure and health complex, with a polo cross field. There is a riding stables, open to the public, adjacent to the complex.
[edit] Soulbury
Soulbury gave its name to Solebury Township, Pennsylvania, which was founded by Quaker settlers from Soulbury.
There is a public house in Soulbury called The Boot. Its pub sign features a boot of the Duke of Wellington, but the tradition of the Soulbury Boot is said to be much older than that. It is said that the Devil himself once came to the village, but the villagers came together to fight him off. One of them took his sword and cut off the Devil's foot and as it fell to the ground it turned to stone. The stone came to be known as the Soulbury Boot. Although fascinating, this story is said by some to have been made up by a previous pub landlord in order to attract visitors.
