Hillesden

Though prehistoric activity is rare in this part of Buckinghamshire, there are cropmarks south of Hillesden village of a possible prehistoric field system and a ring-ditch. The latter could be the ploughed out remains of a barrow or a round-house. A Neolithic stone axe was also found on a ploughed field near the Padbury Brook and is made of stone from the Lake District. It was found in the vicinity of a site known from aerial photographs and thought to be some kind of prehistoric monument.

There is not much Saxon material in the parish; a sherd of pottery was found near the possible Civil War earthworks and the field-name Rowley Hill suggests the site of a Saxon burial mound, but it can no longer be seen.

Hillesden is recorded in Domesday and was part of Bernwood Forest. Bernwood had been a hunting forest from the time of Edward the Confessor. It grew to its largest extent under Henry II. The whole area was not covered by woods; in the medieval period a forest was a place where deer roamed for hunting and so included open land, villages and fields. All those who lived in the forest were not allowed to hunt or even gather wood without a special licence from the king. Bernwood Forest was finally disafforested in the reign of James I in 1635, although it had been shrinking in size since the time of King John (1199-1216).

The village seems to have been bigger in the medieval period. There are earthworks of house platforms and a hollow-way in the centre of the village. There are also possible separate medieval settlements or ends of the same village. The remains of ridge-and-furrow can be seen around the parish. A pond can be seen behind the church, but it is unclear whether it is the fishpond that was mentioned in a 13^th century document or a later ornamental pond. The oldest standing building in the parish is All Saints' church, which has a 15^th century tower, though the rest seems to have been rebuilt in the late 15^th and 16^th century. There was probably an earlier building there as there is a 13^th century font inside and a 14^th century churchyard cross outside.

Domesday records a watermill in the parish, and it seems to have been on the same site throughout the medieval period and up to the 17^th century and may have been in the vicinity of Claydon Plank. A field-name 'Windmill Hill' suggests the site of a windmill, and a circular mark can be seen on an aerial photograph overlying the ridge-and-furrow. A late 19^th century to early 20^th century post-mill stood south of the Manor House but went out of use in 1923.

Hillesden House, the medieval manor house, was destroyed in the Civil War. Rebuilding started in 1648 but that house was probably demolished in the early 19^th century. The site has since been built on. The house is said to have been surrounded by banks during the siege but these can't be seen any more. There are ponds and garden features around the site of the house as well. A large pit containing many bodies was excavated in 1850 at the church and it was thought that it was the mass grave of the dead from the battle.

There was a little industry in the parish in the 19^th century. A brick and tileworks was run by Mr Page near Hillesden Wood Farm and are recorded on an 1880 map, but were not working by the 1920s.