Population 128 (2011 Census) Civil parish Gayhurst Region South East Local time Saturday 7:11 AM Ceremonial county Buckinghamshire UK parliament constituency Milton Keynes North | OS grid reference SP849466 Unitary authority Country England Dialling code 01908 Post town Newport Pagnell | |
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Weather 9°C, Wind S at 8 km/h, 96% Humidity | ||
Gayhurst is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Milton Keynes, ceremonial Buckinghamshire in England. It is about two and a half miles NNW of Newport Pagnell.
Map of Gayhurst, Newport Pagnell, UK
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. At that time the manor was owned by Bishop Odo of Bayeux.
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.
Gayhurst House is reputed to have once belonged to Sir Francis Drake although it is not known whether he ever lived there, and for many years the gatehouse leading to the estate was a public house called the Francis Drake. The house certainly once belonged to the father-in-law of Sir Everard Digby (1578–1606), one of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, and he resided there for some time.
The church of St Peter was built in the classical style in 1728 to replace a medieval church; the designer is unknown.