Swanbourne
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the suburb of Perth, Western Australia see Swanbourne, Western Australia; Swanbourne Lake is in the grounds of Arundel Castle.
| Swanbourne | |
  Swanbourne shown within Buckinghamshire |
|
| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| District | Aylesbury Vale |
| Shire county | Buckinghamshire |
| Region | South East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MILTON KEYNES |
| Postcode district | MK17 |
| Dialling code | 01296 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Buckinghamshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| European Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Buckingham |
| List of places: UK • England • Buckinghamshire | |
Swanbourne is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Aylesbury Vale, about two miles east of Winslow, three miles west of Stewkley.
The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and possibly means 'swan stream'. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 792 the village was recorded as Suanaburna.
The manor of Swanbourne used to belong to Woburn Abbey, but now belongs to the Fremantle family. The Fremantle family, originally from Aston Abbotts, have a strong naval tradition. Sir Thomas Francis Fremantle (1798–1890) had huge interests in Australia which is why there is a Fremantle, Swanbourne and Cottesloe named for him in Western Australia. He was later created 1st Baron Cottesloe. Various members of the Fremantle family now live in more modest houses in the village.
The large manor house still owned by the Fremantle family trust is now a prep school called Swanbourne House School. Swanbourne Church of England School is a mixed, voluntary aided, primary school, which has approximately 15 pupils from the age of four through to the age of nine.
The present head of the family is Commander John Tapling Fremantle, 5th Baron Cottesloe. Lord Cottesloe, a former Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire still lives in the village, as does his daughter Elizabeth, the Hon. Mrs. Duncan Smith with her husband Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative politician.
There was an agricultural strike in Swanbourne in 1873, led by members of the Primitive Methodist Chapel who were in the National Agricultural Labourer's Union (NALU).
Swanbourne has a shop in Mursley Road, St Swithun's Anglican Church and a Methodist Chapel.
Swanbourne Baptist Church, in Mursley Road, was built in 1809, rebuilt in 1863 and closed in 1972, when it converted to a dwelling.
Swanbourne Methodist Church is in Nearton End. The first Chapel was built for the Primitive Methodists in 1858 and a new one was built in 1907. Formerly in the Stewkley Circuit, then the Leighton Buzzard Circuit, the church is now in the Aylesbury Vale Circuit. Sunday services are at 6pm with a lively Sunday School each week at 10.30am.
A new pub called "The Betsey Wynne" opened at the end of July 2006. It is on the Mursley Road.
Until 1967, Swanbourne had its own railway station on the Varsity Line, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the village and half way to Little Horwood. It was also about the same distance from Mursley.
[edit] References
- Ken Reading "Swanbourne: History of an Anglo-Saxon Town" available from Swanbourne Village Shop
- Frankie Fisher "We Reap Where They Have Sown – an account of Primitive Methodism in Swanbourne", available from Swanbourne Methodist Church
