IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Kings Oak Close, PRINCES RISBOROUGH, HP27 9LB

The dovecote is thought to date from the 16th century, and was originally a building on Place Farm, which was demolished in the 1970s for housing development. Dovecotes were built by landowners to house rock pigeons. The pigeons would breed between April and October and the young birds, called squabs, would be taken when about four weeks old to be cooked and eaten. The design of dovecotes has always tried to appeal to pigeons and to discourage birds of prey, although modifications were sometimes needed to cope with the later threat posed by brown rats which could burrow into dovecotes and attack nests close to the ground. This particular dovecote was constructed of chalk and originally would have had about 200 nestboxes. (Notes loosely transcribed, with thanks, from the nearby information board written by the Princes Risborough Area Heritage Society.) Image is in the background. From a cartographic point of view the dovecote somewhat surprisingly merits its own pale orange "building" on the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 scale mapping.

According to the noticeboard on the left, this modern industrial unit in Mill Lane has recently been purchased by Croudace Homes http://www.croudacehomes.co.uk/ with a view to redeveloping the site for residential use, and is a typical example of a change in use to satisfy demand for houses. Offset against this is the loss of employment opportunities for local people. A Google search revealed little about Aston & Full although it would appear that the production of packaging materials, and maybe paper cups in particular, might have been the function of the factory.

The parish celebrated its 1100th anniversary in 2003, with its boundaries having been witnessed by royalty and bishops in a charter dated 903. The Church's website is here http://www.stdunstanschurch.com/ There is a comprehensive description of the church in the British History website here http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=62768

Monks Risborough is the oldest recorded parish in England. Oldest parts of this present building date back to around 1150, structurally the Church hasn't changed much since around 1470.

Princes Risborough expanded significantly between about 1950 and 1980 including these houses here, which probably date from the late 1960s/early 1970s - part of an estate effectively joining Princes Risborough to Monks Risborough.

The Norman "Aylesbury" font in St Dunstan's, Monk's Risborough. Viewed looking down the nave towards the western end. See shared description below for more information on the ancient fonts. See also Image] and Image]

The C12th "Aylesbury" font in St Dunstan's, Monks Risborough. See below for more information. See also Image] and Image]

A close-up view of the geometrical and leaf design of the carving below the rim of the C12th "Aylesbury" font in St Dunstan's, Monks Risborough. See also Image], Image] and the shared descriptions below.

This is the parish church for Monks Risborough, now effectively a suburb of Princes Risborough. It is of 14th century origin but was restored in the 1860s by G.E. Street.

A view across the nave of the light and spacious St Dunstan's church in Monks Risborough with the North Aisle beyond the pointed Gothic arches.