Early History
The Domesday book shows that the manor of Haddenham was thriving in 1086. It was not yet a village as the dwellings were in scattered settlements. But it had a church and water mills and all necessary organisation for the community. The manor was granted to Bishop Gundulf of Rochester by King William soon after the Norman conquest, and the Chapter and Dean of Rochester held land and influence in Haddenham into modern times.
By 1295 the village had grown important enough to be granted a charter for a market and a fair, but proximity to Thame caused objection, and the right was taken away in 1302. The funfair that visits each September, properly known as Haddenham Feast, is not related to the medieval charter fair but to the feast of St Mary, a celebration run by the residents for many years.
For most of its history the inhabitants of Haddenham were entirely engaged in farming, including the husbandry of Aylesbury ducks, whose present day successors are occasionally to be seen on Church End pond, foxes permitting. The change to a modern community really began with the Enclosure Act of 1830. This was when the open-fields ridge-and-furrow strip farming gave way to enclosed private fields. The use of agricultural machinery was developing apace, making farming increasingly efficient requiring fewer farm workers. Urbanisation saw the village population decrease as people moved to the towns, factories or to the mines and even to the colonies. It was more than a century before Haddenham surpassed the population it had in 1851, with the emergence of new trades and occupations.
Early Twentieth Century
The railway came in 1905/6 and the village was excited to have a mainline station. Growth was still slow and the First World War was a setback with the loss of 52 young men. By contrast the Second World War was a real stimulus for change as the new pre-war private aerodrome was taken over by the military and designated RAF Thame. The grass airfield was initially used for training army glider pilots and later for a variety of military purposes. Although never developed into an aerodrome with concrete runways, the fledgling support factories in one corner became the seed of today’s large post-war industrial estate. It is currently home to a wide variety of businesses, large and small, with McCormick UK, DAF, and GGR amongst the larger employers. A new road, Pegasus Way, has been constructed to provide a direct link from the business park northwards to the A418.
The spirit of the war-time airfield lived on through the presence of the Upward Bound Trust Gliding Club, a volunteer-run registered charity which taught young people to fly from 1965. Many of the Trust’s young students went on to professional aviation careers. After 53 years the Trust was given notice to leave its site by the landowner. Gliders overhead are no longer a feature of summer weekends, although you will still see one commemorated in the village millennium sign at Church End.
The Second World War also saw the military taking over the recreation field at Banks Park in the village centre with Nissen huts and other temporary buildings. After the war the Parish Council (as trustee for the freeholder) decided to keep the buildings for community activities and they have evolved through various changes and extensions into the present day Village Hall complex. It includes an exceptionally large main hall of sufficient size to have hosted at various times roller skating, film shows, theatre productions, indoor markets and ceilidhs. Banks Park is today also home to the Community Library, the Scout & Guide Centre, Fit-Life gym (originally the doctors’ surgery), and the Parish Council, which itself has a history going back to 1894.
Part of Banks Park was controversially sold to Spicer Hallfield for their paper and printing factory in 1952. This provided local employment into the present century when it was sold for housing at what is now Spicer’s Yard and Printer’s Piece, receiving a design award on completion in 2015. The 1952 decision to sell may have been influenced by the gift in the late 1940s to the village of a new playing field at Woodways in the will of Mr Roberts. This land was later augmented by a further bequest and a pavilion and social club were built to serve active football, cricket and tennis clubs along with a playground and general recreation.
Post-war Growth
Hadddenham grew considerably during the early post-war period as shown by the following census figures:
1851census 1703 people
1951 1666
1981 4815
2011 4502
The three original settlements (or “ends”) of Townsend, Fort End, and Church End completely coalesced. Both Council housing and speculative private house building began in the 1950s and continued through into the 1970s with estates along Churchway, Stanbridge Road and behind a new parade of shops in Banks Road. Next the village expanded to the west along Thame Road with the largest development at Sheerstock in the late 1970s. The closure of the railway station in 1963 under the Beeching cuts was not seen as a major blow in the age of the motor car in the 1960s. Meanwhile Haddenham gained a junior and two infant schools, a nature reserve at Snakemoor, a wildlife hospital at Tiggywinkles, a new Medical Centre with pharmacy on Stanbridge Road, a Museum and a Garden Centre. At the same time, changing lifestyles saw the loss of all the former shops in the High Street and Church End, along with three banks, two garages and several pubs.
Into the 21st Century
By contrast to the preceding three decades, the 30 years from 1980 to 2010 saw very little change in Haddenham’s population; indeed, even a small decline. But as the new century dawned, events beyond Haddenham were going to have an impact.
In 1987 the new Haddenham & Thame Parkway station was opened and effectively changed the course of Haddenham’s history. In 1996 the train operating franchise was awarded to Chiltern Railways; in 1998 the track was doubled; and in 2015 the link to Oxford was opened on what has become a successful, modern main-line railway. The parallel M40 motorway, just 10 miles from Haddenham, was completed in 1991. From being a rural back water, Haddenham was now in London’s commuter orbit. In current planning jargon, it is a “sustainable strategic settlement” and seen as being in pole position to help meet housing demand.
In 2017 the Government declared the entire Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford arc a major growth zone, with consequences yet to be announced. The former Aylesbury Vale District Council’s “Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan”, which covers the period 2011-2033, designated Haddenham for 50% growth with over 1000 new homes. Most of these are on three large development sites at Aston Road, the former airfield at Tibbs Road, and off Churchway north of Rosemary Lane. The first two sites are well underway, the third has yet to start at the time of writing in December 2021. These developments will come with new facilities and resources for football, tennis, cricket, playgrounds, pavilions and a new burial ground. Together they will provide homes for around 2,500 people to be welcomed into the community and who will help take Haddenham forward into the next decades.
In recent years Haddenham has featured in various “best place to live” surveys. It has been the location for many film and TV productions, particularly Midsomer Murders. In 2018 it was shortlisted and featured in the Channel 4 series “Village of the Year”. Particular interest centres on Haddenham’s historic built heritage with its large Conservation Area, ponds, 120 listed buildings, a listed garden at Turn End, and the use of witchert (a local form of earth walling) in most pre-20th century buildings and walls. But just as importantly is the sheer extent and exuberance of a vibrant community culture with a remarkable number of active village organizations ready to welcome you.