Burnham, Buckinghamshire
Historical Description
Burnham, a village and a parish in Bucks. The village stands adjacent to the G.W.R., near the river Thames, 3 miles E by N of Maidenhead, under which it has a post, money order, and telegraph office. It was formerly a market-town. The parish embraces the liberties of Lower Boveney, Britwell, East Burnham, Cippenham, and Town and Wood. Acreage, 6810; population of the civil parish, 2633; of the ecclesiastical, with Boveney, 2749. An Augustinian abbey was founded about a mile from the village in 1265 by Richard, king of the Romans, and given at the dissolution to William Tyldesley, and some small remains of it still exist. A fragment of an ancient forest in this locality bears the name of Burnham Beeches. Though of small extent, it is a very beautiful piece of English forest scenery, its chief feature being a number of enormous beech trees, all pollarded. It is now preserved as an open space by the Corporation of the City of London, who purchased the land in 1879. The living is a vicarage, united with the perpetual curacy of Boveney, in the diocese of Oxford; net yearly value, £300 with residence. Patron, Eton College. The church is Early and Decorated English. The perpetual curacy of Dropmore is a separate benefice. Bishop Aldrich, who died in 1556, was a native, and the learned Jacob Bryant and George Grote were residents. There is a Congregational chapel, built in 1790 and enlarged in 1859, and a workmen's reading-room, opened in 1876.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Buckinghamshire | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Burnham St. Peter | |
Hundred | Burnham | |
Poor Law union | Eton |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1561
Churches
Church of England
St. Peter (parish church)
The parish church of St. Peter is a large edifice of flint with stone dressings, in the Norman, Early English and Decorated styles, consisting of chancel, nave of four bays, aisles, north transept, south porch and a tower at the east end of the south aisle, with oak shingled spire, and containing a clock and 8 bells, rehung in 1930: the south aisle retains a double piscina: the rood screen is a reproduction of an earlier one, some remains of which had been preserved: during repairs in 1939 an early 13th century tomb recess was discovered in the north transept: there are five stained windows; the reredos and the stained window in the transept were erected in 1864 by Anne, Lady Grenville, in memory of her husband, the Right Hon. William Wyndham Grenville, first and only Baron Grenville D.C.L., F.R.S., F.S.A. the distinguished statesman, who died 12 Jan. 1834, his sister and brother; there is also in the chancel a monument with demi-effigies, to George Evelyn, 1657, and his wife, 1661; another with emblematic figures by Bacon to the Hon. Mr, Justice Willes, d. 14 Jan. 1787; one to Bridget, wife of William Friend, 1721; a brass with effigies to Thomas Eyre, four sons and three daughters, dated 1581; another, with effigies to Gyles Eyre, c. 1500, and Elizabeth, his wife; one to Edmund Eyre, 1563 and five children; to Thomas Eyre, 1581, three wives and 7 children, and to William Aldriche and Gyles Eyre (no date): the whole fabric has been restored, and the interior reseated; and in 1891-2 the spire was renovated, 3 bells added, making the present total of 8, and other restorations effected: the exterior of the church was again restored in 1925: there are 500 sittings.
Congregational
Congregational chapel
There is a Congregational chapel here, built in 1790 and enlarged in 1859, having 140 sittings
Civil Registration
Burnham was in Eton Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Burnham from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Burnham (St. Peter))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Buckinghamshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Burnham are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Buckinghamshire papers online:
Visitations Heraldic
A full transcript of the Visitation of Buckinghamshire, 1634 is online