Holmer Green

Coordinates: 51°39′55″N 0°41′39″W / 51.6654°N 0.6943°W / 51.6654; -0.6943
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Holmer Green
2001 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceSU904971
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townHigh Wycombe
Postcode districtHP15
Dialling code01494
PoliceThames Valley
FireBuckinghamshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
WebsiteLittle Missenden Parish Council
List of places
UK
England
Buckinghamshire
51°39′55″N 0°41′39″W / 51.6654°N 0.6943°W / 51.6654; -0.6943

Holmer Green is a

civil parish of Little Missenden, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is next to Hazlemere, about 3 miles (5 km) south of Great Missenden
.

History

Holmer Green is named after the

heath (now vanished) known as Wycombe Heath or Holmer Heath. The 'Holmer' part of the toponym was first recorded as Holeme in 1208 and is probably derived from Old English. It is commonly thought[by whom?] to derive from 'mere in a hollow' which would refer to Holmer Pond. However, there are certain factors that do not support this theory and the -mer element may actually translate to an Old English word meaning 'boundary'. The 'Green' part of the name refers to a large and ancient Green, probably dating from the 13th century that used to exist here but was reduced to a size of only 4 acres (1.6 ha) in 1854.[2]

The Common at Holmer Green showing the village hall and parish church

The site of the original medieval manor house of Holmer remains obscure, although local historians McLain-Smith and Riches have suggested its location at a moated site in nearby Colemans Wood where they have excavated medieval pottery.[citation needed]

The oldest houses are The Old Rookery, Hollands Farm and Penfold, all of which probably date from the early 16th century when the hamlet thrived due to sheep farming. The Grade II-listed,[3] brick and flint, Holmer Ridings, now a manor and equestrian facility, was built ca. 1728 as a hunting lodge and has been fully restored.[4]

In the hundred years between 1850 and 1950, the village became well known locally for its cherry orchards,[5] and there remain many references[citation needed] to orchards and cherries in road names and house names.

In 2008 the village formally celebrated 800 years of recorded settlement.

Social and Community

The village underwent housing development during the 1960s and early 1970s and now has about 4,000 inhabitants (almost double that of neighboring Little Missenden).[6] The big developments of the 1960s and 1970s included an expanded range of shops around Turners Place, the Winter's Way estate, the Fox Road and Harries Way estate and the Holmer Court estate (Clementi Avenue). A significant number of newcomers to the village came from Middlesex during that period.

The annual Holmer Green Remembrance Day parade

The village has two centres: a commercial centre based around the shops and central crossroads; and a community-oriented centre based around The Common featuring two churches, the village hall, a school, a pub, a children's playground, and The Common itself.

Holmer Green's most desirable roads range from older roads like Watchet Lane and Penfold Lane through to newer developments like Mead Park. The village's most famous residents are television presenter Fern Britton and her husband, celebrity chef Phil Vickery.

Residents jealously guard the village's independence from the

The British Legion and Holmer Green Sports Association); and significant sports facilities. The village lost its only GP practice
in 2018 when the lease on the surgery premises expired.

Sport and recreation

The sporting activities hosted by the Holmer Green Sports Association (HGSA) are an important feature of village life. Football is particularly popular and very well established:Non-League football team Holmer Green F.C. celebrated its centenary in 2008 and there are numerous football teams for all age groups – male and female – that play on the four scaled football pitches and two mini pitches.

Holmer Green miniature railway

The grounds and facilities at HGSA in Watchet Lane have been used to host training sessions for England teams and for

Wycombe Wanderers, and have recently been awarded FA
Community Charter status. Football matches and training sessions for some village teams are also held on The Common. Wycombe Wanderers are in League One.

Other sports at HGSA are: a Padel Tennis club and facilities consisting of two Padel tennis courts which were built in 2021; a

Short Mat Bowls
club with a 3-rink outdoor green.

Surrounded as it is by

horse riding, and cycling – the Chiltern Heritage Cycling Trail runs right through the centre of the village.[7]

A

funfair is held on The Common for several days in May and September.[citation needed
]

Places of interest

Education

Holmer Green has several pre-schools including: Holmer Green Methodist Pre-School; the Cherry Tree Pre-School; the Village Centre Pre-School; and Playmates Day Nursery.

Holmer Green First School (ages 4–7) and Holmer Green Junior School (ages 7–11) are part of a cluster of local primary schools used by Holmer Green families. A significant proportion of villagers use the Holmer Green schools while others make use of spare places at Little Kingshill School and the Church of England schools at Penn Street and Great Kingshill.

In 2006 Holmer Green Junior School led this cluster of schools at Key Stage 2 and came joint-tenth in the county for aggregated score.[10] Previously, Little Kingshill School led the group. All four primary schools are consistently in the top half of KS2 results in Buckinghamshire.

Holmer Green shops from Browns Road

Most Holmer Green children who are not selected for grammar school under Buckinghamshire's 11+ selective system go to either Holmer Green Senior School or to the Sir William Ramsay School (in Hazlemere) which share a common catchment area. A smaller number go to the Misbourne School and the Amersham School despite both being out of catchment.

Local pupils selected for grammar school at age 11 – about a third of all those who sit the test – have customarily attended Amersham and Chesham schools: Dr Challoner's Grammar School (boys), Dr Challoner's High School (girls) and Chesham Grammar School (mixed). New catchment areas were implemented by Buckinghamshire Local Education Authority in 2004 so that selected pupils may now attend The Royal Grammar School (boys), Beaconsfield High School (girls), or Wycombe High School (girls). Some selected pupils still choose to attend Chesham Grammar School and John Hampden Grammar School (boys) despite both now being out of catchment. In recent years, Year 7 children who qualify for grammar school under Bucks' late transfer procedure[11] (known colloquially as "The 12+") have been able to win places at Chesham Grammar School.[12]

A number of

The Gateway School[13] (primary), the Claires Court Schools[14] (for which there is a coach to & from Holmer Green) and Pipers Corner School[15]
(primary and secondary girls) are popular with villagers who choose the independent sector.

It is said that Holmer Green people enjoy an unusually wide choice of schools.[16]

Religion

According to the

2001 Census
, 77.8% of Holmer Green's population is Christian, while both Sikhism and Buddhism have 0.2% each. 0.3% of Holmer Green's inhabitants identified as Jewish, while 0.6% identified as Muslims. Alternative religions made up 0.1% of the population, while 14% identified as atheists and 75 did not state a religion. This overwhelming majority of Christians is also reflected in the places of worship. While, previously, Holmer Green has had 3 Churches, an Anglican church, a Baptist church and a Methodist church, following Covid-19 the Methodist church announced that it would be shutting down. Then, it announced it final closure was not guaranteed and as of 2024, its current and future status is currently ambiguous to even its own churchgoers. Meanwhile, the Baptist church focuses on bringing Children into the church, partnering often with the next door Holmer Green Junior School, running events such as messy church, in which children do activities and can participate in small prayer sessions or passage reading. Furthermore, the Baptist church focuses a lot on making themselves family friendly, such as focusing greatly on their christenings. Finally, the Anglican church, officially Christ's church, focuses much more on Adults and the elderly moving into the village and giving them a place of worship. This is further reinforced by doing burial services in the only grave yard in the village in the land surrounding the church building itself, also owned by Christ's church. Nearby as well are two more churches nearby in Hazlemere, an Anglican one, called the Holy Trinity Church and another Methodist church, run by the same organisation as the one in Holmer Green itself, known as the Hazlemere Free Methodist Church. Finally there is a nearby church in Widmer end known as the Church of the Good Sheppard, with no clear denomination. Catholics and other religions must travel into nearby High Wycombe, Chesham or Amersham, where a plethora of Catholic Churches, Mosques and other places of worship exist.

Transport

Holmer Green central crossroads in winter

Holmer Green is near the A404 road, which links junctions of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways.

Being only a short drive from both Amersham to the east, and High Wycombe to the south-west, the village is suitably located for

Luton, and Stansted
airports.

Regular bus services operated by

Arriva Shires & Essex connect Holmer Green to High Wycombe, Amersham and Chesham.[17]

Politics and Public Administration

Seven parish councillors represent Holmer Green on Little Missenden's thirteen-seat

Chiltern District Council
. Holmer Green is also represented by Conservatives at County and Parliamentary levels.

Holmer Green has been part of Chesham and Amersham Parliamentary Constituency since its creation in 1974. Between 1950 and 1974, the village formed part of the larger South Buckinghamshire constituency, and prior to 1950, it was a part of the historic Aylesbury constituency. As such, the village was last represented by a non-Conservative in 1923, when the Liberal Thomas Keens was elected.

It is not however entirely accurate to say that Holmer Green has never been represented by a

John Edwin Haire.[19]

The peculiarity was addressed and the village finally unified inside Little Missenden parish, Chiltern District and Chesham and Amersham constituency following the movement of the administrative boundary to the top of Sawpit Hill in 1987.[20]

The 2011 proposals for parliamentary constituency boundary changes has kept Holmer Green in Chesham and Amersham constituency.[21]

Demography

Holmer Green compared[1]
Holmer Green ward Chiltern borough England
Population 4,077 89,228 49,138,831
Foreign born 4.4% 9.3% 9.2%
White 97.8% 95.5% 90.9%
Asian 1.1% 2.8% 4.6%
Black 0.4% 0.3% 2.3%
Christian 77.8% 74.7% 71.7%
Muslim 0.6% 1.9% 3.1%
Hindu 0.0% 0.5% 1.1%
No religion 14.0% 15.0% 14.6%
Unemployed 1.7% 1.7% 3.3%
Retired 16.4% 14.6% 13.5%

The

electoral ward as having a population of 4,077. The ethnicity was 97.8% white, 0.5% mixed race, 1.1% Asian, 0.4% black and 0.2% other. The place of birth of residents was 95.6% United Kingdom, 0.5% Republic of Ireland, 0.9% other Western European countries, and 3% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 77.8% Christian, 0.2% Buddhist, 0% Hindu, 0.2% Sikh, 0.3% Jewish, and 0.6% Muslim. 14% were recorded as having no religion, 0.1% had an alternative religion and 7% did not state their religion.[1]

The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 39.9% in full-time employment, 14.1% in part-time employment, 12.5% self-employed, 1.7% unemployed, 2.5% students with jobs, 2.8% students without jobs, 16.4% retired, 7.3% looking after home or family, 1.7% permanently sick or disabled and 1.2% economically inactive for other reasons. The industry of employment of residents was 17% retail, 15.6% manufacturing, 7.9% construction, 19.5% real estate, 9.1% health and social work, 6.9% education, 5.6% transport and communications, 4.1% public administration, 2.6% hotels and restaurants, 3.8% finance, 1.1% agriculture and 6.8% other. Compared with national figures, the ward had a relatively high proportion of workers in real estate and construction. There were a relatively low proportion in public administration, hotels and restaurants. Of the ward's residents aged 16–74, 21.5% had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide.[1]

Significant People

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Neighbourhood Statistics". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 20 April 2008.
  2. ^ Riches & McLain Smith 2006[page needed]
  3. ^ Historic England. "HOLMER RIDINGS, SHEERCOTE DELL ROAD (1124962)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  4. ^ A Grade II-listed Home Counties former hunting lodge with state of the art equestrian facility
  5. ^ Cherry Orchards
  6. ^ "Holmer Green Ward Factsheet" (PDF). Chiltern District Council. Archived from the original (pdf) on 29 September 2011.
  7. ^ "The Chiltern Heritage Trail" (PDF). Chiltern District Council. Archived from the original (pdf) on 30 September 2011.
  8. ^ High Wycombe Model Engineering Club
  9. ^ "Penn Wood". Our Woods. Woodland Trust. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008.
  10. ^ "Primary schools in Buckinghamshire". BBC School League Tables. BBC News. 7 December 2006.
  11. ^ "Late Transfer Procedure" (PDF). Buckinghamshire County Council. 2008–2009. Archived from the original (pdf) on 4 June 2011.
  12. ^ "The 12+ and 13+". holmergreenparents.info. Aramis. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011.
  13. ^ The Gateway
  14. ^ Claires Court
  15. ^ Pipers Corner
  16. ^ "Holmer Green: a village rich in school choice". holmergreenparents.info. Aramis. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  17. ^ Arriva bus routes from Holmer Green[dead link]
  18. ^ "Parish Council results" (pdf). Chiltern District Council. 2007.[dead link]
  19. ISBN 0900178094.[page needed
    ]
  20. ^ "The Buckinghamshire (District Boundaries) Order 1987". Office of Public Sector Information.
  21. Boundary Commission for England. 2011. Archived from the original
    on 9 July 2012.

Sources and further reading

External links

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