Aston Sandford

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Aston Sandford
Buckinghamshire

St Michael and All Angels parish church
Location
Grid reference: SP7507
Location: 51°45’50"N, -0°54’18"W
Data
Population: 43  (2010 (est.))
Post town: Aylesbury
Postcode: HP17
Dialling code: 01296
Local Government
Council: Buckinghamshire
Parliamentary
constituency:
Buckingham

Aston Sandford is a tiny village and parish in the Ashendon Hundred of Buckinghamshire, about a mile east of Haddenham and four miles north-west of Princes Risborough.

The "Aston" part of the toponym is derived from the Old English for "Eastern Estate". At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 the village was known as Cold Aston, and both it and Haddenham were owned by the same manor, suggesting that Aston got its name from being the farming estate to the east of Haddenham. The owner of both places in 1086 was listed as Manno the Breton.

By 1199 the estate had been annexed by the Norman rulers and was placed into the extensive estates belonging to the heirs of Odo, Bishop of Bayeux: the Sandfords. It was from this time that the village became known as Aston Sandford.

The Church of England parish church of Saint Michael and All Angels is one of the smallest in England.[1] The nave is probably 12th-century and the chancel is probably 13th-century.[1] The chancel arch is also 13th-century.[2] The north-east window and blocked north doorway are probably 14th-century and a buttress on the west wall is probably 15th-century.[1] However, the building was so extensively restored and reworked in 1878 that it is difficult to date any of its features with certainty.[1]

The parish's rector from 1803-1821 was the biblical commentator Revd Thomas Scott, who trained the first missionaries of the Church Missionary Society here.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Page, 1927, pages 8-9
  2. Pevsner, 1973, page 53

Sources

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Aston Sandford)

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