Cheddington
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Cheddington is a village comprising 1,429 acres (5.8 km²); in Buckinghamshire about 5 miles ENE of Aylesbury and three miles N of Tring in Hertfordshire. It is a fairly large village compared to its neighbours, mostly due to the railway line and canal that pass through the parish. The hamlet of Cooks Wharf has grown up where the main road into the village from Pitstone crosses the canal.
The village first made an appearance in the Domesday Book in which it was called Cetendone, which means "Cetta's Hill" in English. The parish church is dedicated to Saint Giles. There is also a Methodist church with a large congregation.
The village manor house is a much gabled and half timbered red brick building under a tiled roof, dating from the 16th century. Cheddington Manor, not open to the public, forms with its gardens and their lake one of the more attractive Buckinghamshire manor houses.
The village contains two public houses: The Swan, a beautiful 'olde worlde' thatched inn, and The Horseshoes. A third inn, known as the Rosebery Arms, designed by the well known Victorian architect George Devey has recently been converted into houses.
In 1963 Cheddington featured in the national press as it was near the location of the Great Train Robbery. In 1984, again Cheddington achieved national notoriety as the location of the first assault by a violent and bisexual armed rapist, nicknamed because of his cunning and nocturnal attacks, as The Fox.
In the last thirty years Cheddington, due to its railway station, and easy access to four towns has more than quadrupled in size. While in some ways a commuter or dormitory village, it has a lively community with many facilities and clubs that are the envy of other parishes in the county. In information released from the 2001 census, Cheddington has the highest density of people under the age of 35 in the whole county of Buckinghamshire.