Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for MEDMENHAM

MEDMENHAM, a village and a parish in the district of Henley and county of Buckingham. The village stands near the river Thames, at the boundary with Berks, 3¼ miles SW by W of Great Marlow, and 4½ WNW of Henley r. station; and has a post office under Marlow. The pariSh comprises 2,420 acres. Real property, £3,208. Pop., 380. Houses, 76. The property is divided among four. The manor, with Danesfield House, belongs to R. S. Murray, Esq. A Cistertian abbey., an offshoot of Woburn abbey, was founded here in 1204, by Hugh de Bolibec; went gradually into decay, so as to be very poor at the dissolution; survives in remains, agglomerated with modern tower and cloister, adjacent to a little inn and a ferry-house, on a lovely and secluded spot, contiguous to the Thames; became, in the middle of last century, the abode of a mysterious community, calling themselves Franciscans, from their founder Francis Dashwood, afterwards Lord le Despenser; and is now a favourite place of popular resort. Some of the doings of the so called Franciscans are noticed in "Chrysal or the Adventures of a Guinea; ''and some pictures, representing their mysteries, are preserved at the Thatched House tavern in London. A large ancient entrenchment, supposed to be Danish, is near Danesfield House. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford. Value, &200.* Patron,R. S. Murray, Esq. The church is early English, of flint, chalk, and stone; was restored at sever.al periods up to 1864, at a cost of nearly £1,200; and has a tower, and a fine E window. The churchyard contains a handsome monument to Mrs. Bransby Powys. There is a parochial school.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Medmenham CP/AP       Buckinghamshire AncC
Place: Medmenham

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