Cheddington
{{Short description|Village and civil parish in England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
|official_name= Cheddington
|static_image_name= St. Giles, Cheddington - The Tower - geograph.org.uk - 330028.jpg
|static_image_caption=St. Giles' parish church tower
|coordinates = {{coord|51.847|-0.664|display=inline,title}}
|os_grid_reference= SP9217
|population= 1,754
|population_ref= (2011 Census)[http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11121839&c=Cheddington&d=16&e=62&g=6403756&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1359857034630&enc=1 Neighbourhood Statistics 2011 Census], Accessed 3 February 2013
|civil_parish= Cheddington
|unitary_england = Buckinghamshire
|lieutenancy_england = Buckinghamshire
|region= South East England
|country= England
|constituency_westminster= Buckingham and Bletchley
|post_town= Leighton Buzzard
|postcode_district= LU7
|postcode_area= LU
|dial_code= 01296
|website= [http://www.cheddington.org.uk Welcome to Cheddington]
}}
Cheddington is a village and civil parish in the Buckinghamshire district of the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. The parish has an area of {{convert|1429|acre|ha}}.
The village is about 6 miles northeast of Aylesbury and three miles north of Tring in Hertfordshire. The hamlet of Cooks Wharf has grown up where the main road into the village from Pitstone crosses the Grand Union Canal.
Archaeology
At Southend Hill near the village are the remains of an Iron Age hill fort which has been largely obliterated through arable cultivation.[http://www.aylesburyvale.gov.uk/GetAsset.aspx?id=fAAyADcAMgAwAHwAfABGAGEAbABzAGUAfAB8ADAAfAA1 AVDC & Bucks CC Aylesbury Vale Landscape Character Assessment] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904200632/http://www.aylesburyvale.gov.uk/GetAsset.aspx?id=fAAyADcAMgAwAHwAfABGAGEAbABzAGUAfAB8ADAAfAA1 |date=4 September 2011 }}, retrieved 23 April 2009
History
The earliest known record of the village is in the Domesday Book of 1086, in which it is called Cetendone, which is Old English for "Cetta's Hill". The Church of England parish church of Saint Giles was originally Norman. There is also a Methodist church with a large congregation.
Cheddington manor house is a much gabled and half-timbered red-brick building under a tiled roof, dating from the 16th century.
In 1963 Cheddington featured in the national press as it was near the location of the Great Train Robbery of 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge in the hamlet of Ledburn.{{cite news
|url=http://www.btp.police.uk/History%20Society/Publications/History%20Society/Crime%20on%20line/The%20Great%20Train%20Robbery.htm
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031225144153/http://www.btp.police.uk/History%20Society/Publications/History%20Society/Crime%20on%20line/The%20Great%20Train%20Robbery.htm
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=25 December 2003
|title=British Transport Police History: The Great Train Robbery
|publisher=British Transport Police
|access-date=25 July 2007
}}
In 1984, Cheddington received national notoriety as the location of the first assault by Malcolm Fairley, a violent armed rapist, nicknamed "The Fox" because of his cunning nocturnal attacks.[http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/nostalgia/crimelibrary/malcolmfairley/ Malcolm Frairley- The Hunt for the Fox published by Watford Observer] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216135251/http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/nostalgia/crimelibrary/malcolmfairley/ |date=16 December 2012 }}, Accessed 25 February 2013
In the last thirty years{{clarify|date=April 2024}} Cheddington, due to its railway station and easy access to four towns, has more than quadrupled in size.[http://www.cheddington.org.uk/media/2/files/Village%20Guide%202008.pdf Cheddington Residents Association Village Guide]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
In 2005 Cheddington won the Buckinghamshire Best Kept Village Competition DeFraine Cup[http://www.bucksalc.gov.uk/competition.htm Buckinghamshire Best Kept Village Competition DeFraine Cup] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702122747/http://www.bucksalc.gov.uk/competition.htm |date=2 July 2007 }} and also the Buckinghamshire Village of the Year Competition. It went on to win the East of England Young People award in the national competition. Cheddington also won the smaller villages category in the 2006 and 2007 Buckinghamshire Village of the Year Competition and received a special community building award.{{cn|date=April 2024}}
Amenities
The village has two public houses: The Old Swan, a thatched inn, and The Three Horseshoes. A third inn, known as the Rosebery Arms, designed by the Victorian architect George Devey has been converted into houses.
Cheddington Combined School is a mixed community primary school that takes children between the ages of four and 11. The school has about 200 pupils, and its catchment area includes the neighbouring parishes of Horton and Slapton.
Cheddington has various clubs including a tennis club, a bell ringers' association, a badminton club, a history society, a bowls club, a petanque club and a football team.
Transport
Cheddington railway station, located approximately {{convert|1|km|mi}} to the north of the village, is served by London Northwestern Railway services between {{rws|London Euston}} and {{rws|Milton Keynes Central}}.{{cite web |title=Cheddington Train Station |url=https://www.londonnorthwesternrailway.co.uk/stations/cheddington |publisher=London Northwestern Railway |access-date=10 February 2025 |language=en}} The station opened in 1838 as Aylesbury Junction. The Cheddington to Aylesbury Line, which formerly ran between Cheddington and {{rws|Aylesbury High Street}}, closed in 1963.{{cite web |title=Bradshaw’s Britain: destination Bletchley |url=https://www.railmagazine.com/research-hub/comment/2024/08/05/bradshaw-s-britain-destination-bletchley |website=www.railmagazine.com |language=en}}
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite book |editor-last=Page |editor-first=W.H. |editor-link=William Henry Page |series=Victoria County History |title=A History of the County of Buckingham, Volume 3 |year=1925 |pages=331–334}}
- {{cite book |last=Pevsner |first=Nikolaus |author-link=Nikolaus Pevsner |series=The Buildings of England |title=Buckinghamshire |orig-year=1966 |year=1973 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Harmondsworth |isbn=0-14-071019-1 |page=84}}
External links
{{Commons category|Cheddington}}
- [http://www.cheddingtonschool.org/ Cheddington Combined School]
- [http://www.cheddingtontennis.co.uk/ Cheddington Tennis Club]
{{Aylesbury Vale}}
{{authority control}}