Our Communities

Introduction to Wychert Vale Communities

Wychert Vale covers the villages of Haddenham, Cuddington, Kingsey, Aston Sandford, Dinton with Ford, Upton, Gibraltar and Westlington and Stone with Bishopstone, Sedrup and Hartwell, all within a seven-mile radius and all with very different characteristics. They vary in population size from 50 to 5,000, from small villages and hamlets to larger communities with a more suburban feel, but each has retained an engaging individuality.

Communications

Our villages combine a rural setting with unusually good transport connectivity. There is a bus service running through the villages between Aylesbury and Oxford every 20 minutes. The road and rail communication links are good with a 10-20 minute drive to the M40, and a half-hourly rail service to London from the stations at Haddenham & Thame, Aylesbury Vale Parkway or Aylesbury Town. A new railway line has been opened to Oxford Parkway.

A Map of the Benefice can be found here

Haddenham has a wide selection of facilities: shops, post office, restaurants, public houses, churches, village hall, medical centre, dentist, garden centre, business park and a recreation ground for a wide range of sporting activities. It is a vibrant village community with groups for every age group and many interests (for more details see www.haddenham.net ). St Mary’s parish church is part of a Local Ecumenical Partnership (LEP) with the Roman Catholic, Methodist and Baptist Churches.

Stone with its hamlets of Bishopstone, Sedrup and Hartwell has a Historic House Hotel, two village pubs, a village hall, a sports recreation ground and club, an active Methodist chapel, a post office and a small Co-op convenience store and lies within easy reach of Aylesbury.

Cuddington, has a shop with post office, hairdressers, village hall, public house, recreation field and club and various sports facilities. There is also a Methodist church.

Dinton with its hamlets of Ford, Upton, Gibraltar and Westlington has three popular village pubs and a thriving village hall, recreation ground and cricket club in Dinton. There is a popular farm shop and café just beyond the parish.

Kingsey and Aston Sandford are made up of farms and houses with the church at the focus of each village. Both have very warm community spirit.

Schools and health

There are three Church of England primary schools in the benefice: Stone; Cuddington and Dinton; and Haddenham St Mary’s (infants). In addition there is a county infants and junior school in Haddenham. Secondary schools are in Thame (comprehensive), Aylesbury (grammar), Princes Risborough (secondary), and Waddesdon (Church of England secondary). The nearest NHS general hospital is in Stoke Mandeville, and there is a large medical centre in Haddenham.

Population and planning

The villages have a broad socio-economic range and church members are well integrated into the wider village communities. All the villages have had a noticeable influx of young families in the last few years. Haddenham is one of the five strategic settlements for growth in the local District Plan, and the route of HS2 is close to Hartwell and Bishopstone. Haddenham has completed a Neighbourhood Plan with significant church engagement in the process.

The website for the parishes of Aston Sandford, Cuddington, Dinton and Stone, Haddenham and Kingsey