Beaconsfield

Beaconsfield (/ˈ b ɛ k ən z f iː l d / ( listen ) BEK -ənz-feeld) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, 23+ 1 ⁄2 miles (38 kilometres) west-northwest of central London and 16 miles (26 kilometres) south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within five miles (eight kilometres): Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe.

The town is adjacent to the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has a wide area of Georgian, neo-Georgian and Tudor revival high street architecture, known as the Old Town. It is known for the first model village in the world and the National Film and Television School.

Beaconsfield was named 'Britain's richest town' (based on an average house price of £684,474) by The Daily Telegraph in 2008.[2] In 2011 the post town had the highest proportion in the UK of £1 million-plus homes for sale (at 47%, compared to 3.5% nationally).[3] In 2011, Burkes Road was named as the second most expensive road in the country outside London.[4][needs update ]

The parish comprises Beaconsfield town and land mainly given over arable land. Some beech forest remains to supply an established beech furniture industry in High Wycombe, the making of modal and various artisan uses.

Beaconsfield is recorded in property returns of 1185 where it is spelt Bekenesfeld, literally beechen field which would less archaically be read as clearing in the beeches.[5] Nearby Burnham Beeches is a forest named after the beech genus. Although, it is often incorrectly contested that Beaconsfield derived its name from a street called Beacon Hill in neighbouring village, Penn, which was a lookout point and beacon originating in Saxon times.[6] Local men were called to defend an island fort as the beacon was part of a chain from the naval base at Portsmouth via Butser Hill Hindhead, Hogsback and Windsor.[6]

The parish church at the crossroads of Old Beaconsfield is dedicated to St Mary, it was rebuilt of flint and bath stone by the Victorians in 1869. The United Reformed Church in Beaconsfield can trace its roots of non-conformist worship in the town back to 1704.[7] Old Beaconsfield has a number of old coaching inns along a wide street of red brick houses and small shops. It was the first (coach) stopping point on the road between London and Oxford, as it is equidistant between the two places.

An annual charter fair is traditionally held on 10 May and has been held every year since 1269[8] celebrating its 750th year in 2019.[9]

In the Victorian era the town was the home constituency of Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1868 and then again from 1874 until 1880 (in fact his home, Hughenden Manor is in the nearby town of High Wycombe). In 1876 he was made the 1st Earl of Beaconsfield by Queen Victoria with whom he was very popular. It was due to this that Beaconsfield became a popular road name in industrial cities across the country in the late Victorian era.

It is the burial place of the author G. K. Chesterton, Edmund Burke and the poet Edmund Waller, for whom a tall stone obelisk was erected over the tomb chest in St Mary and All Saints churchyard.[10]

In 1624, Waller's family acquired Wilton Manor and Hall Barn in the town.[5] "The Wallers, who came from Speldhurst, Kent," says the Victoria County history of Buckinghamshire, "were settled at Beaconsfield as early as the 14th century."

Beaconsfield is the home of Bekonscot model village, which was the first model village in the world; and Beaconsfield Film Studios becoming the National Film and Television School, where many film directors (including Nick Park) and technicians have learned their craft. It is the birthplace of Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld series of fantasy novels. Several scenes in Brief Encounter, a classic film about a woman in a dull middle class marriage who almost undertakes an affair, were filmed in the town: Station Parade served as Milford High Street and Boots on Burke's Parade was where Alec runs into Laura.[11] The exterior of the Royal Saracens Head Inn can be seen in the James Bond film Thunderball, and the interior shots for the pub in Hot Fuzz were filmed in the Royal Standard pub. The New Town also features in two other postwar colour films, John & Julie and The Fast Lady. Many other parts of the town have been used in films due to the old film studio and nearby Pinewood Studios. More recently[when? ] it has often been used as a "location" for the TV murder mystery series, Midsomer Murders and the Inspector Morse spinoff Lewis.[citation needed ]

The New Town was built one mile further to the north, when the railway arrived, at the turn of the 20th century. The railway station is on the Chiltern Main Line out of Marylebone towards High Wycombe it then branches to Aylesbury, and Birmingham Snow Hill. Old Beaconsfield which grew up on the Oxford Road in part to serve the coach traffic, is mirrored by New Beaconsfield which has grown up round the station.

Beaconsfield is also home to the Chiltern Shakespeare Company, which annually holds amateur performances of Shakespeare plays, Beaconsfield Theatre Group (over 60 years old), Beaconsfield Musical & Operatic Society (over 100 years old) and to The Young Theatre (at Beaconsfield), a theatre company "run by young people for young people" and winners of the All British Festival of One Act Plays in 2004.[citation needed ]

Local pop band The Hit Parade released their single "On The Road To Beaconsfield", a celebration of Enid Blyton and her life in the town, in 1994.[12][better source needed ]

The postal town of Beaconsfield is covered by two parliamentary constituencies: Chesham and Amersham at the northern tip, and Beaconsfield (which also covers Marlow and other neighbourhoods) towards the south. Joy Morrissey is the current MP for Beaconsfield constituency, which has its office in Beaconsfield town. She defeated fellow Conservative, Dominic Grieve QC, in the 2019 United Kingdom general election. Grieve, the former Attorney General, was first elected in 1997, and stood as an independent in the 2019 election having had the party whip removed.

Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom contested the seat in a by-election in 1982 and lost to Tim Smith, who with Neil Hamilton took part in the cash-for-questions affair which was the financial part of the Major ministry sleaze uncovered before the 1997 United Kingdom general election.[13] This was the only election Tony Blair ever lost.[14]

Liam Fox was a GP in Beaconsfield before being elected to Parliament, though he represented a seat in Somerset.

The town is represented by Councillors Anita Cranmer (Conservative Party), Jackson Ng (Conservative Party) and Alison Wheelhouse (Independent) at the Buckinghamshire Council. All 3 are also sitting councillors of Beaconsfield Town Council.

The M40 runs very close to the town with Junction 2 on the parish boundary and is 4 lanes wide in either direction (junctions 1a to 3). Junction 2 is home to Beaconsfield motorway services. Local roads include the A355 which connects Amersham and Slough via Beaconsfield. The A40 parallels the M40 from London to Oxford and for years was the main road between the two cities as its precursor. The B474 connects the town to Hazlemere.

Beaconsfield railway station provides services to Birmingham Snow Hill and Moor Street, Aylesbury, Oxford and London Marylebone. There are fast and slow services, the former currently reaching London in around twenty-five minutes. It has a car park for commuters who drive towards the capital along the M40.

Buckinghamshire Council operates a selective secondary education system, rather than a comprehensive system. Pupils can take the 11+ test at the beginning of year 6, when they are age 10 or 11. Approximately 30% attain a score that makes them eligible to go to grammar schools, as well as to the county's upper schools.

The population in 1841 was 1,732.[23]