Beachampton

Beachampton
Parish church of the Assumption
Beachampton
Location within Buckinghamshire
Interactive map of Beachampton
Population184 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceSP7737
Civil parish
  • Beachampton
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townMilton Keynes
Postcode districtMK19
Dialling code01908
PoliceThames Valley
FireBuckinghamshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament

Beachampton is a village and civil parish beside the River Great Ouse in the unitary authority area of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is about 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Buckingham and a similar distance west of the centre of Milton Keynes.

History

The village toponym is derived from the Old English for "home farm by a stream".[3] In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was recorded as Bechentone.[4]

Parts of the village stand on high ground, but most of the village is prone to regular flooding by the stream that runs through the village, a tributary of the River Ouse.

The family name Beachampton originates in this village, and was first recorded in manorial records in 1175 when Osmer de Beachampton was a tenant here. There is no documentary evidence for the tradition that Hall Farm in Beachampton was the home of Catherine Parr when she was married to King Henry VIII.[5]

Beachampton Hall, a Grade II* listed manor house, has elements dating from the 15th century.[6] The present house was probably built by the Piggot family: Sir Thomas Piggot hosted a 1603 visit of Queen Anne of Denmark, wife of King James I and VI; the gardens were laid out at this time.[6]

The Church of England parish church of the Assumption of St Mary the Virgin dates from the 14th century,[5] and is grade II* listed.[7] G.E. Street, a Gothic Revival architect, rebuilt upper part of the bell-tower in 1873–74.[8] It has a large monument to Simon Benett Bt. (1682).[5][7] The Bennetts (or Bennets) have been Lords of Beachampton (styled Lord de Beachampton) and of the neighbouring manor of Calverton since 1616.[9] Both these manorial lordship titles, though not the lands, remain in the possession of the Bennett family to the present day.[10][11]

The parish has a further nine listed buildings and structures.[12]

References

  1. ^ Neighbourhood Statistics 2011 Census Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Accessed 3 February 2013
  2. ^ "Parliamentary 2024 Constituency Map for Buckingham and Bletchley". streetguide.co.uk. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  3. ^ "Key to English place names". Institute for Name-Studies, University of Nottingham. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  4. ^ Page (1927), p. 149.
  5. ^ a b c Page (1927), pp. 149–153.
  6. ^ a b Historic England (25 September 1951). "Beachampton Hall (1214834)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  7. ^ a b Historic England (13 July 1966). "CHURCH OF ST MARY (1288408)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  8. ^ Pevsner (1973), p. 61.
  9. ^ Taylor, John. "Lady Grace Bennett - butchered by the butcher". Milton Keynes Heritage Association. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  10. ^ "Beachampton Manor". The National Archives (United Kingdom).
  11. ^ "The Manorial Register". The Manorial Society of Great Britain.
  12. ^ "Search results: Beachampton". Historic England. Retrieved 4 January 2024.

Sources

Media related to Beachampton at Wikimedia Commons