Bourne End One-Place Study

Bourne End is a village at the southern end of Buckinghamshire sitting on the northern bank of the River Thames between Marlow to the west and Cookham and Maidenhead to the east. Historically Bourne End was a hamlet of Wooburn. When a station (Marlow Road Station) was built as part of the railway expansion in the mid nineteenth century the area grew and other hamlets Cores End, Well End, Heavens Lee, Spring Gardens, Eghams Green and others began to be known collectively as Bourne End. In 2005 the parish name was changed from “Wooburn” to “Wooburn and Bourne End”. Some parts of the area known as Bourne End are in the parishes of Hedsor or Little Marlow.

The name of the village derives from the point where the river Wye (which rises beyond Hughenden flows into the Thames, Bourn being old english for a small stream or a brook.

There were many paper mills along the river Wye although all have now closed and these were a major source of employment along with agriculture.

The objective of this study is to collect together information about the historic hamlets that make up the present day Bourne End.

We already have transcriptions of 19th Century Pigot and Harrod directories together with the 1901 telephone directory. We have a project to document the historic occupants of the buildings that make up “The Parade”, the main shopping area in the village. We also maintain a bibliography of famous people who have lived in Bourne End from Enid Blyton to Edgar Wallace via Louis Bleriot, Kenneth Connor and Stanley Spencer amongst others.

The study is located on the village website and currently uses a wiki to encourage a collaborative approach.