Lavendon

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 52.172
longitude= -0.663
population=
official_name= Lavendon
unitary_england= Milton Keynes
lieutenancy_england=Buckinghamshire
region= South East England
constituency_westminster= North East Milton Keynes
post_town= OLNEY
postcode_district = MK46
postcode_area= MK
dial_code= 01234
os_grid_reference= SP915535

Lavendon is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Milton Keynes and ceremonial Buckinghamshire, England. It is the northernmost village in the Borough, near Olney, eight miles WNW of Bedford, eight miles NNE of Newport Pagnell.

Nearby places are Warrington, and Cold Brayfield in Milton Keynes Borough, and Harrold and Carlton over the border in Bedfordshire.

History

The village name is an Old English language word, and means 'Lafa's valley'. In the Domesday Book of 1086 the village was recorded as "Lavendene".

The manor house in the village was an ancient castle that at the time of the Domesday survey belonged to the de Bedun family. Although the castle is no longer there (it was last recorded in 1232), the moat and groundworks remain in the grounds of the house known as Castle Manor.

The village was once the location of a Premonstratensian abbey, founded in the reign of King Henry II by the de Bedun family. The abbey was disbanded in the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1547, and shortly thereafter the building was dismantled. The abbey was at what is now Grange Farm.

Modern Lavendon

The parish church is dedicated to St Michael, and there is a small but active Baptist Chapel.

The village has a primary school for children from reception through to year 6. It also has a village store and Post Office, an independent garage, village hall and two public houses, the Green Man and The Horseshoe.