Haversham

Haversham
Haversham
Mapping © OpenStreetMap
Haversham
Haversham shown within Buckinghamshire
Population 873 (2011 Census.parish)[1]
OS grid reference SP830430
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Milton Keynes
Postcode district MK19
Dialling code 01908
Police Thames Valley
Fire Buckinghamshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament

Haversham is a village in the Borough of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated just north of Milton Keynes near Wolverton and about 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) north of Central Milton Keynes, Haversham-cum-Little Linford is a civil parish in the Borough of Milton Keynes. It is separated from the Milton Keynes urban area by the River Great Ouse.

The village name is an Old English word that means 'Haefer's homestead'. In the Domesday Book of 1086, when it belonged to the Peverell family, it was listed as Hæfærsham. The ancient manor house in the village, which was fortified in 1304, was largely burnt down, but parts of it still remain in a farm house just outside the main village.

Haversham was once a village of farm-workers' dwellings. As of 2012, only Hill Farm, Grange Farm and Crossroads Farm remain as active working farms. The village has two distinct settlements separated by farmland. The older part of the village contains the manor house. It lies at elevations between 60 metres and 65 metres above mean sea level, just above the flood plain of the Ouse.[2] In the 1930s, 'New Haversham' was built nearer Wolverton, to house staff working at the Wolverton railway works nearby. New Haversham contains the primary school and is on ground at elevations between 65 metres and 75 metres, overlooking the Ouse Valley.

Behind Haversham lakes is the ruined church of St Peter's which belonged originally to the medieval village of Stanton Low, and which has for many years been associated with local werewolf legend.[3] The last house in Stanton Low fell into disrepair in the 1920s. In the 1950s the Norman chancel arch from St Peter's was removed to St James' Church New Bradwell, and St Peters is now a ruin. In the 1970s, ARC dug the river meadows near the site of the old village of Stanton Low for gravel extraction, leaving behind the large man made lakes that surround Haversham to the south today. These lakes are the home to the Hanson Centre and to the Haversham Sailing Club, one of the leading sailing clubs around Milton Keynes.

Near to Haversham, along the Ouse towards New Bradwell, is the Wolverton Railway Viaduct of a Stephenson's design, carrying the West Coast Main Line over the Ouse. A little further west is the 'Iron Trunk' canal aqueduct, carrying the Grand Union Canal over the same river.

The village gave its name to HMS Haversham, a Ham class minesweeper.

Civil parish

Haversham is in the civil parish of Haversham-cum-Little Linford,[4] which also includes Little Linford. This merged parish was formed in 1934 following a County Review order. It formed part of the Newport Pagnell Rural District until 1974, when it became part of the borough of Milton Keynes.

References

  1. ↑ Neighbourhood Statistics 2011 census; accessed 4 February 2013.
  2. ↑ Environment Agency: flood map for planning: Haversham, Milton Keynes
  3. ↑ "St. Peters Church and the curse of the werewolf". MysteriousMiltonKeynes.com. July 9, 2013. Archived from the original on August 8, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Parishes in Milton Keynes". Milton Keynes Council. Archived from the original on 2009-06-08.
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