Latimer, Buckinghamshire

Latimer is a village that sits on the border between Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, England. In 2013, the civil parish of Latimer was renamed, Latimer and Ley Hill. The parish, forming part of the Buckinghamshire district of Chiltern, includes the villages of Latimer, Ley Hill and Tyler's Hill.[2]

Latimer
Latimer
Location within Buckinghamshire
Population977 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceTQ005995
Civil parish
  • Latimer and Ley Hill
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCHESHAM
Postcode districtHP5
Dialling code01494
PoliceThames Valley
FireBuckinghamshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament

History

Latimer was originally joined with the adjacent village of Chenies. Both were anciently called Isenhampstead, at a time when there was a royal palace in the vicinity. However, in the reign of King Edward III of England the lands were split between two manorial barons: Thomas Cheyne in the village that later became known as 'Chenies', and William Latimer in this village. Latimer came into possession of the manor in 1326.

At the time of the English Civil War Latimer belonged to the Earl of Devonshire. When Charles I was captured by the Parliamentarian forces he was brought to Latimer on his way to London.

The triangular village green has two memorials. The first is a memorial to men who fought and died during the Boer War in South Africa. The base consists of local pudding-stones with the names of the 132 men inscribed on an obelisk of granite. It was officially unveiled by Lady Chesham on 4 July 1903. The other memorial to a horse called Villebois; a black charger which Lord Chesham brought back from South Africa. It died in February 1911 and a cairn of local pudding-stones was put up in memory in June 1912.

Buildings

Latimer House is an historic country house, the former home of Lord Chesham. It was used in the Second World War for interrogating German defectors and prisoners. It is now a deVere hotel and called the De Vere Latimer Estate.

The small village includes 17th- and 18th-century cottages around the triangular village green with a pump on it. The church of St Mary Magdelane was rebuilt by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1867. The rectory was built in the 18th century in grey and red brick.

In Ley Hill there is a common and a Methodist Chapel. Tyler's Hill is also in Latimer & Ley Hill parish and includes St George's Anglican Church. The graveyard at Tyler's Hill which serves Ley Hill and Tyler's Hill is run by Latimer and Ley Hill parish council.

Railway

Chalfont & Latimer station is situated in nearby Little Chalfont on the Chiltern Line between Aylesbury and London Marylebone with London Underground services between Baker Street and Amersham.

Cultural references

Latimer was the location used in the Department S episode, "The Pied Piper of Hambledown", first aired on 30 September 1969.

References
  1. Neighbourhood Statistics 2011 Census, Accessed 2 February 2013
  2. "Chiltern District Council" (PDF). Lgbce. Retrieved 2 March 2018.

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