Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire
Historical Description
Whitchurch, a large village and a parish in Bucks. The village stands 5 miles N by W of Aylesbury, where there are stations on the G.W.R. and L. & N.W.R. It was once a market-town, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Aylesbury. The parish comprises 1718 acres; population of the civil parish, 709; of the ecclesiastical, with Creslow, 721. There is a parish council consisting of seven members. A castle, built in the 17th century by Hugh de Bolebec, was here, and has left some traces. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford; net value, £220 with residence. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church is an ancient edifice of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, and S porch with a lofty embattled western tower. There are Primitive Methodist and Wesleyan chapels.
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 | Whitchurch St. John the Evangelist | |
Hundred | Cottesloe | |
Poor Law union | Aylesbury |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1653.
Churches
Church of England
St. John the Evangelist (parish church)
The church of St. John the Evangelist, situated on a height, is an ancient building of stone in the Decorated atyle, consisting of a large chancel, clerestoried nave of four bays, aisles, south porch with a lofty embattled western tower, containing 6 bells and a clock: on the south side is a large sun dial dated 1828: the arches of the nave are supported on the north side by octagonal and on the south side by circular pillars: the chancel was partially restored in 1853: Sir Edward Smythe, formerly Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, and lord of the manor, was buried here in February, 1681: the communion plate was for the most part his gift: there is a piscina and triple aumbry in the south aisle, a double piscina and triple sedilia in the chancel, and a stained memorial window to John Tattam, d. 1854, and Mary Ann his wife, d. 1853: on the north wall of the nave is a remarkable relief in memory of John Westcar, carved by Gibson: on the north wall is a large stone tablet bearing the names of those, men of this parish who lost their lives in the Great War, 1914-18: the church was restored in 1911, the original timber in the roofs being carefully preserved, the old lead recast and relaid and the ancient features of the church retained: there are 260 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Whitchurch was in Aylesbury Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Whitchurch from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Whitchurch (St. John the Evangelist))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Buckinghamshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Whitchurch 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