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The Village
The small village of Bradenham lies off the main High Wycombe to Princes Risborough Road. The large village green is dominated by two buildings; St Botolph’s church and the Manor House.
St Botoph’s can trace its history back to Saxon times, the walls of the nave dating from 1100. The north chapel was added in 1542 and a new chancel in 1863. Built of local stone like the body of the church, the tower houses two of the oldest bells in England, both dating from around 1300. The lychgate was erected as the village memorial to those that gave their lives in World War 1.
The present Manor House dates from the 17th century and is now a training college and is not open to the public. Among the many notable owners and tenants of the house was Isaac Disraeli and the young Benjamin Disraeli spent much of his youth there. He was eventually to acquire the nearby Hughenden Manor, but it is thought that the village of “Hurstley” in his novel “Endymion” is, in fact, Bradenham.
Most of the other buildings surrounding the village green are of traditional brick and flint construction and date from the 18th century. Many, like the church and the Manor House are covered by preservation orders and the village centre itself is a conservation area. The National Trust now cares for much of the village and surrounding woodland.
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