Quarrendon, Buckinghamshire

Quarrendon

Ruins of St Peter's parish church
Quarrendon
Quarrendon shown within Buckinghamshire
Population 44 (Mid-2010 pop est)[1]
OS grid reference SP8015
Civil parish
  • Quarrendon
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Aylesbury
Postcode district HP19
Dialling code 01296
Police Thames Valley
Fire Buckinghamshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament

Quarrendon is a civil parish and also the name of a now deserted medieval village on the outskirts of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. Today its name is also associated with the modern housing estate of Quarrendon beyond the parish boundary in Aylesbury.

The toponym is derived from the Old English Cweorndun meaning "hill where mill stones are obtained". There is evidence to suggest that the village dates back at least as far as the Anglo Saxon era as the village was reputedly the birthplace of daughters of King Penda, St Edburga and St Edith, and their niece St Osyth. Legend has it that St Osyth was beheaded by the Danish occupiers of Britain at Nuns Wood in the Grounds of St Osyth Priory, Where a spring of holy water sprang forth and is still in existence today.

Queen Elizabeth I was entertained at Quarrendon Manor by Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley for two days in 1592. The village and its manor survived until the 18th century, when Henry Lee, the Lord of the Manor, went bankrupt and lost all his lands. The only remaining building in the old village is the ruined church of St Peter. In 1817 the building was described in the Gentleman's Magazine as "a melancholy object of contemplation". Until the 1930s there were substantial remains. Old pictures show that the church had north and south aisles with octagonal piers and double-chamfered arches. All that now remains (as of 2006) are two low sections of wall and the foot of one of the south aisle buttresses. The moat, fish ponds and groundworks of the manor house also remain.

The modern housing estate of Quarrendon in Aylesbury is named after the ancient village.

Quarrendon is situated between Aylesbury railway station and Aylesbury Vale Parkway railway station. It is also served by three bus routes.

References

  1. "Civil Parish population estimates in England and Wales, mid-2010". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 3 February 2013.

Further reading


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