Gayhurst

{{short description|Civil parish in the City of Milton Keynes, England}}

{{Infobox UK place

|country = England

|coordinates = {{coord|52.1122|-0.7608|display=inline,title}}

|population= 128

|population_ref=(2011 Census){{NOMIS2011|id=E04001254|title=Gayhurst|accessdate=18 November 2019}}

|official_name= Gayhurst

|civil_parish=Gayhurst

|unitary_england= Milton Keynes City Council

| shire_district = City of Milton Keynes

|lieutenancy_england=Buckinghamshire

|region= South East England

|constituency_westminster= Milton Keynes North

|post_town= NEWPORT PAGNELL

|postcode_district = MK16

|postcode_area= MK

|dial_code= 01908

|os_grid_reference= SP849466

| module = {{Infobox mapframe|stroke-width=1|zoom=12|width=240}}

}}

Gayhurst is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England.{{cite web |url=https://www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/your-council-and-elections/councillors-and-committees/parish-and-town-councils/contact-your-parish-or-town-council | title = Contact your Parish, Town or Community Council | publisher = Milton Keynes Council | access-date= 10 October 2020}} It is about {{convert|2.5|mi}} NNW of Newport Pagnell, and {{convert|5|mi}} north of Central Milton Keynes.

The village name is an Old English language word meaning 'wooded hill where goats are kept'.{{cite web |title=Key to English place names |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Buckinghamshire/Gayhurst |publisher=Institute for Name-Studies, University of Nottingham |access-date=24 November 2022}} In the Domesday Book in 1086 it was recorded as Gateherst; later names include Goathurst. At that time the manor was owned by Bishop Odo of Bayeux.{{cite book |chapter-url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/bucks/vol4/pp343-347 |series = Victoria History of the Counties of England |publisher= Constable & Co. Ltd. |title= A History of the County of Buckingham |chapter = Parishes : Gayhurst |volume = 4 |pages=343{{ndash}}347 |editor= William Paige | date=1927}}

History

In 1582, Queen Elizabeth I made a grant of Gayhurst Manor "in the event of its reversion to the Crown" to Sir Francis Drake, but there is no record that he ever received it. The house once belonged to Sir Everard Digby (1578–1606),{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Digby, Sir Everard | volume= 8 |last= Yorke | first= Philip Chesney |author-link= | pages = 260–261 |short= 1}} one of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. His son, Sir Kenelm Digby (1603–1665), was an English courtier, diplomat, natural philosopher and astrologer.{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Digby, Sir Kenelm | volume= 8 |last= Yorke | first= Philip Chesney |author-link= | pages = 261–262 |short= 1}} He was born at Gayhurst.

Gayhurst had an outstation from the Bletchley Park codebreaking establishment, where one of the Bombes used to decode German Enigma messages in World War Two were housed.{{cite web |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=344934&resourceID=19191 |title=Historic England Research Records {{!}} Gayhurst House |publisher=Historic Gateway |access-date=28 November 2022}}

=Listed buildings and structures=

The parish has two buildings listed at Grade I,{{NHLE |num=1115951 |desc=Flat numbers 13 to 26, Gayhurst Court }};
{{NHLE |num=1211931 |desc=Church of St Peter, Gayhurst Court }} five at Grade II* and 20 at grade II.{{cite web |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/results/?searchType=NHLE+Simple&search=Gayhurst&page=1 |title= Search Results for 'Gayhurst' | publisher=Historic England |access-date=24 November 2022}} The (Grade I listed) Church of St Peter was built in the classical style in 1728 to replace a medieval church; the designer is unknown.Betjeman, J. (ed.) (1968) Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches: the South. London: Collins; p. 127

References

Category:Villages in Buckinghamshire

Category:Areas of Milton Keynes

Category:Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire