Ellesborough

Infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Ellesborough
population = 811 [ [http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=792149&c=Ellesborough&d=16&e=15&g=425250&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1216325682351&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779 Neighbourhood Statisitcs 2001 Census] ]
static_

static_image_caption=
latitude= 51.7527
longitude= -0.7900
civil_parish= Ellesborough
shire_district= Wycombe
shire_county= Buckinghamshire
region= South East England
constituency_westminster= Aylesbury
post_town= AYLESBURY
postcode_district= HP17
postcode_area= HP
dial_code= 01296
os_grid_reference= SP835065

Ellesborough is a village and civil parish within Wycombe district in the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is at the foot of the Chiltern Hills just to the south of the Vale of Aylesbury, two miles from Wendover and five miles from Aylesbury. it nestles between Wendover and village of Little Kimble. Ellesborough is also a civil parish with a population of 820 in Wycombe district and in addition to the village of Ellesborough also comprises the hamlets of Butlers Cross, Terrick and Dunsmore. [ [http://www.wycombe.gov.uk/uploads/documents/Community%20and%20living/Ellesborough%20parish%20fact%20file.pdf Profile of Ellesborough Parish] ] Close to Ellesborough is the location of the Prime Minister's country residence Chequers

The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'hill where asses are pastured'. This denotes its importance to the nearby settlements known today as The Kimbles and collectively comprising a typical Chiltern strip parish with Ellesborough comprising valuable hill pasture In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was recorded as "Esenberge". The road from Wendover to Princes Risborough, which makes a very clearly defind detour around the hill on which Ellesborough Church stands, follows the route of the Icknield Way, an ancient trackway of neolithic man (3,000 to 1,800 B.C.) which ran from Norfolk to Avebury in Wiltshire.

The parish church, dedicated to St Peter and St Paul, stands separate from the rest of the village, high on the hill overlooking the rest of Ellesborough. Prime Ministers have normally attended this church for Sunday morning worship when in residence at Chequers. Tony Blair, however, followed his wife and children to their Roman Catholic church in Great Missenden. Margaret Thatcher was famously known to pray at the church finding comfort during the Falklands War.

Towering over the village is the dominanting Beacon Hill, with its grassy mound and lone tree iconic amongst the Chiltern Hills when viewed from within the Aylesbury Vale. It is also the site of Cymbeline's Mount, referred to in the Shakespeare play of that name. Inreality it refers to the British King Cunobelinus who battled against the Roman Invasion of the sacred British Isles at the site along with his sons.

Notable people who live in the village include former Formula 1 world champion racing driver Jackie Stewart. and the actor David Jason.

References