Haversham

Haversham is a village in the Borough of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated to the north of Milton Keynes itself, near Wolverton and about 5 miles (8 km) north of Central Milton Keynes. With Little Linford, it forms the civil parish of Haversham-cum-Little Linford.[2] It is separated from the Milton Keynes urban area by the River Great Ouse.

Not to be confused with Heversham.

Haversham
Haversham
Location in Milton Keynes area
Mapping © OpenStreetMap contributors
Haversham
Location within Buckinghamshire
Population873 (2011 Census, parish)[1]
OS grid referenceSP830430
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townMilton Keynes
Postcode districtMK19
Dialling code01908
PoliceThames Valley
FireBuckinghamshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament

The village name is an Old English word that means 'Haefer's homestead'. In the Domesday Book of 1086, when it belonged to the Peverell family, it was listed as Havresham.[3] The ancient manor house in the village, which was fortified in 1304, was largely burnt down, but parts of it still remain in a farm house just outside the main village.

Haversham was once a village of farm-workers' dwellings. As of 2012, only Hill Farm, Grange Farm and Crossroads Farm remain as active working farms. The village has two distinct settlements separated by farmland. The older part of the village contains the manor house. It lies at elevations between 60 metres and 65 metres above mean sea level, just above the flood plain of the Ouse.[4] In the 1930s, 'New Haversham' was built nearer Wolverton, to house staff working at the Wolverton railway works nearby. New Haversham contains the primary school and is on ground at elevations between 65 metres and 75 metres, overlooking the Ouse Valley.

In the 1970s, ARC dug the river meadows near the site of the old village of Stanton Low for gravel extraction, leaving behind the large man made lakes that surround Haversham to the south today. These lakes are the home to the Hanson Centre and to the Haversham Sailing Club, one of the sailing clubs around Milton Keynes.

Just south of Haversham beside the road to Wolverton, is the Wolverton Railway Viaduct over the valley of the river Great Ouse, of a Stephenson's design, carrying the West Coast Main Line.

The village gave its name to HMS Haversham, a Ham class minesweeper.

Civil parish

Haversham is in the civil parish of Haversham-cum-Little Linford,[2] which also includes Little Linford. This merged parish was formed in 1934 following a County Review order. It formed part of the Newport Pagnell Rural District until 1974 when, as with the rest of NPRD, it became part of the Borough of Milton Keynes.

References
  1. UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Haversham-cum-Little Linford (E04012186)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  2. "Contact your Parish, Town or Community Council". Milton Keynes Council. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  3. William Page, ed. (1927). "Parishes : Haversham". A History of the County of Buckingham. Victoria History of the Counties of England. 4. London: Constable & Co. Ltd. pp. 366–372.
  4. "Environment Agency: flood map for planning: Haversham, Milton Keynes". Retrieved 30 October 2020.
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