Hedgerley Explained

Official Name:Hedgerley
Coordinates:51.576°N -0.602°W
Os Grid Reference:SU9687
Static Image Name:Hedgerley Church.JPG
Static Image Caption:Saint Mary the Virgin parish church
Static Image 2 Name:Cottages in Hedgerley - geograph.org.uk - 150560.jpg
Static Image 2 Caption:Cottages in Hedgerley
Population:873
Population Ref:(2011 census including Jordans)[1]
Area Total Km2:6.8
Civil Parish:Hedgerley
Unitary England:Buckinghamshire
Lieutenancy England:Buckinghamshire
Region:South East England
Country:England
Constituency Westminster:Beaconsfield
Post Town:Slough
Postcode District:SL2
Postcode Area:SL
Dial Code:01753

Hedgerley is a village and civil parish in South Bucks district in Buckinghamshire, England. The parish is centred 3miles south-east of Beaconsfield and 2.5miles south-west of Gerrards Cross. The parish has incorporated the formerly separate parish of Hedgerley Dean since 1934 (which was once a hamlet in parish of Farnham Royal).[2]

The toponym name "Hedgerley" is derived from the Old English meaning "Hycga's woodland clearing". In manorial rolls in 1195 it was recorded as Huggeleg.[3]

Architecture and geography

Situated in the foothills of the Chiltern Hills, Hedgerley is a linear layout of red-brick and timber-framed cottages, amongst which Victoria Cottages date from the 16th century.[4] It is bounded to the north by the M40 motorway.

The old Quaker House on the northern edge of the village dates from 1487.

The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary the Virgin was designed by the Gothic Revival architect Benjamin Ferrey and built in 1852.[4] The Tudor Revival Rectory was built in 1846.[4]

In film, fiction and the media

The 1953 British film Genevieve was shot on roads around Pinewood Studios and the couples stop for a “hair of the dog” at the old (now demolished) One Pin pub with Genevive seen driving down Hedgerley Hill as well as actors John Gregson and Dinah Sheridan filmed in Collinswood Road.[5]

Scenes from Lionel Jeffries' 1972 family film The Amazing Mr Blunden were filmed in the village and at the church.

The village including the fields and woods of the parish featured in the episode "Secrets & Spies" of Midsomer Murders.

Demography

+ 2011 Published Statistics: Population, home ownership and extracts from Physical Environment, surveyed in 2005
Output areaHomes owned outrightOwned with a loanSocially rentedPrivately rentedOtherkm2 roadskm2 waterkm2 domestic gardenskm2 domestic buildingskm2 non-domestic buildingsUsual residents km2
Civil parish125 126 66 36 3 0.113 0.016 0.243 0.033 0.014 873 6.8

The village's most notable resident was the infamous Judge Jeffreys (1645–89).

A few fields in the parish are called the sea fields as in spring they become full with bluebells.

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Key Statistics: Dwellings; Quick Statistics: Population Density; Physical Environment: Land Use Survey 2005 . 25 January 2015 . 11 February 2003 . https://web.archive.org/web/20030211201309/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/ . dead .
  2. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10195974 A Vision of Britain through Time: Relationships / unit history of Hedgerley
  3. Oxford Dictionary of Place Names
  4. Pevsner, 1973, page 160
  5. Web site: Pub used for classic film bulldozed.