A history of Wing from an account dated 1925 - Page 1

Introduction

Witehunge Weowungum (xi cent.) ; Wyenge, Guionga (xiv cent.) ; Wenge (xix cent.).

Wing is a parish of nearly 5,703 acres, including 1,512 acres of arable land, 3,707 acres of permanent grass, and 46 acres of plantations. The slope of the land varies from 299 ft. above the ordnance datum in the south-east of the parish, near the point where the boundaries of Wing, Cheddington and Wingrave meet, to 475 ft. in the west. The soil is clay, sand, gravel, or loam ; the subsoil is clay. The crops are hay, wheat, barley, oats, beans, and roots. Both the London and North Western railway and the Grand Junction Canal run along the eastern border of this parish. The village, once a place of considerable importance, is situated in the centre of the parish on an elevated ridge overlooking the Vale of Aylesbury and on the main road between Oxford and Cambridge. A railed-in circular group of trees at the north end of the village marks the reputed site of a market-cross. The village contains several 17th-century half-timber cottages, now much restored, with thatched or tiled roofs. The church stands on high ground in the centre of the village, with the vicarage-from internal evidence doubtless originally a 16th-century house-to the north-west and the school to the south-east. South of the school is Wing Lodge, a modern house of white brick in the French style, with dark brick gables, the residence of Victoria Countess of Yarborough. There are Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels in the village.

The Dormer Hospital stands at the south-east end of the village. These almshouses were founded, as stated on a tablet in the front of the building, by Dame Dorothy Pelham in 1569 (? for 1596) in memory of her former husband Sir William Dormer. They are of one story with attics, and are built of rubble and brick with tiled roofs. They have gables at each end and dormer windows.

Half a mile north-west of the village, on Vicarage Farm, there is a large mound, partially natural, called Castle Hill. There is also a tumulus at Ascott. Wing Mill stands on the Aylesbury road, which also passes the firms known as Lower and Upper Wing Bury.

Half a mile east of Wing is the hamlet of Ascott. Ascott House, the seat of the Dormers, said to have been built on the site of Wing Priory, formerly stood in Wing Park, which was inclosed by Sir Robert Dormer in the first half of the 16th century. The Princess Elizabeth is said to have slept here in 1544 on her journey from Woodstock to Hampton Court, and Charles I in 1645, when his army found shelter in the adjoining close. The second Earl of Carnarvon kept great hospitality at Ascott House, and his fine bowling green, which can still be traced, was much appreciated. The house, said to have contained a fine room built by Inigo Jones, was allowed to fall into decay during the 18th century. Sir William Stanhope sold the deer from the park and cut down the timber. The foundations of the house were cleared away in the early 19th century and used for repairing the roads. There are traces of a moat, the water called Garden Pond covering about 1 acre, and a carriage road runs through the grounds, which are still inclosed. A red brick farm-house was built in 1860 on the east side of Wing Park, and has since been occupied by the Gates family. The present Ascott House is a brick and timber building with a tiled roof. Part was built in 1606, which is the date on a beam inside the house and agrees with the architectural details. It was occupied as a farm-house in the middle 19th century, but has since been restored and frequently enlarged. A fire-back with the Tudor arms was recently found in the house. It is the property and winter residence of Mr. Leopold de Rothschild. Lord Rothschild's stag-hounds (numbering thirty couples), which were formerly kept at Mentmore are now at Ascott.

The hamlet of Crafton (Crofton, Croustone, xi cent. ; Croston, xiv, xv cent.) is 1.75 miles south of Wing. Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild formed a stud farm here in 1853 on the site of an old farmhouse, which has since been maintained by Lord Rosebery. A Primitive Methodist chapel was built at Crafton in 1889.

Burcott is a hamlet a mile north of Wing. There are several farm-houses, including Burcott Lodge, Hall Farm, and Mount Pleasant. Burcott House, which was taken down early in the 19th century, stood a quarter of a mile from Wing Church. It was dated 1674 and was owned in the 18th century by the Fiennes, who purchased it from Lord Limerick, and by the Clintons.

Wick, a field in Crafton, showing in addition to fish-ponds and fruit trees indications of the foundations of a large house, is the reputed site of the residence of the Theeds in the 17th and 18th centuries. Tinkers' Hall or Hole, now South Tinkers' Hole, a small farm-house with remains of a moat, stands on high ground in the north-west of the parish. It forms part of the hamlet of Cottesloe, from which the hundred took its name.

The blue clay beds in the hamlet of Littleworth, a quarter of a mile north of Wing, were worked in 1859 by Mr. Richard Harris for the manufacture of bricks and tiles. Brick-making is still carried on here. There is a Congregational Union chapel at Littleworth.

The unfortunate Rev. Dr. William Dodd was vicar of Wing for about two years before his death in 1777, though he never resided here. He was presented by Philip, sixth Earl of Chesterfield, whose tutor he had been and whose name he afterwards forged.

The parish of Wing was inclosed in 1797, when four small pieces of moorland were reserved to provide fuel for the poor.

The following place-names have been found In the 15th century, Folville's Grove, Glakenhegges, and Wilhampesden ; in the 17th century, Bowermead, the Ham, Ligo's Close, Mile Banks, Prior or Foreign Field.

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