A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



to 2 1 8s. \d. are distributed at Christmas in sums 

 of 2s. 6J. to 6s. to widows and labourers. 



'Dr. Lee's Charity' consists of 112 13*. 4< 

 consols, with the official trustees, bequeathed, 1868, 

 .by will of Cecilia, wife of the late John Lee, LL.D., 



of Hartwell House. The dividends amounting to 

 2 l6s. ifd. are, under a declaration of trust, 1889, 

 applied by the rector and churchwardens for the 

 benefit of the poor not in receipt of parochial relief, 

 usually in the distribution of coals. 



GREAT KIMBLE 



Chenebella (xi cent.) ; Kenebell (xiii cent.) ; Magna 

 Kynebell (xiii cent.) ; Magna Kymbell (xvi cent.). 



The parish of Great Kimble lies on the north- 

 western slope of the Chiltern Hills and stretches 

 down to the Vale of Aylesbury in the north. In the 

 upland part of the parish the subsoil is chalk l and the 

 surface soil chalk and flints. In the Vale the subsoil 

 is Upper Greensand and Gault ' and the surface soil is 

 stiff clay. The farms in this part of the parish mainly 

 consist of pasture lands, 1,015 acres being laid down, 

 in all, in permanent grass. There are, however, 

 I,oi9f acres of arable land in the parish.* 



The highest point in the hills is the camp in Pulpit 

 Wood, which reaches the height of 8 1 3 ft. above the 



GREAT KIMBLE : FIFTEENTH-CENTURY BUILDING 

 USED AS A BARN 



ordnance datum, while Kimblewick in the northern 

 part of the parish is less than 300 ft. above it. 4 A 

 brook connecting with the moat at Grange Farm runs 

 northwards to Bonny Brook in Little Kimble parish. 

 The latter brook also passes through Marsh, a hamlet 

 in the north of Great Kimble parish. The road from 

 High Wycombe to Aylesbury runs through the village 

 of Great Kimble and at this part of its route follows the 

 Upper Icknield Way. The Lower Icknield Way also 

 runs through the parish. The nearest station is at 

 Little Kimble, on the Aylesbury branch of the Great 

 Western Railway. 



There are two hamlets in the parish, Kimblewick 

 and Marsh. On Pulpit Hill is an ancient camp and 

 there are entrenchments and a mound 

 to the north of the church, close to the 

 churchyard boundary. There is a moat 

 at Grange Farm near Great Kimble vil- 

 lage, and at Marsh a large moat remains, 

 but the house or buildings which it once 

 surrounded have disappeared. 



Near the church to the north-west 

 is a large I jth-century wooden struc- 

 ture now used as a barn, but possibly 

 once the church house. It is covered 

 externally with weather boarding, but 

 this is comparatively modern and any 

 windows which may have been in the 

 walls have disappeared. The roof, 

 however, is fairly complete, and its 

 moulded and embattled timbers are too 

 elaborate to have belonged merely to 

 a barn. It is of iteep pitch, supported 

 by a number of more or less restored 

 principals with moulded tie-beams, 

 purlins, braces, &c. 



The parish of Great Kimble, to- 

 gether with Ellesborough and Little 

 Kimble, was inclosed under an Act of 

 Parliament of 43 George III ; the in- 

 closure award was dated 2 May 1805.* 

 In 1885 all the parish of Little 

 Kimble and part of Little Hampden 

 were united with Great Kimble parish. 

 The area of the present civil parish of 

 Great and Little Kimble is 3,415 acres, 6 

 but in 1831 the old parish of Great 

 Kimble was returned as containing 2,570 

 acres. 7 



In the time of Edward 

 MANORS the Confessor, Sired, one 

 of the king's thegns, held 

 GREAT KIMBLE,* but after the Nor- 

 man Conquest it formed part of the 

 broad lands granted to Walter Giftard. 9 



NOW 



. Bucks, i, Geological Map. 

 * Ibid. 

 8 Inf. from Bd. of Agric. (1905). 



4 Ord. Surv. 



6 Common Inclosure A'wards, 



' Ord. Surv. 



< Pof. Ret. 1831, i, 26. 

 f.C.H. Backs, i, 247*. 

 'Ibid. 



298 



