Great Kingshill

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Great Kingshill
Great Kingshill shown within Buckinghamshire
OS grid reference	SU877979
Parish	Hughenden
District	Chiltern
Shire county	Buckinghamshire
Region	South East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Buckinghamshire
Ambulance	South Central
European Parliament	South East England
List of places: UK • England • Buckinghamshire

Coordinates: 51°40′22″N 0°43′51″W / 51.6729, -0.7308

Great Kingshill and Little Kingshill are small villages in the parishes of Hughenden and Little Missenden respectively in Buckinghamshire, England. They are located in the Chiltern Hills, about five miles west of Amersham and two and a half miles south of Great Missenden.

The village name 'Kingshill' is fairly self explanatory, meaning a hill in possession of the king. Local folklore suggests it was King John who provided the name. The affixes 'Great' and 'Little' were added later to differentiate between the two hamlets although there is some evidence that Little Kingshill was once known as Pirenore.

Little Kingshill has two pubs: the Full Moon and The Prince of Wales. Both are friendly village pubs with a good atmosphere. The Prince of Wales contains a younger clientele where the younger generation of the village congregate at the weekends.

Great Kingshill also has a small local shop which is a member of the "Spar" franchise. It retails household items along with hot & cold food; from early in the morning to late at night, all through the year.

Opposite the "Spar" shop is the local common, forming the heart of the hamlet. It contains a children's playground and football goals. During the summer, the common becomes the home of Great Kingshill Cricket Club.

In keeping with the area, both villages boast very good primary schools. Little Kingshill School has a nursery and primary school and caters for children from 3-11 years. It is owned by Bucks County Council.Many of the village children attend Little Kingshill school, where children from a wide surrounding area also vie for the right to be admitted, as it has such a good reputation. Great Kingshill school is however geographically located in the neighbouring hamlet of Cryers Hill. Great Kingshill is also home to Pipers Corner School, an all girl non-LEA private school. According to the 2001 census by the Hughenden Parish Council (a parish of the Wycombe District Council), Great Kingshill had a population of 1,170 in an area of 35 hectares.