A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



BIERTON (WITH BROUGHTON) 



Burton (xiii cent.) ; Beerton (xv cent.). 



Bierton parish lies in the Vale of Aylesbury, to the 

 north-east of Aylesbury parish. It contains 2,476^ 

 acres, 1 which are mainly laid down in permanent 

 grass, only about 396 acres being arable land. 1 The 

 population is mainly employed on grazing farms ; 

 duck-breeding is also carried on to a very considerable 

 extent. The subsoil is Portland Beds and Kim- 

 meridge Clay, the surface clay. 8 The land lies for the 

 most part between 200 ft. and 300 ft. above the 

 Ordnance datum, the highest point being only 2i4ft. 4 

 The parish is well watered ; Thistle Brook forms the 

 northern boundary, and various streams rise near the 

 hamlet of Broughton, flowing northwards. There is 

 a moat at Manor Farm. The Aylesbury branch of 

 the Grand Junction Canal also crosses the parish. 

 The village of Bierton lies about a mile and a half 

 from Aylesbury, on the main road to Leighton 

 Buzzard. A branch road turns off at the north end 

 of the village to Hulcott. The village spreads along 

 the road, and is composed of modern houses, with one 

 or two of an older date, which are not of any par- 

 ticular interest. The church lies at the south-west 

 end of the village, and is surrounded by a small 

 churchyard, with a detached portion, now used, to 

 the east. The hamlet of Burcott almost forms a part 

 of the village, and consists of a few cottages and farm 

 houses. Broughton, another hamlet, comprises a row 



of small cottages. The Aylesbury branch of the Lon- 

 don and North- Western Railway crosses the parish, 

 and the nearest station is at Aylesbury. The most 

 important house is Bierton House, the residence of 

 Mr. J. W. Grist. Various neolithic implements and 

 a British urn have been dug up at different times. 6 

 The parishes of Bierton and Hulcott were inclosed 

 under the same Act of Parliament, and the award 

 is dated 15 July I78o. 6 



The manor of BIERTON was prob- 

 M4NORS ably held as parcel of the manor of 

 Aylesbury, which was in the hands of the 

 king at the time of the Domesday Survey. 7 In 1258, 

 in a lawsuit as to lands in Bierton, the defendants did 

 not appear, pleading that the manor of Bierton was a 

 member of Aylesbury, which belonged to the ancient 

 demesne of the Crown, and that therefore they could 

 only be impleaded by a little writ of right-close. 8 

 Aylesbury Manor was in the hands of the Mandevilles, 

 Earls of Essex, in the 1 2th century. 9 A new grant 

 was made by King John to his favourite Geoffrey 

 Fitz Piers of the manor with its appurtenances at an 

 increased rental. 10 Geoffrey was to hold it with the 

 same right and exemptions that Earl William de 

 Mandeville had had. This probably included the 

 manor of Bierton, since Fitz Piers' grandson and suc- 

 cessor," Lord Richard Fitz John, died seised before 

 1297 of the manor of Aylesbury with the hamlet of 



1 Ord. Surv. 



* Information supplied by Bd. of Agric. 

 (1905). 



V.C.H. Bucks, i, Geological Map. 



BIERTON CHURCH FROM THE NORTH 



4 d. Surv. 

 * y.C.H.Buck,\, 192. 

 8 Com. Inch Aivards. 

 ^ y. C.H.Bucks, i, 231. 



320 



8 Assize R. no. 1188. 



9 Cart. Antiq. A A. 23. 

 Ibid. 



11 G.E.C. Complete Peerage. 



