Upper Winchendon or Over Winchendon is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale District of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of Waddesdon and 4.5 miles (7 km) west of Aylesbury. A mid-air collision on 17 November 2017 between a plane and a helicopter just outside the village was referred to by much of the press as the "Waddesdon Manor air incident".[2]

Upper Winchendon
St Mary Magdalene parish church
Upper Winchendon is located in Buckinghamshire
Upper Winchendon
Upper Winchendon
Location within Buckinghamshire
Population87 (Mid-2010 pop est)[1]
OS grid referenceSP745145
Civil parish
  • Upper Winchendon
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townAylesbury
Postcode districtHP18
Dialling code01296
PoliceThames Valley
FireBuckinghamshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Buckinghamshire
51°49′22″N 0°55′05″W / 51.8227°N 0.9181°W / 51.8227; -0.9181

Name edit

The name "Winchendon" is derived from the Old English for "hill at a bend". Collectively the villages of Upper Winchendon and Nether Winchendon (or Lower Winchendon) were called Wichendone.

Manor edit

The manor of Upper Winchendon was held by St Frideswide's Priory in Oxford, to whom it was given by King Henry I. After the suppression of the convent in the Dissolution of the Monasteries the manor was given to Cardinal Wolsey, but was seized by the Crown shortly afterwards, in 1530, along with Wolsey's other estates.

In 1623 the manor was granted by the Crown to the Goodwin family, who enlarged the manor house into a mansion. It then passed into the Wharton family, one of whom was made the Duke of Wharton in 1718 for his services to the Crown. He later had all his possessions seized for being a supporter of the Young Pretender (Bonnie Prince Charlie). The house fell into disrepair thereafter and has since been demolished.

Notable people edit

In birth order.

  • Cardinal Wolsey (1473–1530), cardinal and politician, was briefly lord of the manor up to 1530, when he fell from favour.
  • Sir Francis Goodwin (1564–1634), politician, was lord of the manor of Upper Winchendon and an MP for Buckinghamshire.[3]
  • Arthur Goodwin (died 1643), lawyer and Parliamentarian, was lord of the manor of Upper Winchendon.[4]
  • Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton (1613–1696), soldier, Parliamentarian and art collector, gained the manor of Upper Winchendon through his second wife, Jane Goodwin, only daughter of Arthur Goodwin. He and other family were painted by Anthony van Dyck.[5]
  • Samuel Clarke (1626–1701), nonconformist minister and Biblical scholar, spent 26 years in Upper Winchendon under the auspices of Philip Wharton, after ejection from the rectory of Grendon Underwood in 1662, and set up on an Independent congregation there.[6]
  • Thomas Wharton, 1st Marquess of Wharton (1648–1714), Whig politician, rake and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, was the eldest son of Philip Wharton. The lyrics of the marching song "Lillibullero" are attributed to him. He was buried at Upper Winchendon.[7]
  • Goodwin Wharton (1653–1704), Whig politician and autobiographer, was born in Upper Winchendon on 8 March 1653 as third son of Philip Wharton.[8]
  • Anne Wharton (1659–1685), wife of Thomas Wharton, was a poet and dramatist.[9]

2017 mid-air collision edit

On 17 November 2017, a mid-air collision occurred between an aeroplane and a helicopter near Waddesdon Manor,[10] resulting in four deaths, two on each aircraft.[11] The crash happened just outside the Manor grounds, close to the village of Upper Winchendon.[2] The wreckage landed in dense woodland.[11] Emergency services were called at 12:06 GMT.[11] Seven fire vehicles, the Thames Valley air ambulance, two ambulances, and a rapid response vehicle attended.[11]

The crash involved a Cessna 152 registration G-WACG,[12] and a Guimbal Cabri G2 registration G-JAMM, each with two people on board.[13][11] Both aircraft had come from Wycombe Air Park,[14] 23 miles (37 km) from the crash site.[15] The Cessna had previously been involved in an incident in 1993.[13]

The pilot of the helicopter was Mike Green, an instructor who was training a student pilot at the time.[16] The student pilot was later announced as being a captain in the Vietnamese Army, who was training to become a military flight instructor.[17] The bodies of all four victims were removed from the site on 19 November.[17]

Thames Valley Police stated that the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) had been informed.[14] Military support was provided to assist with recovery of the wreckage of the two aircraft, which was dispatched to the AAIB's headquarters at Farnborough Airport, Hampshire.[17]

References edit

  1. ^ "Civil Parish population estimates in England and Wales, mid-2010". Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Aircraft and helicopter involved in mid-air crash in Buckinghamshire". The Guardian. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017. A spokesman for the nearby Wycombe Air Park confirmed both aircraft had come from there. A representative of Waddesdon Manor, a large estate near Aylesbury, said the crash happened near the village of Upper Winchendon, a little beyond the manor's grounds.
  3. ^ History of Parliament. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  4. ^ ODNB: Joan A. Dils, "Goodwin, Arthur (d. 1643)" Retrieved 13 March 2014, pay-walled.
  5. ^ ODNB: Sean Kelsey, "Wharton, Philip, fourth Baron Wharton (1613–1696)" Retrieved 13 March 2014, pay-walled.
  6. ^ ODNB: David Wilson, "Clarke, Samuel (1626–1701)" Retrieved 13 March 2014, pay-walled.
  7. ^ ODNB: J. Kent Clark, "Wharton, Thomas, first marquess of Wharton, first marquess of Malmesbury, and first marquess of Catherlough (1648–1715)" Retrieved 13 March 2014, pay-walled.
  8. ^ ODNB: Roy Porter, "Wharton, Goodwin (1653–1704)" Retrieved 13 March 2014, pay-walled.
  9. ^ ODNB: Germaine Greer, "Wharton, Anne (1659–1685)" Retrieved 13 March 2014, pay-walled.
  10. ^ "Aircraft and helicopter in mid-air crash in Waddesdon". BBC News Online. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017. Emergency services were called to the site, near Waddesdon Manor, near Aylesbury, at 12:06 GMT
  11. ^ a b c d e "Four die as aircraft and helicopter crash in mid-air near Waddesdon". BBC News Online. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017. Four people have died … Two people were killed in each aircraft, Thames Valley Police said… [they] cannot see the crash site as the woodland is so dense.
  12. ^ "Bliegtuig en Helikopter Botsen boven Engeland" [Plane and Helicopter Crash over England]. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017. Op basis van een foto van een wrakstuk op de site van de BBC lijkt het verongelukte vliegtuig een Cessna 152 met de registratie G-WACG te zijn.
  13. ^ a b Sawer, Patrick; Boyle, Danny (17 November 2017). "Aylesbury mid-air crash: Three feared dead as plane and helicopter wreckage lands near Rothschild manor house". Retrieved 17 November 2017. the helicopter was carrying two people, while only the pilot was on board the light aircraft, reported to be a two-seat Cessna 152... which had suffered substantial damage to its landing gear, propeller and engine cowling during a previous crash as it was taking off at Bodmin airfield, in Cornwall, in July 1993.
  14. ^ a b O'Keeffe, Hayley (17 November 2017). "Breaking News: Emergency services at scene of crash involving aircraft and helicopter near Aylesbury". Bucks Herald. Retrieved 17 November 2017. Both aircraft involved in today's mid-air collision near Waddesdon are understood to have come from Wycombe Air Park, according to the Press Association.
  15. ^ Sawer, Patrick; Harley, Nicola (17 November 2017). "Aylesbury mid-air crash: Four dead as plane and helicopter wreckage lands near Rothschild manor house". The Telegraph. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  16. ^ "Helicopter instructor among crash victims". BBC News. 18 November 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  17. ^ a b c "Vietnamese pilot killed in mid-air crash". BBC News. 20 November 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.

Further reading edit

External links edit