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The original copies of the Akeley parish registers have been deposited in the Buckinghamshire Record Office in Aylesbury

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Akeley is a village and civil parish in north Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated about 3 miles north of Buckingham on the Towcester road (A413) just south of the village of Lillingstone Dayrell and north of the village of Maids Moreton. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 545.

The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin and means 'Oak Field'. In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was called Achelei.

The village used to belong to the abbey at nearby Newton Longville, however in 1154 a new church was constructed within the old village, making it a parish in its own right. This church was replaced by a newer version in 1854 dedicated to St James the Apostle, though by the mid 20th century this second church fell into such disrepair, that in 1979 it was demolished. Akeley presently does not have its own church; parish responsibilities are controlled by Buckingham parish.

Akeley was once home to a medieval deer park, and a school where poor children were taught to make lace.

Today Akeley is host to an annual horticultural show, which has been run since 1976.

An ancient hamlet once lay within the parish boundary, known as Stockholt, though this has been amalgamated with the modern village.

Akeley was described in 1806 in "Magna Britannia"

Akeley, in the hundred and deanery of Buckingham, lies about three miles nearly north of the county town. The manor was given by Walter Giffard, Earl of Buckingham, to the alien priory of Newton-Longueville: having been seized by the crown during the wars with France, it was given by King Henry VI. with other estates of that priory, to the warden and scholars of New College, in Oxford.

The manor of Stockholt, in this parish, belonged successively to the families of Barton, Fowler, and Lambard. Sir Edward Bigot, who married the heiress of the last-mentioned family, sold it to Sir Simon Bennet; from the Bennets it passed by a female heir to the noble family of Cecil, and was purchased of the Marquis of Salisbury, in 1800, by the present proprietor, Lord Carrington.

The advowson of the rectory, which belonged formerly to the priory of Newton-Longueville, is vested in the warden and scholars of New College. This parish, by the name of Akeley cum Shockholt, was inclosed, pursuant to an act of parliament passed in 1794, when a corn rent was settled on the rector in lieu of tithes, but the Marquis of Salisbur's estate was exempted from the operation of the act. An allotment was given to the poor in lieu of furze.

History

Evidence of a medieval deer park can still be detected in the curving shapes of the hedgerow boundaries to fields at Akeley. Akeley was noted for its Lace industry and had a large school where children were taught pillow lacemaking.

At one time, in the early 1800s, Akeley had a flourishing brickyard and pottery, which was owned by a Mr and Mrs Barton. The clay used was dug from the water filled pits in a field at the rear. For a number of years after the brickyard closed the kiln still remained standing, the property was then owned by a Mr Watts who had a large house and orchard in the village. The garden wall of this house contains some of the ornamental bricks from the brickyard.

One of the main events of village life was the Horticultural Show that was considered the best in North Buckinghamshire. In 1918 this closed down, but since 1976 is once again a popular event.

1.   Buckinghamshire parish registers.