Steve's World Blog Information and articles on cities, towns and villages around the world.

April 17, 2013

Stone Buckinghamshire

Stone Buckinghamshire – A pretty little village situated near to the town of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire (Bucks), Stone has a population of about 2,500 and has been in existence since Saxon times (being called Stanes in the Doomsday Book). Stone lies on the A418 road between Aylesbury and Thame (Oxfordshire) and is one of the many villages which surround the town of Aylesbury, other include Stoke Mandeville, Bierton, West Turville and Aston Clinton. Stone was formerly the location of an asylum called St John’s Hospital, this was closed down in the early 1990’s, and the land developed for new housing.

View maps of Buckinghamshire towns and villages here: http://www.buckinghamshire-maps.co.uk

April 11, 2012

Basildon Essex

Basildon Essex – Basildon is a new town in Essex, created in 1949 after the Second World War, it was intended to house those who suffered due to the bombing in London and the destruction of many of its neighbourhoods. Part of its population comes from East London, near the docks. Basildon was created from four small villages, Pitsea, Basildon, Laindon and Vange. The first reference to Basildon in historical annals is in the Domesday Book, (records of 1086) being referred to as “Belesduna”. Basildon’s name means “the hill” and the words come from Anglo-Saxon, “Beorhtel” and “dun.” Throughout the centuries and in different historical documents, Basildon will be called in different names such as: Berdlesdon, Batlesdon and Belesduna. Within the district of Billericay, we can see a house dating from 1620 where the Pilgrim Fathers met, before emigrating to America on the Mayflower. Basildon today has a population of 185,000, it is situated to the south-east of Brentwood, to the south-east of Billericay and to the north-west of Southend-on-Sea, South Benfleet and Canvey Island.

View a map of Basildon here: http://www.my-towns.co.uk/basildon-map.html

November 8, 2009

Wheathampstead Hertfordshire

Filed under: England,History,United Kingdom — Tags: , , , , — needahand @ 9:39 pm

A small town to the north of St Albans in Hertfordshire, Wheathampstead has a population of over 6,000 and is basically little more than a large village. The history of Wheathampstead goes back to the centuries BC, when there were settlements established by a tribe known as the Belgae. Evidence found in an area known as Devil’s Dyke provided proof of these early settlements. Wheathampstead was later mentioned in the Domesday Book (1089), when it was referred to as Watamestede. Though there may have been a church in the town before the Normans arrived, the earliest surviving construction is part of the church of  St Helens which dates from around 1280. Right up until 1859 Wheathampstead was part of the same rectory as another Hertfordshire town, Harpenden. Present day Wheathampstead is within the district of St Albans. Map of Wheathampstead.

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