Akeley

From Wikishire
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Akeley
Buckinghamshire

Akeley from the churchyard in 2006
Location
Grid reference: SP7037
Location: 52°1’59"N, -0°58’12"W
Data
Population: 514  (2011[1])
Post town: Buckingham
Postcode: MK18
Dialling code: 01280
Local Government
Council: Buckinghamshire
Parliamentary
constituency:
Buckingham
Website: Akeley Parish Council

Akeley is a village and parish in the Buckingham Hundred of Buckinghamshire, about two and a half miles north of Buckingham itself. The village is on the Towcester road (A413) between the villages of Lillingstone Dayrell and Maids Moreton. The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 545 reducing to 514 at the 2011 Census.[1]

Village background

The village name is derived from the Old English for "Oak Field". The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded it as Achelei.

The Square, Akeley – this aerial view was taken in 1996 soon after the renovation of Verendale, the thatched cottage at the centre of the picture, was completed. The brick cottage is The Old School House and the building in the foreground is The Old School. The Bull & Butcher pub in The Square is part seen far right.

The village was controlled by the Cluniac priory of nearby Newton Longville on behalf of the priory of Saint Faith in Longueville in northern France.[2] The parish church of St James the Apostle was built in Akeley in 1154. It was rebuilt to designs by the Gothic Revival architect John Tarring in 1854[3] and restored in 1901.[2] By the mid 20th century St. James' had fallen into disrepair and in 1982 it was demolished.[4] Akeley presently does not have its own parish church; it is part of the North Buckingham ecclesiastical parish.

Akeley once had a mediæval deer park, and a school where poor children were taught to make lace.

Amenities

The village is a small primary school St James Church of England School, and outside the village the large private Akeley Wood School.

The village has a pub (Bull & Butcher) and opened a new village hall in 2006.[5]

Akeley hosts an annual horticultural show, which has been run since 1976.

Stockholt

The ancient hamlet of Stockholt once lay within the parish boundary. It has been amalgamated with the modern village.

References

Sources

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Akeley)

 This Buckinghamshire article is a stub: help to improve Wikishire by building it up.