Quainton, or Quainton-Malet (St. Mary)

QUAINTON, or Quainton-Malet (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Aylesbury, hundred of Ashendon, county of Buckingham, 6 miles (N. W.) from Aylesbury; containing, with the hamlets of Doddershall and Shipton-Lee, 1081 inhabitants, of whom 929 are in Quainton township. This place is situated between two roads which branch off from Aylesbury, one towards Buckingham and Banbury, and the other towards Bicester and Birmingham; and is nearly equidistant from Aylesbury and Winslow. The parish contains 5331 acres, of which a good proportion is woodland, and 316 acres are or were common; the soil, for the most part, is clay to a considerable depth, and the surface is in general level. Various kinds of stone are found in the hill immediately above the village; and a kind of iron sandstone is also met with. The females are employed in the manufacture of lace. An act for inclosing lands was passed in 1840. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £30. 12. 1., and in the patronage of the Ekins family: the tithes have been commuted for £780. 8., and there are 8½ acres of glebe. The church is a handsome structure with a tower, and contains several fine memorials to the Pigott and Dormer families: also a curious monument to the memory of Dr. Brett, one of the translators of the Bible in the reign of James I., and for forty years rector of the parish. Here is a place of worship for Baptists. Thomas Pigot, in 1704, bequeathed £300 for apprenticing children of Quainton and Grendon; and Lady Saye and Sele, in 1787, left for the same purpose property consisting, in 1804, of £5500 consols. and £5500 reduced annuities. Almshouses for six widows and widowers were founded and endowed by Richard Winwood, Esq.