Dinton, Buckinghamshire

Dinton
240px Dinton from the south
Dinton  Dinton shown within Buckinghamshire
Population	809 (civil parish)
OS grid reference	SP7610
Civil parish	Dinton with Ford and Upton
District	Aylesbury Vale
Shire county	Buckinghamshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Buckinghamshire
Ambulance	South Central
EU Parliament	South East England
List of places UK England Buckinghamshire

Dinton is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the south of the Aylesbury Vale on the ancient turnpike leading from Aylesbury to Thame (although this road has since been diverted away from the village). It is within the civil parish of Dinton with Ford and Upton in the district of Aylesbury Vale. The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'Dunna's estate'. In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was listed as Danitone.

History

There was an ancient mansion house in this parish that belonged to the Mayne family for many years (they were lords of the manor in 1086). This has long since disappeared, but the groundworks of the ancient manor house still remain and are a goldmine of archaeological finds. There is also a ruined mock-fortified building, Dinton Castle also known as Dinton Folly, though this was constructed much later (in 1769) by Sir John Vanhattem. This octagonal folly is a listed building and has recently undergone some restoration work.

File:SS Peter and Paul, Dinton - geograph.org.uk - 247492.jpg

Church of St Peter and St Paul

The 12th century parish church of Saints Peter and Paul is a grade I listed building.

Next to the church is Dinton Hall; this fine many gabled mansion altered at various periods during its long history, was until the last quarter of the 20th century the seat of the Currie family and now owned by the Vanbergen family. Following the Curries' departure it was bought by a Mr. Smith. He carried out a program of restoration, and placed his own coat of arms above the mansion's portals. Since 2004 the mansion is owned by the Vanbergen family, and they have restored the mansion and brought in new facilities.

A notable resident of Dinton in the seventeenth century was John Bigg, the Dinton Hermit, who lived in a cave in the village. He was involved in the execution of King Charles I on 30 January 1649 and was reputed to have been the actual executioner. As one of the regicides Simon Mayne lived at Dinton, and was after his death in imprisonment buried at Dinton in 1661, it is possible that the executioner would have been given sanctuary and anonymity on one of the regicide's estates.

Within the parish border lay the hamlets of Westlington, Ford, Upton, Waldridge, Gibraltar and Aston Mullins.

There was also anciently a hamlet called Moreton in this parish, though today only the groundworks and ponds remain. This hamlet was wiped out sometime in the sixteenth century. The name mort / ton (death (fr) / town) is a signal that this settlement could have been wiped out and then subsequently abandoned after the inhabitants succumbed to the Black Death.

Education

Cuddington and Dinton Church of England School is a mixed Church of England primary school. It is a voluntary aided school that has been formed from the merger of Cuddington and Dinton schools. It takes children from the age of four through to the age of eleven. The school now has just over one hundred pupils.

Sport

Dinton is home to Dinton Cricket club who have three senior teams playing in the Home Counties Premier Cricket League and Cherwell League as well as junior age group teams from under 9's to under 17's. Dinton CC also compete in the National Village Cup reaching the semi-final stage in 2013 and 2014.

External links

• Dinton Info - News, Information and Historic articles about Dinton
• Dinton with Ford and Upton Parish Council Website
• Cuddington and Dinton Church of England School
• Stone, Dinton and Hartwell Church Parish Website
• News, results and information about Dinton CC