Brill, Buckinghamshire
Brill | |
---|---|
![]() Brill windmill | |
Location within Buckinghamshire | |
Population | 1,141 (2011)[1] |
OS grid reference | SP658139 |
• London | 46 miles (74 km) SE |
Civil parish |
|
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | AYLESBURY |
Postcode district | HP18 |
Dialling code | 01844 |
Police | Thames Valley |
Fire | Buckinghamshire |
Ambulance | South Central |
UK Parliament | |
Website | Brill Village |
Brill is a village and civil parish in west Buckinghamshire, England, close to the border with Oxfordshire. It is about 4 miles (6 km) north-west of Long Crendon and 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Bicester. At the 2011 Census, the population of the civil parish was 1,141. Brill has a royal charter to hold a weekly market, but has not done so for many years.
Toponymy
Brill's name is
Manor
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Brill-centre.jpg/180px-Brill-centre.jpg)
The
Church and priory
The
The north aisle was built in 1839 but its east window dates from about 1275.[9] In 1888 All Saints' was largely rebuilt under the direction of John Oldrid Scott.[9] Scott extended the chancel eastwards[9] by about 6 feet (1.8 m) and added a new Gothic Revival east window.[8] He added the south aisle and porch at the same time but its east and west windows are re-used Perpendicular Gothic ones, probably dating from early in the 16th century.[8]
All Saints was a
Brill had a hermitage or priory dedicated to St. Werburgh that was annexed to Chetwode Priory from 1251.[8] Chetwode Priory surrendered the advowson of the hermitage to the Bishop of Lincoln in 1460.[8]
Brill windmill
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Brill_Windmill%2C_Brill%2C_Oxfordshire.jpg/180px-Brill_Windmill%2C_Brill%2C_Oxfordshire.jpg)
Brill is also known for its windmill, last owned and used by the Pointer and Nixie family who also baked bread in their house in the village.[
Restoration project
By the 2000s water ingress and weathering had caused timber decay to the extent that the structure's integrity was described as "At risk".[11] The Brill Windmill Management Group was established in 2007 to help plan a restoration project and to seek the necessary funds. With funding from English Heritage and WREN, full repair and preservation work was completed by July 2009. The mill is now structurally sound and once again open to the public, once a week, between March and September.[12]
Brill tramway
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Brill-tramway-park.jpg/180px-Brill-tramway-park.jpg)
Brill railway station was once a north-western terminus of the London Underground system.[13]
After the completion in 1868 of the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway, the Duke of Buckingham built the light railway to provide freight access by rail to his estates at Wotton Underwood. The extension to Brill gave access to a brickworks there. The line was opened in 1871, and following public demand passenger facilities were provided early in 1872. Originally known as the Brill Tramway, the line's name changed to "Oxford and Aylesbury Tramroad" when a company was formed in an abortive attempt to extend the line to Oxford; the biggest hindering expense was the cost of tunnelling under Brill Hill.
The original
Little London
The
Amenities
Brill Church of England Combined School is a mixed,
Notable people
- Thomas Edwards, recipient of the Victoria Cross for actions at the Battle of Tamai during the Mahdist War, was born in the village.
- engraver, produced images of Brill church and windmill, along with images of Buckinghamshire. Govier's family originated from Brill and the adjoining parish of Oakley, and he was born in Oakley. Examples of Govier's work can be seen at the County Museum in Aylesbury and at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
- The perpetrators of the Great Train Robbery of 1963 hid at the remote Leatherslade Farm on Brill's boundary with the village of Oakley.
- Mick Pointer, drummer and founding member of the progressive rock bands Marillion and Arena, was born on 22 July 1956 in Brill.
- Thomas Belson, one of the Oxford Martyrs, was born in Brill on an unknown date (circa 1560). He was found guilty of assisting Roman Catholic priests, and was executed with his companions at Oxford on 5 July 1589. He was beatified in 1987.
- Gavin Free, a slow-motion cinematographer, is from Brill. He is a producer of content for popular Internet group Rooster Teeth as a member of the Achievement Hunter cast, and founded the successful YouTube channel "The Slow Mo Guys", which has over 1 billion views.
References in literature
- Referring to the Otmoor riots:
I went to Noke
And nobody spoke.
I went to Brill,
They were silent still.
I went to Thame,
It was just the same.
I went to Beckley,
They spoke directly.[15]
- There is a rhyme about "Brill on the hill":
At Brill on the hill
The wind blows shrill
The cook no meat can dress
At Stow-in-the-Wold
The wind blows cold
I know no more than this.[16]
- Another rhyme ran: "Brill on the hill, Oakley in the hole, dirty Ickford and stinking Worminghall".[17]
- Edward Lear makes reference to Brill in More Nonsense Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, etc. (1872)[18]:
"There was an old person of Brill,
Who purchased a shirt with a frill;
But they said, 'Don't you wish,
You mayn't look like a fish,
You obsequious old person of Brill?'"
- The name and various other features of Brill were used by Buckland.
- John Betjeman rejoiced that the long arm of Metro-land was halted before impinging on "the remote hilltop village of Brill".[22]
References
- ^ "2011 census". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
- )
- ISBN 0-04-440162-0
- ^ See Osbert of Clare's life of St. Edward, chapter 16 (Analecta Bollandiana 41 (1923), 96).
- ^ Historic England. "Earthworks near Brill Church (1006925)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- ^ "Buckinghamshire HER (number 0010602000): Brill: Monument: Possible site of a Saxon or medieval palace". Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- ^ "Buckinghamshire HER (number 0010605000): Brill Monument: Possible Civil War defensive earthworks". Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Page, 1927, pages 14–19
- ^ a b c d e f g Pevsner, 1973, page 72
- ^ "Brill Windmill: Brief History". Tim Andrew. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
- ^ "Brill Windmill Restoration". Buckinghamshire County Council. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
- ^ "Brill Windmill". Buckinghamshire County Council. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
- ^ Oppitz, 2000, page not cited
- ^ Mitchell and Smith, 2006, page not cited
- ^ "The Otmoor riots", The Oxford Times
- ISBN 1-4179-7804-X
- ^ Tom Shippey, The Road to Middle-Earth (London1992) p. 313
- ^ Lear, Edward (1872). More Nonsense Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, etc. London: R J Bush.
- ISBN 0 04 8230472
- ISBN 0 00 720308 X
- ISBN 0-04-440162-0
- ^ J. Betjeman, Betjeman's England (London 2009) p. 184
Sources and further reading
- Mitchell, V; Smith, K (2006). Aylesbury to Rugby, including the Brill Branch. Midland Main Lines. Middleton Press. pp. 24–48. ISBN 1-904474-91-8.
- Oppitz, Leslie (2000). "A tramway built for a Duke". Lost Railways of the Chilterns. Newbury: Countryside Books. pp. 73–82. ISBN 1-85306-643-5.
- Page, W.H., ed. (1927). A History of the County of Buckingham, Volume 4. Victoria County History. pp. 14–19.
- ISBN 0-14-071019-1.
- Reed, Michael (1979). ISBN 0-340-19044-2.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Brill Village Website
- Brill Church of England Combined School
- Brill windmill restoration – Buckinghamshire County Council
- Images of Brill at the English Heritage Archive