Gayhurst is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England.[2] It is about two and a half miles NNW of Newport Pagnell.
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Gayhurst | |
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![]() ![]() Gayhurst Location within Buckinghamshire | |
Population | 128 (2011 Census)[1] |
OS grid reference | SP849466 |
Civil parish |
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Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | NEWPORT PAGNELL |
Postcode district | MK16 |
Dialling code | 01908 |
Police | Thames Valley |
Fire | Buckinghamshire |
Ambulance | South Central |
UK Parliament |
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The village name is an Old English language word meaning 'wooded hill where goats are kept'. In the Domesday Book in 1086 it was recorded as Gateherst; later names include Goathurst.[3] At that time the manor was owned by Bishop Odo of Bayeux.[3]
Gayhurst had an outstation from the Bletchley Park codebreaking establishment, where some of the Bombes used to decode German Enigma messages in World War Two were housed.[citation needed]
In 1582, Queen Elizabeth I made a grant of Gayhurst Manor "in the event of its reversion to the Crown" to Sir Francis Drake,[3] but there is no record that he ever received it. The house once belonged to Sir Everard Digby (1578–1606),[4] one of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.[3] His son Sir Kenelm Digby,[5] (1603–1665) was an English courtier, diplomat, natural philosopher and astrologer. He was born at Gayhurst.
The church of St Peter was built in the classical style in 1728 to replace a medieval church; the designer is unknown.[6]
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