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Long Crendon

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"This parish covers 3348 acres, of which about 1413 are arable, 1587 permanent grass, and 2 woods. The soil is loam and clay on a subsoil of Kimmeridge Clay, Portland Beds, and Gault. The level of the land varies from rather over 200 ft. above the ordnance datum in the south by the thames to about 400 ft. in the north, near the Chilton boundary. In the 16th century Leland entered Long Crendon over Crendon Bridge of four stone arches and journeyed thence 'by some hilly and aftar great pasture ground and grounds fruitfull of benes.' The bridge or its successor, now bearing the name of Thame Bridge, still carries the road to Bicester across the Thame. Some distance north-east of the bridge it flows past the site of Nutley Abbey, a house of Austin Canons, the remains of which are now to a great extent absorbed in a substantial modern mansion, the property and residence of Mr. H. Reynolds." [© copyright of the editors of The Victoria Histories of the Counties of England]

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Bibliography

The following reference sources have been used in the construction of this page, and may be referred to for further detail. Most if not all of these volumes are available in the Reference section of the County Library in Aylesbury.

"Buckinghamshire Contributions for Ireland 1642", Wilson J., 1983.
"Buckinghamshire Returns of the Census of Religious Worship 1851", Legg E. ed., 1991, ISBN 0 901198 27 7.
"Magna Britannia: Buckinghamshire", Lysons S. and Lysons D., 1806.
"The Place-Names of Buckinghamshire", Mawer A. and Stenton F.M., 1925.
"The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Buckinghamshire", Page W. ed., 1905-1928
"War Memorials and War Graves: Ashendon Hundred, Volume 5", Peter Quick and Bertrand Shrimpton.

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Cemeteries

The following Monumental Inscriptions are available as publications or as part of a Society library:

* = material held in a Society library is generally available for loan to all members either via post, or by collection at a meeting

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Census

In 1642 there were 67 people named in the tax returns for contributions for Ireland. Between them they were assessed at £8.16.0 of which sum Mr Lenton contributed £1.10.0

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 228 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Long Crendon.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 991 inhabitants in 241 families living in 205 houses recorded in Long Crendon.

Census YearPopulation of Long Crendon
1801*991
1811*989
1821*1212
1831*1382
18411656
18511700
18611570
18711365
18811179
18911187
19011075

* = No names were recorded in census documents from 1801 to 1831.
** = Census documents from 1911 to 2001 are only available in summary form. Names are witheld under the 100 year rule.

Microfilm copies of all census enumerators' notebooks for 1841 to 1891 are held at the Local Studies Libraries at Aylesbury and Milton Keynes, as well as centrally at the PRO. A table of 19th century census headcount by parish is printed in the VCH of Bucks, Vol.2, pp 96-101.

Availability of census transcripts and indexes.

  • 1851 - Full transcripts and indexes for Buckinghamshire are available on CD-ROM, hard copy and microfiche from the Buckinghamshire Family History Society.
  • 1861 - Available on CD-ROM with advanced search and mapping capabilities etc. from the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.
  • 1881
    • Available on CD-ROM from the Church of the Latter Day Saints, as part of the National 1881 Census Index.
    • Available on CD-ROM for Buckinghamshire, with advanced search and mapping capabilities etc. from Drake Software.
  • 1891 - Available on CD-ROM with advanced search and mapping capabilities etc. from the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society.
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Church Records

The original copies of the parish registers for St Mary, Long Crendon have been deposited in the Buckinghamshire Record Office in Aylesbury, and they hold the following years:

EventDates covered
Christenings1559 - 1964
Marriages1559 - 1966
Burials1559 - 1969

Copies or indexes to the parish registers are available from societies as follows:

Event
Society Library*
Dates covered
Society
Christenings
1559 - 1794
Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society
Marriages
1559 - 1837
Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society
Burials
1559 - 1842
Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society

* = material held in a Society library is generally available for loan to all members either via post, or by collection at a meeting

An ecclesiastical census was carried out throughout England on 30 March 1851 to record the attendance at all places of worship. These returns are in the Buckinghamshire Record Office and have been published by the Buckinghamshire Record Society (vol 27). The returns for Long Crendon showed the following numbers:

ChurchAttendance
Long Crendon, St Mary160 - Afternoon General Congregation
115 - Afternoon Sunday Scholars
275 - Afternoon Total
Long Crendon,
Particular Baptist Meeting
House
200 - Morning General Congregation
140 - Morning Sunday Scholars
340 - Morning Total

230 - Afternoon General Congregation
140 - Afternoon Sunday Scholars
370 - Afternoon Total

360 - Evening General Congregation
360 - Evening Total

Long Crendon,
Primitive Methodist
12 - Morning General Congregation

12 - Afternoon General Congregation

20 - Evening General Congregation

Long Crendon,
Wesleyan Methodist
100 - Morning General Congregation
80 - Morning Sunday Scholars
180 - Morning Total

150 - Afternoon General Congregation
80 - Afternoon Sunday Scholars
230 - Afternoon Total

100 - Evening General Congregation
100 - Evening Total

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Long Crendon which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

Long Crendon was described in 1806 in "Magna Britannia" as follows:

CRENDON or LONG CRENDON, in the hundred of Ashendon and deanery of Waddesdon, lies about two miles north of Thame, in Oxfordshire, and about nine miles south-west of Aylesbury: it is a populous village, nearly a mile in length, and had formerly a market on Thursdays, granted in 1218 to William Earl Marshall. The manor of Crendon was anciently the property of the Giffards Earls of Buckingham, who had a seat there; Crendon park is mentioned in the survey of Domesday. The manor passed by female descent to the noble families of Marshall and Warren, afterwards divided into three parts, among their co-heirs: these became distinct manors. One of them having been in the family of Bohun, became vested in the crown, and was given to the dean and chapter of Windsor in 1478: another became the property of All-Souls College, in Oxford: the third manor was in the Mortimers: Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, gave it in exchange for other lands, in the year 1357, to Sir William Ferrars, of the Groby family. At a later period it was in the Dormers, and is now the property of the Marquis of Buckingham. In the parish church is a handsome monument to Sir John Dormer, lord of this manor, who died in 1626. The great tithes which were given to Nutley Abbey, in this parish, by its founder, Walter Giffard, are now the property of the Marquis of Buckingham, who is patron of the donative.

Walter Giffard, the second and last Earl of Buckingham of that family, in conjunction with his wife Ermengard, founded a convent of Augustine monks, in the year 1162, in his park at Crendon, to which he gave the name of Noctele, Nutley, or de Parco Crendon. The park was given by the founder to the monastery, which was dedicated to St.Mary and St. John the Baptist. William Marshall gave the monks the privilege of the pastoral staff, which was confirmed by King John. The Bohuns had afterwards the patronage of Nutley Abbey, the revenues of which at the dissolution were valued, according to Dugdale, at 437 l. 6s. 8d1/2. Per annum. Richard Ridge, the last abbot, had a pension assigned him by the crown of 100 l. per annum in lieu of his office. The site of the abbey was granted by King Edward VI. to Sir William Paget; it was afterwards for a considerable time in the family of Lenton, from whom it passed to the Berties. It is now, together with the manor of Nutley, the property of Mr. Reynolds, a farmer, who resides in the remains of the Abbey-house. A great part of the ruins, as represented in Buck's view, have been since taken down: the ancient roof of the hall, which was Sixty-eight feet by twenty-three feet nine inches, was removed by the Bertie family, to Chesterton in Oxfordshire, its place having been supplied by a common tiled roof; this room is now used as a barn. On the inside of the east wall is a corbel-table in that style of architecture which prevailed in the reign of Henry III. richly ornamented with foliage. The small remains of the cloisters are now a pig-stye. Round the cornice of an ancient room in the farm-house, is the Stafford knot, several times repeated, with the following inscription in black letters, "En lui plaisance."

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SP695089 (Lat/Lon: 51.774466, -0.9941), Long Crendon which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

The name Crendon derives from the old english Creodan-dun, and means 'Creoda's hill'. The epithet Long aptly decribes the village, and it is believed to have been added to distinguish it from the not too distant Grendon Underwood.