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Wing

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(including the hamlets of Ascott, Burcott, Crafton and Littleworth)

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"The parish of Wing or Winge, with its hamlets, extends over an area of 5310 acres. The soil is chiefly a gravelly clay. Rateable value, £6621. Population, in 1861, 1502 souls. The Village, which is of high antiquity, is situated 3 miles S.W. by W. from Leighton Buzzard, and 2 1/2 miles from the Leighton Buzzard Station (at Linslade) of the London and North-Western Railway. It is of considerable size, is regularly built, and consists principally of two streets. The Act for dividing, alloting, and enclosing the open common, arable fields, common meadows, common and waste lands, within the parish of Wing, is dated 37th George III. (1797). The Grand Junction Canal, and the London and North-Western Railway run along the eastern boundary of the parish; and the road from Oxford to Cambridge passes through the village." [History and Topography of Buckinghamshire, by James Joseph Sheahan, 1862]

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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.
"Dictionary of English Place-Names", A.D. Mills, Oxford University Press, 1997, ISBN 0 19 28131 3
"History and Topography of Buckinghamshire", Sheahan, James Joseph, 1862
"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: Cottesloe Hundred, Bucks, Volume 2", Peter Quick.

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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 132 people named in the tax returns for contributions for Ireland. Between them they were assessed at £14.12.8 of which sum John Chappell contributed £0.13.4

In 1798 the Posse Comitatus listed 282 men between the ages of 16 and 60 in Wing, Ascott, Burcott and Crafton.

In the earliest government census of 1801, there were 993 inhabitants in 227 families living in 201 houses recorded in Wing.

Census YearPopulation of Wing
1801*993
1811*937
1821*1086
1831*1152
18411274
18511376
18611504
18711520
18811636
18911799
19011740

* = 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.

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Church History

Details of the stained glass in the church can be found on the following web sites (the site includes many photos):

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Church Records

The original copies of the parish registers for All Saints, Wing have been deposited in the Buckinghamshire Record Office in Aylesbury, and they hold the following years:

EventDates covered
Christenings1546 - 1956
Marriages1546 - 1998
Burials1546 - 1949

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

Event
Society Library*
Dates covered
Society
Christenings
1546 - 1812
Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society
Marriages
1546 - 1812
1889 - 1924
Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society
Burials
1546 - 1812
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 Wing showed the following numbers:

ChurchAttendance
Wing,
All Saints
77 - Morning General Congregation
84 - Morning Sunday Scholars
161 - Morning Total

73 - Afternoon General Congregation
84 - Afternoon Sunday Scholars
157 - Afternoon Total

Wing,
Baptist Meeting House
12 - Morning General Congregation
12 - Morning Total

25 - Afternoon General Congregation
25 - Afternoon Total

36 - Evening General Congregation
36 - Evening Total

Wing,
Burcott Baptist Chapel
40 - Evening General Congregation
Wing,
Crafton Independents
40 - Evening
40 - Total
Wing,
Primitive Methodist
Connection Chapel
120 - Afternoon General Congregation
47 - Afternoon Sunday Scholars
167 - Afternoon Total

150 - Evening General Congregation
150 - Evening Total

Wing,
Primitive Methodist
13 - Afternoon General Congregation
13 - Afternoon Total
Wing,
Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
200 - Afternoon General Congregation
92 - Afternoon Sunday Scholars
292 - Afternoon Total

250 - Evening General Congregation
250 - Evening Total

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Wing which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

Wing was described in 1806 in "Magna Britannia" as follows:

WING, in the hundred of Cotslow and deanery of Muresley, lies about eight miles north-east of Aylesbury, and about three miles and a half from Leighton-Busard, in Bedfordshire. The manor was given by the Empress Maud, to the abbot and convent of St. Nicholas at Angiers, who established a cell of Benedictine monks at Ascot, in this parish. This priory and the manor of Wing having been seized as the property of an alien monastery, were granted in 1416 to the nuns of St. Mary de Pré, near St. Albans. On the suppression of the smaller monasteries, the manor of Wing was given to Cardinal Wolsey: having been resumed by the king on his attainder, it was granted in 1532 to John Penn esq. and in 1544, (the king it is probable having repossessed it by an exchange) to Sir Robert Dormer, who entertained the Princess Elizabeth at Ascot-House, in 1554, when on her road to London as a prisoner, soon after her sister's accession to the throne: his Grandson, Sir Robert, was in 1615 created Baron Dormer of Wing. The eldest son of the first Lord Dormer, who was in 1628 created Viscount Ascot and Earl of Carnarvon, lost his life fighting bravely for his king at the battle of Newbury, in 1643. The titles of Earl of Carnarvon and Viscount Ascot became extinct on the death of Charles Earl of Carnarvon, without male issue, in 1709: the title of Baron Dormer of Wing devolved to the descendants of a younger son of the first Lord Dormer, who settled at Peterley, in this county. The manor of Wing, and most of the Buckinghamshire estates, passed in marriage with his elder daughter and coheir, to Philip Earl of Chesterfield, and were by him given to his second son, Sir William Stanhope, who leaving no male issue, they descended to the present Earl of Chesterfield. Ascot-house, the seat of the Dormers, which was situated in Wing Park, is described by Browne Willis as having a noble apartment built by Inigo Jones. He says that it was suffered to go to decay after the year 1720, and that Sir William Stanhope, about the year 1727, sold the deer out of the park, and cut down the timber, which was very fine. Mr. Willis mentions that he himself bought some of it at one shilling and sixpence a foot, for building the chapel at Fenny-Stratford: he adds, that in his remembrance the last Earl of Carnarvon kept up great hospitality at Ascot-house, and had a fine bowling green, which was constantly open for the amusement of the neighbouring gentry. Wing Park still remains inclosed, but the house has been many years pulled down.

King Edward II. in the year 1308, confirmd a manor in Wing, together with the advowson of the priory, to John Warren, Earl of Surrey. The earl gave it to his brother-in-law, Edmund Earl of Arundel, to whom it was confirmed by the king in 1315. From the Earl of Arundel it descended by female heirs to the Mowbrays and Berkeleys. The Marquis of Berkeley gave it with the other esatates to Sir Reginald Bray: it is probable that it was purchased of his representatives by the Dormer family.

The parish church is supposed to have been built soon after the manor was given to the nunnery of St. Mary de Pré. In the north aisle is the tomb of Sir Robert Dormer, grantee of the manor, who died in 1552: in the burial place of the Dormers are handsome monuments of Sir William Dormer, who died in 1575, (with his effigies in gilt armour) and Robert the first Lord Dormer, who died in 1617: there are some monuments also for the family of Fines.

The great tithes of this parish were appropriated to the abbey of St. Nicholas, at Angiers, and afterwards to the nunnery of St, Mary de Pré. The rectorial estate is now the property of the Earl of Chesterfield, who is patron of the vicarage. The parish has been inclosed by an act of parliament, passed in 1797, when allotments of land were given to the impropriator and the vicar, in lieu of tithes, and an allotment to the poor for fuel. Dorothy Lady Pelham, sometime wife of Sir William Dormer, founded an alms-house at Wing, in the year 1596, for eight poor persons, and endowed it with 30 l. per annum.

Ascot, Burcot, and Crofton, are hamlets in this parish; Cotslow, a depopulated hamlet, of which only one house remains, gives name to the hundred. The manor of Ascot was given by Richard Grenville esq. to Sir Robert Dormer, in exchange for an estate in Wotton, and since passed with Wing

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SP882226 (Lat/Lon: 51.894981, -0.719649), Wing which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

  • Wing - The name probably derives from old english, being a persons name + ingas, and means '(settlement of) the family or followers of a man called Wiwa'.
  • Ascott - The name derives from the old english words east + cot, meaning 'east cottages'.
  • Burcott - The name derives from the old english words burh + cot, and means 'fortified cottages'.
  • Crafton - The name derives from the old english words croh + tun, and means 'saffron-farm'.
  • Littleworth - The name derives from the old english, being a persons name + worth, and means 'enclosure of Lytel's people'.