Aston Sandford

Aston Sandford
St Michael and All Angels parish church
Population	50 (2001 census)
OS grid reference	SP7507
Civil parish	Aston Sandford
District	Aylesbury Vale
Shire county	Buckinghamshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Aylesbury
Postcode district	HP17
Dialling code	01296
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Buckinghamshire
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Buckingham

Aston Sandford is a small village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England, about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Haddenham and 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Princes Risborough.

The "Aston" part of the toponym is derived from the Old English for "Eastern Estate". At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 the village was known as Cold Aston, and both it and Haddenham were owned by the same manor, suggesting that Aston got its name from being the farming estate to the east of Haddenham. The owner of both places in 1086 was listed as Manno the Breton.

By 1199 the estate had been annexed by the Norman rulers and was placed into the extensive estates belonging to the heirs of Odo, Bishop of Bayeux: the Sandfords. It was from this time that the village became known as Aston Sandford.

The Church of England parish church of Saint Michael and All Angels is one of the smallest in England. The nave is probably 12th century and the chancel is probably 13th century. The chancel arch is also 13th century. The northeast window and blocked north doorway are probably 14th century and a buttress on the west wall is probably 15th century. However, the building was so extensively restored and reworked in 1878 that it is difficult to date any of its features with certainty.

The parish's rector from 1803-1821 was the biblical commentator Revd. Thomas Scott, who trained the first missionaries of the Church Missionary Society here.

Sources

• Page, William (ed.) (1927). Victoria County History: A History of the County of Buckingham, Volume 4. pp. 8–9. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Pevsner, Nikolaus (1973) [1960]. The Buildings of England: Buckinghamshire. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 53. ISBN 0 14 071019 1. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)