Penn, Buckinghamshire
Penn is a
village in
Buckinghamshire,
United Kingdom, about 3 miles (5 km) north west of
Beaconsfield and 4 miles (6 km) east of
High Wycombe. It is 3,991 acres (16 km²) in size.
The village name is originally
Brythonic and means simply
"hill": the village stands on a particular promentory of the
Chiltern Hills and from the tower of the
Holy Trinity church in the village it is supposedly possible to see into not less than eight other counties. There is also a beacon hill with a signal post on it in the village boundary.
Segraves Manor, the principle
manor in Penn, anciently belonged to the Penn family. Sybil Penn, wife of David, was dry nurse and foster mother to Prince Edward
King Edward VI and Lady of the Bed Chamber to his sister
Queen Elizabeth I.
William Penn (after whom
Pennsylvania is named) erroneously believed himself to be a descendant of this family. However in
1735 the manor passed from the unmarried
Roger Penn to his only heir and sister who was married to
Lord Curzon.
Today the village is joined to
Tylers Green.
The village of
Penn Street also lies within the parish boundary about a mile from the main village, and refers to the road that leads to Penn from nearby
Amersham. Penn Street remains home to
Earl Howe of the Penn-Curzon-Howe dynasty and the family's long historic influence on the village is evident all around Penn Street church.
The area is a very beautiful part of the Chiltern Hills, and is very popular with
London executives due to its proximity to road (Junction 3 of the
M40 motorway at
Loudwater) and rail (Mainline rail at
Beaconsfield and
London Underground at
Amersham) links into the city.
In
1983, Penn became the burial place of the
British spy Donald Maclean.
Brad Pitt and his current partner,
Angelina Jolie, reportedly own a house in Penn.
The Cottage Bookshop in Penn has been used as one of the filming locations for the 'A Tale of Two Hamlets' episode of the
ITV television program
Midsomer Murders.
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Penn and Tylers Green village website*
Penn and Tylers Green community website
