Visit Monks Risborough Places

Welcome to Visit Monks Risborough Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Monks Risborough

  

Monks Risborough Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Monks Risborough

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Monks Risborough history

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An estate with boundaries corresponding closely to the present ecclesiastical parish of Monks Risborough was granted to some unknown person by the King of Mercia in the 8th or 9th century. The details are unknown because the title documents (the”landbook”) were destroyed by fire shortly before 903. The Mercian Witan then agreed that a confirmatory charter should be granted and this was executed in 903. This charter, written in Latin, confirmed that the estate had been given by one Athulf to his daughter Aethelgyth. A description in Anglo-Saxon of the boundaries of the estate was endorsed on the charter. There is a 10th-century copy of the document in the British Library. Then, at some date between 903 and 994, the estate was given to Christ Church Cathedral at Canterbury and in 994 it was held by Sigeric, who was then the Archbishop of Canterbury. In that year marauders from Scandinavia ravaged Kent and threatened to burn down Canterbury Cathedral unless they were bought off. The Archbishop had insufficient money and sent to Aescwig, Bishop of Dorchester-on-Thames to ask him for a loan. He offered the estate at East Risborough (as it was then described) as security. Money was sent, the cathedral was saved and East Risborough was transferred to Aescwig in the presence of the King and Witan, who at the same time freed the estate from all secular burdens except the obligation for military service and for contributions to bridges and fortresses. At a date between 994 and 1002 Aescwig conveyed the estate back to Canterbury, where Aelfric was now Archbishop after the death of Sigeric. Aelfric in turn died in 1005 and by his will he left his interest in East Risborough to Christ Church Priory, Canterbury. Thereafter it was not owned by the Archbishop but by the monks of the Priory as a community, represented by their Prior – hence “Monks” Risborough – and, even after the Norman Conquest, it continued to enjoy the freedom from liabilities granted in 994. At the time of the Domesday survey in 1086 the tenant-in-chief of the manor was Archbishop Lanfranc, a stern and very capable man, rivalling the King himself in statesmanship, who had been appointed to the see of Canterbury in 1070 after the Conquest. He held it by frankalmoin. Domesday Book records that the manor was assessed at 30 hides and that there was land there for 14 ploughs. Of these the lord’s demesne accounted for 16 hides and 2 ploughs. There were 32 villeins and 8 cottagers and they had 12 ploughs. There were also 4 slaves. These would be only the male heads of families (except for slaves who may have been counted as individuals) and the total has to be multiplied by an arbitrary figure (4 or 5 is usual) for an estimate of the total including women and children. We can therefore assume that the total population was something less than 200 in 1086. There was meadow for 4 plough teams and woodland sufficient for 300 pigs. The value was stated to be £16 in 1086 and also in the time of Edward the Confessor but only £5 immediately after the conquest in 1066. The entry concludes “Asgar the Constable held this manor from Christ Church Canterbury before 1066 on condition that it could not be separated from the Church”. The Manor was then part (with Bledlow, Horsenden and Princes Risborough) of the Hundred of Risborough. This was one of the Three Hundreds of Aylesbury, which by the 14th century were consolidated into the Hundred of Aylesbury. In 1535, immediately before the dissolution of the monasteries, King Henry VIII, acting by Thomas Cromwell, ordered a valuation to be made of all the ecclesiastical property in England. The manor of Monks Risborough was included in this valuation under the heading “Properties of the Church of Christ at Canterbury”. The Manor, which was let out at a rent by the Priory, was shown as worth the ‘farm’ or rent of £9 a year. The mills were shown separately (£25.8s.11d a year), as were sales from the woods (about 60s) and ‘other perquisites’ (12s). The total annual value, after making allowable deductions, was returned at £34.11s.7d. The church was valued separately from the manor and the Rectory was not shown as property of the Priory. It was shown separately as part of the Deanery of Risborough within the Diocese of Lincoln but within the exempt jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury and worth £30 a year. Christ Church Priory was finally dissolved in 1539 and the manor of Monks Risborough was put up for sale by the Royal Commissioners in 1541. It changed hands on sale on several subsequent occasions until it became vested in the Earl of Buckinghamshire in the 18th or early 19th Century. Buckinghamshire was transferred from Lincoln to the Diocese of Oxford in 1837 and the Bishop of Oxford then became patron of the living.

You can visit Monks Risborough places with Walkfo Monks Risborough to hear history at Monks Risborough’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Monks Risborough has 27 places to visit in our interactive Monks Risborough map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Monks Risborough, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Monks Risborough places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Monks Risborough & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 27 audio facts unique to Monks Risborough places in an interactive Monks Risborough map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Monks Risborough Places Map
27 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Monks Risborough historic spots	Monks Risborough tourist destinations	Monks Risborough plaques	Monks Risborough geographic features
Walkfo Monks Risborough tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Monks Risborough

  

Best Monks Risborough places to visit

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Monks Risborough has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Monks Risborough’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Monks Risborough’s information audio spots:

Princes Risborough Princes Risborough is a market town in Buckinghamshire. It is 9 miles south of Aylesbury and 8 miles north west of High Wycombe. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through. The Whiteleaf Cross is a chalk cross carved into the hillside that’s just northeast of the town.

Risborough Rangers F.C. Risborough Rangers Football Club are a football club based in Buckinghamshire. They are members of the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division. Their Reserve team play in the Premier League Division Two.

Green Hailey Green Hailey is a hamlet in the parish of Great Hampden, in Buckinghamshire. It is located to the west of the main village of Great Hampden. It was farmed in the late 19th century by Richard Paxton, together with his wife Mary, who together had seven children.

Grangelands and Pulpit Hill Grangelands and Pulpit Hill is a 25.5 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Cadsden, Buckinghamshire. It lies within the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Cadsden Cadsden is two miles north east of Princes Risborough. At the time of the 2011 Census, the population of the hamlet was included in the civil parish of Lacey Green.

Visit Monks Risborough plaques