Speen, Buckinghamshire

Speen is a village in the Chiltern Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, situated in the civil parish of Lacey Green, in Buckinghamshire, England.

Speen

Speen village sign depicting local trades
Speen
Location within Buckinghamshire
OS grid referenceSU845995
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townPRINCES RISBOROUGH
Postcode districtHP27
Dialling code01494
PoliceThames Valley
FireBuckinghamshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament

As the crow flies, the centre of the village (as depicted by the village sign) is 3.2 miles south east of Princes Risborough, 4.7 miles north of High Wycombe and 31 miles north west of central London. The village is a short distance from Chequers, the country residence of the Prime Minister of the day.

The village has an annual fete which is held on the first weekend of July and a bi-annual arts festival which has been running for 18 years.

History

The village name originates from Anglo Saxon. The exact meaning is unclear, but possibly meaning 'wood-chip place'. The name of the village corresponds to the location of the hamlet in the Chiltern Forest where trees were regularly felled.

Geography

The village is a mixture of woodland and agricultural fields (including cultivated crops, hay meadow for livestock feed and pasture) and varies in elevation. There are approximately 165 houses in the village which has a population at the time of the 2011 census of 637[1] and has a current estimated population of 654.

Speen Festival

The village has a bi-annual culture and arts festival. The festival runs in September in odd numbered year and the 2017 festival ran from Saturday 2 September 2017 to Sunday 17 September 2017.[2]

The first Speen Festival in 2001 was based on a festival (The Leaves of Time) held in 1999 to celebrate the passing of the Millennium.

Notable residents
  • In 1928 the artist Eric Gill moved to Pigotts at Speen, where he set up a printing press, and lettering workshop and alternative community.[3][4]

References
  1. "Speen (Buckinghamshire, South East England, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics and Location in Maps and Charts". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  2. "Speen Festival 2017". www.speenfestival.org. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  3. "Font Designer - Eric Gill". Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  4. Map of Pigotts by Gill

Media related to Speen at Wikimedia Commons

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