Stokenchurch
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Stokenchurch is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, about three miles south of Chinnor in Oxfordshire, six miles west of High Wycombe. The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'church made of logs'. In manorial records of 1200 the village was referred to as Stockenechurch. Today the village is a popular place to live, due to its rural location and ease of access to London and Birmingham. Stokenchurch is next to junction 5 of the M40.
The main landmark in Stokenchurch is The King's Arms Hotel, where King Charles II is reputed to have stayed with his mistress in the 18th century. There is a parish Anglican Church, the church of St Peter and St Paul, and a Methodist Church. A few shops, a library and a popular curry house, the Mowchak, are also to be found on the main A40 road.
Stokenchurch is one of the main places in Great Britain where one can regularly see the Red Kite, a formerly endangered species whose numbers are now recovering well, though still in isolated pockets such as the Chilterns and West Wales. They were reintroduced to the area by Paul Getty, the American millionaire and philanthropist who owned land locally (the Wormsley estate). In clear weather up to 20 may be seen at one time, gliding on the warm air currents. The best place to view the red kites is from the Nature reserve at Aston Rowant, just west of Stokenchurch off the A40. (Unfortunately most of it is not accessible for those in wheelchairs or with prams).
External links
- Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (http://www.chilternsaonb.org/introduction.html)
- Aston Rowant Nature Reserve (http://www.chilternsaonb.org/site_details.asp?siteID=59)
- St Peter & St Paul Church (http://www.ibstone-church.co.uk/StPetersindex.htm)
- Kings Arms Hotel (http://www.bestwestern.co.uk/search/searchresults.aspx)
References
- Daily telegraph obituary (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/04/18/db1801.xml&site=5)