Lane End, Buckinghamshire

Lane End is a village and civil parish within Wycombe district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is just south of the M40 from High Wycombe, about two miles (3 km) west of Booker. The village is twinned with Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron in France.

Lane End
Lane End
Location within Buckinghamshire
Population3,563 [1]
OS grid referenceSU810922
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townHigh Wycombe
Postcode districtHP14
Dialling code01494
PoliceThames Valley
FireBuckinghamshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament

Lane End is a village of some 3050 people,[2] set in the centre of a triangle bounded by High Wycombe, Marlow and Henley-on-Thames. The village is 650 feet (200 m) above sea level in the Chilterns, set in rolling hills of farmland, beech woods and footpaths.

Within the civil parish of Lane End are the hamlets of Cadmore End, Ditchfield, Moor Common and Moor End.

History

Lane End was historically on the borders of the parishes of Great Marlow, Hambleden, Fingest and West Wycombe, with a small part (Ackhampstead) belonging to the parish of Lewknor in Oxfordshire until 1895. In 1867 the ecclesiastical parish of Lane End was formed from the neighbouring parishes.[3] The village continued to be divided between the four neighbouring civil parishes until 1934, when the parts within Great Marlow, Hambleden and West Wycombe civil parishes were transferred to Fingest (renamed Fingest and Lane End in 1937).[4] In the 1980s the parish of Fingest and Lane End was abolished, and the civil parish of Lane End was formed.

In addition to working the land to provide wheat and barley to the breweries in Marlow and Henley, the inhabitants traditionally manufactured chairs or worked in a local iron foundry.[5]

During the Second World War King Zog of Albania lived at Parmoor House in Frieth, a hamlet a mile south of Lane End, and with many Albanians living in Lane End, used to attend village events.

According to local legend, the village is haunted by the ghost of a girl in a red dress, who died two weeks before her wedding day in 1766.[6]

Churches

The oldest church in the village is the Methodist church which started as a congregational church, meeting in a chapel in Marlow Road in 1801. Later this was replaced by a chapel, built in 1835, which is now Lane End Studios. A Wesleyan chapel was built in 1866, but the congregation now meets at the Parish Church at 11:15 on Sunday mornings

The parish is served by the church of the Holy Trinity in Ditchfield Common, which was built in 1832. (see www.laneendholytrinity.org.uk) It is part of a team ministry of 4 churches - Lane End, Stokenchurch, Cadmore End and Ibstone served by a Team Rector in Stokenchurch and a Team Vicar in Lane End. It is one of twenty-seven churches in the Deanery of Wycombe within the Diocese of Oxford (see www.wycombedeanery.com) which in turn is part of the Church of England in the Province of Canterbury in the United Kingdom - our Mother Church is Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford.

A Gospel mission hall dating from 1888 at Moor End now meets as the Elim Christian Centre in the centre of the village near the large estate area.

Holy Trinity Church Lane End

Amenities

The village school formerly known as Francis Edmonds and now known as Lane End Primary School, takes local children from the age of two until secondary school age.

Lane End Youth and Community Centre is central to the village and is used for a variety of exercise classes, holiday play schemes, lunches for the local elderly residents, coffee mornings, computer classes, band practice and dog obedience classes. The centre is also used by the local and wider community for private functions.

The village hall is used for dances, jumble sales, bridge club, bingo, The Lane End Players and home to the parish council.

The village now has just one pub the Grouse and Ale (previously known as the Clayton Arms). The Osborne Arms is now an Indian Restaurant. The Old Sun pub closed in 2010 and has been converted into a private residence with two additional properties built on the former garden area and space freed up by demolition. The Jolly Blacksmith at Ditchfield still has its Pub Sign but closed many years ago. The Chairmakers Arms closed around 2000 and is now two private houses situated in the Row. One of the Houses has kept the name and is called Chairmakers.

The village has two ponds, one on the High Street, the other located approximately 80m away on The Row.

Shops on or near the High Street include a butcher, a chemist, a newsagent and a hairdresser.

Lane End is a starting spot for ramblers who journey down the Hambleden valley to look out for the red kite, the windmill at Turville or just to admire the countryside.

Lane End also has a very active conservation group, Lane End Conservation Group, members of which contribute to the parish by carrying out valuable work to improve the environment for locals and visitors.

Lane End has been twinned with St Pierre d'Oleron on the West coast of France since 1999 - the Lane End Twinning Association promotes the links between the two communities and celebrates its twentieth anniversary in 2019.

Industry

Lane End has been long home to two small industrial estates, where several companies are based. Most notable of these companies was the global operation for Elga Labwater, part of the enormous worldwide Veolia Environment group, however the factory closed in 2010, the site was cleared and rebuilt as a small housing estate.

Retail businesses include a hairdressers, a dance school, a supermarket, Chinese takeaway/fish & chip shop, two newsagents, an off-licence and Laceys family farm shop & butchers. In addition to the pubs, in the High Street there are a pharmacy, a café/deli, and a traditional barber shop.

Lane End is connected by regular bus routes to the neighbouring town of High Wycombe, and several small nearby villages. Red Eagle Buses operate routes 28/28A/28C to High Wycombe and Stokenchurch, while Arriva Shires & Essex operate Route 48 to High Wycombe and Great Missenden.

Media

In the fantasy police procedural novel "The Hanging Tree" by Ben Aaronovitch, the first confrontation between the Met police wizards and the main villain (the Faceless Man) is described as occurring just outside Lane End [7]

gollark: Yes.
gollark: Higher demand causes higher prices, bee.
gollark: How is that a "bad store"?
gollark: Hi!
gollark: You have this much time to prepare

References
  1. "Neighbourhood Statistics 2001 Census". www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  2. Wycombe District Council Lane End Fact Sheet Archived 2007-10-16 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Lane End EP through time | Census tables with data for the Ecclesiastical Parish". www.visionofbritain.org.uk. Archived from the original on 25 December 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  4. "Fingest and Lane End CP/AP through time | Census tables with data for the Parish-level Unit". www.visionofbritain.org.uk. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  5. Gazetteer (1870-72) cited on Vision of Britain website
  6. Ash, Russell (1973). Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain. Reader's Digest Association Limited. p. 267. ISBN 9780340165973.
  7. Aaronovitch, Ben (2016). The Hanging Tree. Gollancz, London. p. 275. ISBN 978-0-575-13255-9.

Media related to Lane End, Buckinghamshire at Wikimedia Commons

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