- Grove, Buckinghamshire
Grove is a tiny
village in theparish ofSlapton inBuckinghamshire ,England . It is on the border withBedfordshire , just to the north ofMentmore . It is the size of some hamlets, but it is distinct as a village because it had its ownparish church. The place name is fairly self explanatory, as it means 'grove', or a copse oftree s. It was recorded in theDomesday Book of 1086 as "Grova", and was considered a separate village even then.In medieval times there was an
abbey orpriory ofnun s in the parish, founded in 1169 by Henry II and attached toFontevrault Abbey inFrance . Following the wars withFrance it was given to the dean and Canons of Windsor. The remains of this abbey were fully excavated in the late 1960s just before they were lost forever to the ever encroaching sand-pits ofLeighton Buzzard . It has been suggested that before this Grove may once have been an important place of worship in even more ancient times, thus leading to its establishment as a separate parish. The reason for this suggestion is that the village sits on a conjunction of severalley line s, and its parish church was dedicated to St. Michael, the dragon slayer.There was also in addition to the priory, a house of
Cistercian monks, subordinate toWoburn Abbey .Immediately adjoining Grove was the lost hamlet known as
South Waddon , today this remains only as the name of a nearby farm; however earth workings in the area suggest a substantial settlement if not fortifications. A jewelled Roman signet ring was found here in 1999.Grove Church was converted into a small private house in the late 1970s. The sitting room of the house has the unusual/bizarre feature of a
Medieval human skeleton buried under a glass panel. The skull is surrounded in turn by the skeletons of small birds, thought to have been put there to ward off evil spirits. Part of the churchyard containing the newest graves was retained by the church authorities, following their controversial decision to sell the church. It remains today but is closed for further burials.A large farmhouse dominating the village, was during the early 1960s turned into a Victorian gothic mansion complete with clock tower when it was the property of the
Shand-Kydd family. The house overlooks and indeed is alandmark for the boats on TheGrand Union Canal which actually flows through the centre of the village. A former lock-keeper's cottage at nearby Grove Lock was in 2001 converted into apublic house andrestaurant .
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