Quainton

Quainton
Buckinghamshire
Quainton church and the Winwood Almshouses
Location
Grid reference:	SP745201
Location:	51°52’26"N, 0°54’58"W
Data
Population:	1,247  (2001)
Post town:	Aylesbury
Postcode:	HP22
Dialling code:	01296
Local Government
Council:	Buckinghamshire
Parliamentary constituency:	Buckingham

Quainton (formerly Quainton Malet) is a village in Buckinghamshire, standing 5 miles northwest of Aylesbury.

The village has two churches (Church of England and Baptist), a school and two public houses. The location means that while many commute to London, others are employed in neighbouring towns and villages.

The name of the village is Old English: cwene tun means Queen's Estate. It is not known to which queen this refers, but possibly Edith, the wife of King Edward the Confessor is meant, or that the estate was customarily given to the Queen. Certainly Queen Edith held manors in this part of Buckinghamshire, including a hunting lodge at Mentmore. Edward the Confessor had a palace at nearby Brill.

About the village

The remains of the preaching cross on the green

The former suffix Malet refers to the Malet family who were lords of the manor from 1066 until about 1348. At least one member went on the crusades, and had associations with the Hospitallers, the organization credited with rebuilding Quainton church circa 1340. The Hospitallers erected the cross on the village green, the base and shaft of which still remain.

The village green in the centre of the village has grouped around it some of the half-timbered thatched cottages for which the village is known.

Quainton Village Green with the windmill

Parish Church

The parish church is dedicated to St Mary and the Holy Cross. It is a 14th-century building of the Decorated Gothic style. The west tower was built later in the 15th century. The church contains many memorial brasses and sculpture, including the tomb of Thomas Stayner of 1689. The stone effigies depict the deceased lying in full armour, while his widow rests beside him, half sitting regarding her husband.

In the chancel are a reredos and sedilia by William White who was responsible for the heavy Victorian restoration and rebuilding of the chancel in 1877. The church also contains Victorian stained glass windows. Richard Brett, a former rector of Quainton and one of the translators of the King James Version of the Bible, is buried in the chancel.

Close by the church is the former rectory, a large house described by Pevsner as of vitreous red brick. The principal facade has a three bayed centre and two canted bays. The house contains 16th century linenfold panelling.

Winwood Almshouses

Plaque on the porch of the Almshouses

The Winwood Almshouses, still inhabited, were built to house the poor, their gothic style of architecture belying the construction date of 1687. They are a terrace of eight small cottages, one storey high with a row of dormers in the attics. These attic windows have alternating small and large gables. The terrace is decorated by two porches, with a plaque above. The almshouses are further adorned by diagonally placed chimney stacks.

The plaque on the porch of the Almshouses reads:

Anno Domini 1687 —- These Alms houses were - then erected endowed - by Richard Winwood Esq. - son, heir of the Rt. Honourable - Sir Ralph Winwood Knight - Principal Secretary of State - to King James I

Windmill

One of the most visible buildings is the 70 ft high Quainton Windmill, built in 1830–32. Derelict for the greater part of the 20th century it was restored in 1997 and can grind wheat into flour.

Quainton Road and the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

Main article: Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

Quainton was once linked to London by train to Marylebone and Baker Street, and to Rugby, but passenger services to Quainton Road ceased in 1963. Nevertheless, the station and tracks were retained and have been transformed into the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, where a great many engines and carriages are on display, from the age of steam to some later, unlamented British Rail rolling stock.

Trains from Aylesbury run to connect with events at the Museum at Quainton Road railway station on some Bank Holidays. The Centre has a working "Thomas the Tank Engine" taking carriages up and down the tracks.

The station was also once a junction for the light railway (closed in 1936), sometimes known as the Brill Tramway, connecting Quainton with Brill village.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Quainton)

• Quainton village website