Gayhurst
| Gayhurst | |
| Buckinghamshire | |
|---|---|
_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1654108.jpg) St Peter's church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SP849466 |
| Location: | 52°6’44"N, 0°45’39"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 128 (2011[1]) |
| Post town: | Newport Pagnell |
| Postcode: | MK16 |
| Dialling code: | 01908 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Milton Keynes |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Milton Keynes North |
Gayhurst is a village and parish in the Newport Hundred of Buckinghamshire, about two and a half miles north-west of Newport Pagnell.
The village name is an Old English language word meaning 'wooded hill where goats are kept'. In the Domesday Book in 1086 it was recorded as Gateherst. At that time the manor was owned by Bishop Odo of Bayeux.
Gayhurst had an outstation from the Bletchley Park code-breaking establishment, where some of the Bombes used to decode German Enigma messages in World War Two were housed.
Gayhurst House is reputed to have once belonged to Sir Francis Drake although it is not known whether he ever lived there, and for many years the gatehouse leading to the estate was a public house called the Francis Drake. The house certainly once belonged to the father-in-law of Sir Everard Digby (1578–1606), one of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, and he resided there for some time.
The church of St Peter was built in the classical style in 1728 to replace a mediæval church; the designer is unknown.[2]
References
- ↑ Neighbourhood Statistics 2011 Census, Accessed 3 February 2013
- ↑ Betjeman, J. (ed.) (1968) Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches: the South. London: Collins; p. 127
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Gayhurst) |
- 'Parishes : Gayhurst', Victoria History of the Counties of England, A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 4 (1927), pp. 343–347.
