| Buckland Common | |
Nethercott's Barn |
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Buckland Common
Buckland Common shown within Buckinghamshire |
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| OS grid reference | SP909069 |
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| - London | 29 miles (47 km) |
| Parish | Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards |
| District | Chiltern |
| Shire county | Buckinghamshire |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Tring |
| Postcode district | HP23 |
| Dialling code | 01494 |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Chesham and Amersham |
| Website | [1] |
| List of places: UK • England • Buckinghamshire | |
Buckland Common is a hamlet in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Wendover and the same distance south of Tring in Hertfordshire with which it shares a boundary. The northern end of the settlement is delineated by a short section of Grim's Ditch.
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The area today called Buckland Common had in Edward the Confessor's time been the southern and upland part of the manor of Buckland which was under the control of the see of Dorchester. Following the Norman Invasion, Buckland had become incorporated into the estates owned by the Church of Lincoln. This upland area would have originally comprised impenetrable scrub woodland but gradual clearance created pasture land which provided advantageous grazing for cattle and sheep. Perhaps this location was chosen on account of it being more sheltered lying as it does in a slight depression in comparison to the surrounding land. It is believed the first permanent settlement began in the 16th century, around the time when Henry VIII seized the lands from the Earl of Warwick in 1522.
Around 1540, Queen Mary I granted a tenancy to Sir Anthony Browne, whose daughter Elizabeth married Baron Richard Dormer a wealthy landowner from Wing. Richard's descendant the First Earl of Carnarvon was killed during the English Civil War at the first Battle of Newbury. The Parliamentarians sequestrated the lands around 1653 although they were subsequently restored to the Carnarvon estate.
Through marriage the manor at Buckland passed to the Earls of Chesterfield. This coincided with a number of kilns being built before 1700. These made use of local clay deposits to make pottery with a distinctive manganese-brown which contributed to the development of the settlement during the first part of the 18th century. Fine examples of this pottery are to be found in the nearby Chequers Museum. Clay pits were also extensibly dug to support a thriving brick making industry which survived into the 20th century.
This increasing industry also supported at least three beer houses. The oldest of these and first licensed in 1698 was The Boot, which in 1864 was renamed The Boot and Slipper and remained in business until 1976. The Britannia's early history is unknown but was the first to close in 1939. The Rose and Crown, licenced in 1863, changed its name in 1967 to The Horse and Hounds before ceasing to trade in 1984. All three are now private properties.
Establishment of the village of Buckland Common happened much later than other similar daughter settlements in this part of the Chilterns. The schism was eventually hastened by the action of the Commissioners for Enclosure in 1842 who oversaw the dividing up of the 15 acres (61,000 m2) of common land between villagers, enabling the creation of a largely autonomous community. All that remained of the once extensive common was a small rectangular allotment of land known today as The Green which is owned and maintained by the Parish Council 'for the enjoyment of local people'.
Prior to 1860, Buckland Common did not have its own church, the local congregation using the church at Cholesbury. From this time it had a Strict Baptist Chapel, followed by a rapidly built Anglican chapel of ease commissioned specifically to counter the impact of the non-conformist mission. The church was unable to sustain a congregation, was decommissioned and eventually was pulled down in 1939. The Baptist Chapel continued but was converted to a private dwelling in the 1980s. The graveyard of the baptist church remains open and is looked after by the Tring Baptist Church.
The Rothschild family were prominent farmers and landowners. Around 1920 they were responsible for improving the tied cottages of their farm workers by building, in typical Rothschild style, two new terraces of cottages along Little Twye Road and replacing dilapidated tenements in Parrotts Lane.
Until 1934 Buckland Common remained a remote part of Buckland Parish. Together with Cholesbury, Hawridge and St Leonards, which are locally known as hilltop villages it now forms part of Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards civil parish. Until 1973 primary school age children from the village attended St Leonards National School in the nearby village of that name, which was founded in 1860. Since the closure of the school children attend Hawridge and Cholesbury Church of England School in Hawridge. The parish purchased land in 1974 which it divided into allotments for parishioners.
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