| Fleet Marston | |
|---|---|
 St Mary's parish church | |
  Fleet Marston Location withinBuckinghamshire | |
| Population | 47 (Mid-2010 estimate) |
| OS grid reference | SP7716 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Aylesbury |
| Postcode district | HP18 |
| Dialling code | 01296 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Buckinghamshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
| |
Fleet Marston is acivil parish anddeserted medieval village in theAylesbury Vale district ofBuckinghamshire, England, about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of the centre ofAylesbury. The parish measures about 2.5 miles (4 km) north – south, but east – west it is about3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) wide. It is bounded to the southeast by theRiver Thame, to the east by a stream that joins the Thame, and to the west by field boundaries. It has an area of 934 acres (378 ha).[2]
TheA41 main road between Aylesbury andWaddesdon runs through the middle of the parish.Aylesbury Vale Parkway railway station is on the A41 road, just outside the parish's eastern boundary.
In 2010 theOffice for National Statistics estimated the parish population to be 47.[3] The2011 Census included its population in that of the civil parish ofWaddesdon.[citation needed]
In 2022HS2 archaeologists discovered a Roman cemetery, and exhumed about 425 bodies including 40 decapitated skeletons. 1,200 coins were also discovered.[4][5]
The course of the formerAkeman StreetRoman road passes northwest – southeast through the parish. A "heavy scatter ofRoman pottery" has been found in the parish on the course of the former road, indicating the site of a formerRomano-British settlement.[6]
Excavations carried out between 2007 and 2016 uncovered evidence for a late prehistoric territorial boundary, a middle Iron Age settlement and the agricultural hinterland of the putative nucleated Roman settlement of Fleet Marston.[7] The latter included a "remarkable collection" of organic finds, included four hen's eggs (one of which survived excavation intact), leather shoes, wooden tools and a basketry tray made of woven oak bands and willow rods, in addition to evidence of malting and brewing, other roadside trades and crafts, burials and a possible pyre site.[8][9]
In 2022 a large Roman cemetery was discovered by theHS2 archaeologists, who exhumed about 425 bodies including 40 decapitated skeletons. The bodies may have been ‘criminals’ or ‘outcasts’. 1,200 coins were also discovered.[4][5]
Thetoponym "Marston" is derived from theOld English for "marsh farm". The prefix "Fleet" refers to the stream along eastern side of the parish,[10] and was added to distinguish the village from nearbyNorth Marston. TheDomesday Book of 1086 records the village asMersetone.[2] In the 13th century the village name was recorded asFlettemerstone.[2]
The oldest parts of St Mary's parish church are 12th-century.[11] There are records of parish rectors from 1223 onwards.[2] Thebaptismal font may be 13th-century and the presentchancel arch and north porch were added in the 14th century.[2] One of the windows is 15th-century.[11]
Parish registers from 1630 onwards survive.[2]John Wesley is known to have preached his firstsermon at Fleet Marston shortly after hisordination asdeacon in 1725.[12][13] The building was restored in 1868–69 under the direction ofGeorge Gilbert Scott. It is now aGrade II* listed building.[11] It is now aredundant church in the care of theChurches Conservation Trust.[12]
Some buildings in the village, including Fleet Marston Farm, are 17th-century.[2] The manor house referred to below stood near the church, and was demolished in 1772.[2] In 1806Daniel andSamuel Lysons described Fleet Marston in theirMagna Britannia:
FLEET-MARSTON, in thehundred ofAshendon anddeanery of Waddesdon, lies about three miles from Aylesbury, on the road toBicester. The manor, which was for many years in the Lees, has been lately purchased of their representative,Lord Dillon, by James Dupré esq. of Wilton Park. Theadvowson of the rectory being then the property of John Tirrel-Morin esq. was advertised for sale in the month of May 1805.[10]
By 1851 the parish was in decline. The religious census of 1851 recorded its population as 30, with just eight attending church on Sunday 30 March.[14] By 1871 the population had fallen to 23, living in five houses.[15]
Little remains of the village today. In the south of the parish is the farm at Putlowes and Putlowes Cottages just to the southwest of the A41 road. In the centre of the parish, just northeast of the A41 are some smaller farms and St Mary's church. In the north of the parish are Fleet Marston Farm, Fleet Marston Cottages and Lower Fleetmarston Farm. The latter can be reached only via Berryfields Road in adjoiningQuarrendon parish (another deserted village).
TheAylesbury and Buckingham Railway was built through the parish in the 1860s and opened in 1868. TheMetropolitan Railway took it over in 1891 and openedWaddesdon railway station about 2 miles (3 km) northwest of Fleet Marston in 1897. The line became part of theMetropolitan and Great Central Joint Railway in 1906.
Waddesdon station was closed in 1936.British Railways withdrew passenger services in 1963 and later reduced the line to single track.
However, in 2011Chiltern Railways opened Aylesbury Vale Parkway railway station where the line crosses the A41 road, just outside the eastern boundary of the parish. The station has an hourly service toLondon Marylebone viaAylesbury.
Media related toFleet Marston at Wikimedia Commons
