85 
Che Chiltern Country. 
(Continued from page 39.) 
HE Chiltern Country is divided into parishes, most of which 
resemble very roughly the form of a square. Now the 
parishes in the lowlands adjoining the great roads on the North- 
West and South of the forest uniformly take a decidedly oblong 
shape, often run up into the hilly forest region, and sometimes take 
to themselves detached portions of land in the very thick of the’ 
forest. It is easy to see that these lowlands were at some time 
past thickly populated (comparatively speaking), and sufficient 
proof of this is contained in the unusually quick succession of 
old parish churches as we traverse either the Icknield Road 
_ or the old Bath Road. On the former, we find, at an average dis- 
_ tance of about a mile apart, Ellesborough, Great Kimble, Little 
Kimble, Monks and Princes Risborough, the two Saundertons, 
_ Horsenden, Bledlow, Chinnor, Crowel, Aston, Lewknor, &c., 
and so on in the same proportion, till we arrive at the place where 
the Chiltern range crosses the Thames, at Goring. So along the 
old Bath road, we have Iver, Wexham, Stoke, Farnham, Burn- 
ham, Hitcham, and Taplow, then the Walthams, Shottesbrooke, 
and Ruscombe. All these villages being closely packed together, 
_ their corresponding parishes naturally take an elongated oblong 
_ shape, extending generally in this way at right angles on either 
side of the principal road, to an extreme length of perhaps six or 
seven miles, with a breadth of only a mile, or a mile and a half. 
The Chiltern parishes are considerably larger than these, in 
“consequence of the great area of unavailable woodland contained 
within their boundaries, and the absence of any important road 
to induce settlements. That they are of more recent formation 
than those adjoining, just mentioned, is seen from the numerous 
detached hamlets and patches of land within the forest, reputed 
to belong to, and still claimed by these lowland parishes: ¢.9., 
the hamlet of Seer Green, belonging to Farnham, and the hamlet 
