Prayer Walk : Chequers and Chilterns

Archdeacon Karen Gorham spots a red kite and discovers the history of the Chilterns in the seventh of our series of prayer walks.

Start at the church of St Peter and St Paul, Ellesborough (parking opposite, (1). Aylesbury Vale stretches out before you and in the distance are the low hills around Whitchurch, Waddesdon and Brill.

Around the church run the Chilterns, with Coombe Hill as a high point. The whole area abounds with the remains of burial mounds and fortifications dated back to pre-Roman times. Ellesborough church is a welcome respite for walkers on a warm day, offering hospitality on summer weekends and interesting in its connection with Chequers, the big house on the other side of Coombe Hill.

There are few churches that can boast a collection of signatures in their visitors’ book such as Dwight Eisenhower, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson and Edward Heath. Prime Ministers residing at Chequers and their visitors have frequently worshipped in the local church. Margaret Thatcher was known to have prayed here, finding comfort during the Falklands War. You may like to pause and pray for our political leaders and the difficult decisions they have to make.

We leave the churchyard and walk towards the Kimbles. The road from Wendover to Princes Risborough follows the route of the Icknield Way, an ancient track said to be pre-Roman, which ran from Norfolk to Avebury in Wiltshire. It was paved in Roman times, and is one of the oldest roads in the country.

The peaceful church of All Saints, Little Kimble (2) has stood here for 700 years. In the 14th century the chancel was added along with a series of wall paintings and tiles. These paintings were whitewashed over in the 16th century but rediscovered after restoration work in the 19th century.

The paintings are considered to be artistically the best in Buckinghamshire and their complete restoration is planned. They show St George having killed the dragon; St Christopher, and St Bernard of Clairvaux – who was linked to the mother churches of the time, Missenden Abbey and Chertsey Abbey. The font is probably older than the church, and the medieval Chertsey tiles tell the romantic tragedy of Tristan and Iseult.

Further up the hill stands the Bernard Arms (3), a good lunch stop. This is the pub in which Yeltsin and other foreign dignitaries tend to visit when staying at Chequers. Inside is a collection of photographs of British Prime Ministers. You may like to pray for peace between nations.

Next door stands the magnificent church of St Nicholas, Great Kimble (4), first built in 1265, and dominated by the magnificent Aylesbury Font.

In the 16th century the patronage of the church came to the Hampden family who were major landowners and influential politicians. John Hampden’s disagreements with Charles I had a significant impact on the start of the English Civil War in which both Hampden and the King died.

St Nicholas’s church was famed for the stand Hampden took against paying Ship Tax money in 1637. Legend has it that he galloped up the hill and into the church to make his protest to his assembled tenants and neighbours. During the war Hampden’s “Buckinghamshire Greencoats” drilled in the churchyard. A statue of him stands in Aylesbury, and another in the lobby of the Houses of Parliament.

The Aylesbury font in the church is one of 14 made at the end of the 12th century, of stone from the Totternhoe quarry in Bedfordshire. A local story is that Edmund Hampden ordered the removal of the font as he disagreed with infant baptism. The villagers removed it before it could be destroyed and hid it in a nearby pond.

We cross the road and walk uphill onto the Chilterns (5) following part of the Ridgeway footpath, an 87-mile national trail based on an ancient chalk path from Avebury to Ivinghoe Beacon.

The fantastic Red Kite can usually be seen overhead, a spectacular bird of prey distinguished by its russet plumage and forked tail. The kite is a well-loved feature of the mid and southern Chilterns. Give thanks for the beauty of God’s creation and the delights of the countryside.

We now pass the entrance to Chequers (6), the estate which was bequeathed to the nation by Sir Arthur Lee as the country residence of our Prime Ministers in 1917. Pray for refreshment for those with important jobs and heavy responsibilities. Think about your own work/life balance. Where do you find rest?

The Ridgeway National Trail crosses Victory Drive, the private drive along which Churchill had beech trees planted, offering good views of the house. Lady Mary Grey, sister of Lady Jane Grey, was imprisoned in Chequers in 1566 and the house was later owned by a grandson of Oliver Cromwell.

We cross the road and continue our way downhill (7) back to Ellesborough Church. To our right, footpaths take walkers up Coombe Hill (8), once part of the Chequers Estate but given to the National Trust in the 1920s.

From the summit it is possible to see six counties. The Coombe Hill Monument, erected in 1904, is Grade II listed and represents one of the first examples of a war memorial set up in dedication of the men who fell fighting for their country. It was erected by public subscription in memory of 148 men from Buckinghamshire who died during the Second Boer War. You may like to pray for our soldiers serving overseas today, especially in Afghanistan. Pray for peace there.

Back in Ellesborough, the backdrop for the church is Beacon Hill, known also as Cymbeline’s Mount. It’s a climb worth making again for the views. Cymbeline’s Mount was the stronghold of the British King Cunabelin or Cymbeline, from whom Great and Little Kimble derive their names. A gold coin depicting him was found here.

Listen to Revd Jan Henderson and Archdeacon Karen talking to Sarah Meyrick about the prayer walk.