Wendover | |
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The Clock Tower, Wendover |
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Wendover shown within Buckinghamshire | |
Population | 7,399 (2011 Census) |
OS grid reference | SP864085 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | AYLESBURY |
Postcode district | HP22 |
Dialling code | 01296 |
Police | Thames Valley |
Fire | Buckinghamshire |
Ambulance | South Central |
EU Parliament | South East England |
UK Parliament |
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Wendover is a market town at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district. The mainly arable parish is 5,832 acres (2,360 ha) in size and contains many hamlets that nestle in amongst the lush forest on the surrounding hills.
The town name is of Brythonic origin and means "white waters", pertaining to the stream that rises in the adjacent hills and flows through the middle of the town, bringing chalk deposits on its way.
In 1086 the manor of Wendovre was in the hundred of Aylesbury, with William the Conqueror as its tenant in chief.
The parish church of St Mary is outside the town to the east on the hillside: a feature that is very common among towns with strong Celtic origins. There is a distinctive red brick, spired clock tower at the crossroads in the centre of the town that was built in 1842. The tree lined Aylesbury Street includes the 16th-century timber framed Chiltern House and 18th-century Red House.
The town was a Parliamentary Borough continuously from 1708 until the seat was abolished by the Reform Act 1832. It has had a royal charter to hold a weekly market since 1464 meaning that officially it is a town rather than a village, although today many residents of Wendover like to refer to it as the latter. It is part of a civil parish, and the parish uses the term "Parish Council" rather than "Town Council", as it would be entitled to.