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ASTON CLINTON
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Aston Clinton is a village of about 3,000 people nestling in the lee of the Chiltern Hills some 5 mile south east of Aylesbury, the county town of Buckinghamshire. It is located at the crossing of two roman roads, Akeman Street and the Icknield Way. Akeman Street is now a very busy trunk road (A41) that runs from London to Chester.
The inhabitants mostly commute to the larger towns as there is little industry nearby. The saw mill has long since disappeared, as has the wood-turning business which produced chair legs for the chair making industry in nearby High Wycombe.
Lords of the Manor, or Squires, of Aston Clinton include the medieval Minshull family, Lord Lake of Delhi, and Sir Anthony de Rothschild. These three are remembered by hatchments hanging in the parish church of St Michael & All Angels.
Sir Anthony de Rothschild came to live in Aston Clinton in 1853 and amongst his achievements was the establishment of the Chiltern Hills Spring Water Company.
The Anthony Hall, now one of the villages' listed buildings, was given to the village by Lady de Rothschild in memory of her husband. It contains a painting of his two daughters Connie and Annie, who as children discovered that whereas boys were educated in the church school, girls were only allowed to attend a straw plaiting school situated in the main street. Although aged only eleven and nine respectively, the de Rothschild children took it upon themselves to teach the girls. Sir Anthony came to the rescue and built a girls school and subsequently, at her request, gave Connie an infants school for her sixteenth birthday present.
The Boy's School, now part of Aston Clinton County Combined School, was rebuilt in 1887 and is surmounted by the Jubilee Clock, which was erected to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.
The village has three listed buildings:
Earlier this century a car maker by the name of Martin used to race his cars in the hill climb events up Aston Hill; thus the name of Aston Martin was derived.
By a quirk of nature, the village has suffered three whirlwinds. One in 1950 when extensive damage was done, including the lifting of the school roof, causing the school to be closed, one in the late 1970s and one in 1984. The latter ripped off roofs, moved fences and garden sheds, splintered green houses and bent many a television aerial.
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