Fawley, Buckinghamshire
Historical Description
Fawley, a parish in Buckinghamshire, contiguous to Oxfordshire, and near the river Thames, 3 miles NNW from Henley-upon-Thames station on the G.W.R. Post town and money order and telegraph office, Henley-upon-Thames. Acreage, 2213; population, 266. The manor belonged to the Whitelocks, one of whom wrote " The Memorials." Fawley Court is the seat of the Mackenzie family, was built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1684, is a large and handsome structure amid fine grounds, and occupies the site of a previous mansion which was garrisoned in 1642, for Charles I. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford; gross yearly value, £394 with residence. The church, which is a building of flint and stone in the Norman style, contains some interesting memorials of the Whitelocks.
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 | Fawley St. Mary | |
Hundred | Desborough | |
Poor Law union | Henley |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1573.
Churches
Church of England
The Virgin Mary (parish church)
The parish church of the Virgin Mary is a small building of cut flint with stone dressings, which has been much altered, and consists of chancel, nave, transepts, organ chamber and an ancient western tower containing 3 bells: the tower was restored in 1867 and its lower stage forms a porch: the nave was thoroughly restored and a north transept with organ chamber and vestry added in 1883: the south transept, formerly used as a vestry, is thrown open to the church. On the steps leading to the chancel is a brass dated 1347 and bearing an inscription in Norman-French to Richard de Aldbourne, a former rector, who rebuilt the then existing chancel. The church contains a fine canopied monument of black marble, with recumbent figures in stone, erected by Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke kt. keeper of the Great Seal during the Protectorate, to his parent, Sir James Whitelocke kt. Justice of the King's Bench, ob. 22 June, 1632, and his wife Elizabeth (Bulstrode); the monument is surmounted on either side with figures of Mercy and Justice and is adorned with escutcheons of arms; the carving on the pulpit and elsewhere in the church is said to be by Grinling Gibbons, and came from the private chapel or parish church of the Duke of Chandos estate at Canons, Middlesex: there is a complete list of rectors dating from 1313 to the present time: there are 200 sittings: in the churchyard is a mausoleum for each of the families of Freeman and Mackenzie: a lych gate of oak and stone was erected in 1885 by his relatives in memory of the Rev. Henry Almack D.D. rector 1843-85.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Fawley was in Wycombe Registration District from 1837 to 1845, Henley Registration District from 1845 to 1932, and Wycombe Registration District from 1932 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Fawley from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Fawley (St. Mary))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Buckinghamshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Fawley 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