Everything about Bierton totally explained
Bierton is a village in
Buckinghamshire,
England, about half a mile northeast of the town of
Aylesbury. The mainly farming parish is 10 km² in size. The
parish church is dedicated to
St James.
The village name was first recorded in the
Domesday Book of 1086 as
Bortone and means "farmstead near a stronghold" in modern English. The hamlets of
Broughton,
Broughton Crossing and
Burcott lie within the
Bierton with Broughton parish boundary.
The development of Bierton as a village was hampered by its being a linear settlement along the last road leading from
Aylesbury to have its toll gate removed. The extra costs involved in travelling northwards using this route deterred many merchants, who favoured the less costly route via
Winslow and
Buckingham. The village remained an important point on this alternative northward route however, due to the presence of a wagon pond. This was used to swell the wooden axles of carts, and was a popular watering spot for carthorses.
At one point the village contained no fewer than seven
public houses and
porter houses. The stained glass door of the long since defunct "Star" can still be seen as can that of the 'Eagle' next door to the Jubilee Hall. The two remaining hostelries are the historically significant Red Lion, and the Bell.
The Red Lion public house is a 16th century inn, and was significant during the
English Civil War. Bierton was a
Royalist stronghold, at odds with its larger
Roundhead neighbour of Aylesbury, and the Red Lion was host to many
Cavalier Officers, and rumours have it to
Charles I himself. Bierton was the site of a minor Civil War Battle, the battle site being to the northwest of the village towards
Weedon.
The major industry of the village in times past was brick making. Sitting on large sub-strata of Bierton Complex blue clay, the resource was mined for several centuries, and the bricks were fired close to the quarry. Brick Kiln lane exists to this day, although the workings themselves are no longer active.
The clay pits are now quiet pools, known as The Ponds. They have been turned into a private carp and tench fishery, whose fishing plots are extremely highly sought after.
A well close to the church of St James the Great, is dedicated to
St Osyth, a local
Anglo Saxon princess, born at
Quarrendon Palace. Reputedly beheaded by the
Danes after having earlier drowned in a stream and revived by nuns, it was said that wells sprung up wherever she walked. Ancient Bierton was on an important route eastwards from the Palace, and it's for this reason that the well bears her name in dedication.
Today, with Aylesbury growing, the village is at risk of becoming a suburb of the larger town. All that separates the two presently is a field of allotments about a hundred yards wide, owned by Bierton with Broughton Parish Council.
Bierton Church of England Combined School is a mixed
voluntary controlled,
Church of England primary school, which takes children from the age of four through to the age of eleven. The school has approximately 250 pupils.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Bierton'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://bierton.totallyexplained.com">Bierton Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
