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| Little London | |
|---|---|
 The B4011 Bicester Road at the Brill turn at Little London | |
  Little London Location withinBuckinghamshire | |
| OS grid reference | SP645123 |
| Civil parish | |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Aylesbury |
| Postcode district | HP18 |
| Dialling code | 01844 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Buckinghamshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Oakley Parish Council |
| |
Little London is ahamlet consisting of approximately 70 houses located immediately east of the village ofOakley inBuckinghamshire and about 5.5 miles (9 km) northwest of themarket town ofThame in neighbouringOxfordshire.
Little London Green is the largest area ofcommon land in the parish of Oakley.
The earliest known records of Little London are from the 16th century. Little London is clearly visible on theNew College, Oxford map ofBernwood Forest of 1590. Originally the boundary betweenBrill and Oakley followed the stream in Oakley, meaning that Oakley parish church, 'the Nap' and 'Little London Green' would have been in Little London.
Little London has several 17th-century cottages.[2] ACongregational chapel was built there in 1847.[2]
In 1934Buckinghamshire County Council revised parish council boundaries and made Little London part of Oakley.[citation needed] Until the 1960s the hamlet had its own shop.[citation needed]
TheToponymy (naming) of Little London is not clear. Some locals[vague] thought it was founded during theBlack Death in the 14th century by Londoners fleeing the capital.[citation needed] The fact that the hamlet is one field distant from the rest of Oakley may support this theory.[citation needed]
Little London may have been established by Welshcattle drovers. Cattle drovers established at least 70 communities established in England and Wales, many of which still exist. They were temporary homes for long distance drovers, driving their cattle to the great fairs and markets of London and other centres in England. They were on common land, separated from local communities. The drovers had a licence to travel, granted byElizabeth I, and were regarded as "foreigners" by the local parishioners who could not travel without a "settlement certificate".[3] One of theOld English words for "foreigners" wasutlenden ("outlanders"), which could be corrupted to "Little London".[4]
