# The Lee

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Village in Buckinghamshire, England

Human settlement in England

The Lee The Green at The Lee The Lee Location within Buckinghamshire Population 698 (2011 Census)[1] OS grid reference SP900042 Civil parish The Lee Unitary authority Buckinghamshire Ceremonial county Buckinghamshire Region South East Country England Sovereign state United Kingdom Post town GREAT MISSENDEN Postcode district HP16 Dialling code 01494 Police Thames Valley Fire Buckinghamshire Ambulance South Central UK Parliament Mid Buckinghamshire[2] List of places UK England Buckinghamshire 51°43′48″N 0°40′57″W / 51.7299°N 0.6825°W / 51.7299; -0.6825

**The Lee** (formally known as just **Lee**) is a village and [civil parish](/source/Civil_parish) in [Buckinghamshire](/source/Buckinghamshire), England. It is located in the [Chiltern Hills](/source/Chiltern_Hills), about 2 miles (3.2 km) north east of [Great Missenden](/source/Great_Missenden) and 3 miles (4.8 km) south east of [Wendover](/source/Wendover). Within the parish is the hamlet of **Lee Clump**, named for a small group of houses separate from the main village. In 2011 the parish had a population of 698. From 1974 to 2020 it was in [Chiltern](/source/Chiltern_District) district.

## Early history

The village name is [Anglo Saxon](/source/Old_English_language) in origin and means 'woodland clearing'. In the [Domesday Book](/source/Domesday_Book) of 1086 it was recorded as *Lee* and was, following the [Norman Conquest](/source/Norman_Conquest), granted by [William I](/source/William_I_of_England) to [Odo, Bishop of Bayeux](/source/Odo_of_Bayeux). Its early history is closely tied up with that of [Weston Turville](/source/Weston_Turville) and a [chapel-of-ease](/source/Chapel-of-ease) was established in this connection. It and also had associations with the [Earl of Leicester](/source/Earl_of_Leicester) who, in the early part of the 12th century, charged Ralph de Halton to oversee the lands. At the end of that century the Turville family took over this role. Soon after this [Robert, Earl of Leicester](/source/Earl_of_Leicester) granted the land to [Missenden Abbey](/source/Missenden_Abbey). After the dissolution of the abbey The Lee stayed in the possession of the Crown until 1547 when [Edward VI](/source/Edward_VI) granted a lease on the estate to [John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford](/source/John_Russell%2C_1st_Earl_of_Bedford).

The events that led to [Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford](/source/Francis_Russell%2C_2nd_Earl_of_Bedford) initially leasing the lands at The Lee to William Plaistowe in 1635 and later selling the land to the Plaistowe family are obscure; either they were mortgaged to pay off debts or were sequestrated as a consequence of the Russells' involvement on the "wrong" side of the [English Civil War](/source/English_Civil_War). Thomas Plaistowe, who died in 1715, was the first of the family to be the outright owner of The Lee and his namesake in 1785 passed ownership to his daughter Elizabeth, who married Irishman Henry Deering. Deering bequeathed the estate in 1827 to his friend [John Peter Gandy](/source/John_Peter_Gandy), the architect, who [changed his name](/source/Name_change#Historical_usage) to that of his benefactor.[3] The Plaistowes owned the village for another 50 years.

## Twentieth century

In 1900, [Arthur Lasenby Liberty](/source/Arthur_Lasenby_Liberty) bought the manor from John Plaistowe and built a new [manor house](/source/Manor_house) on the outskirts of the village. The old manor house became three [attached properties](/source/Terraced_house) which remain so today. Outside the new manor house he sited a [figurehead](/source/Figurehead_(object)) depicting [Admiral Richard Howe](/source/Richard_Howe%2C_1st_Earl_Howe) taken from [HMS *Howe*](/source/HMS_Howe_(1860)). The figurehead was moved to outside Pipers where the family moved in 1953.

The ship, which had subsequently been renamed *Impregnable*, was scrapped by the [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy) in 1919, and purchased by Liberty in 1926. He used the timbers of this ship to refurbish, in [Tudor revivalist style](/source/Tudor_Revival_architecture), the interior and frontage of his famed [Liberty's department store](/source/Liberty_(department_store)) in central London. The Liberty family still live at The Lee.[4]

## Churches

The 'Old Church' at The Lee

St John the Baptist Church, The Lee

The parish church in the village [St John the Baptist](/source/John_the_Baptist) is unusual in that it consists of two buildings: the ancient chapel of ease built in the 12th century which includes a window depicting [Oliver Cromwell](/source/Oliver_Cromwell) and [John Hampden](/source/John_Hampden) as 'champions of liberty', and the more modern [Victorian](/source/Victorian_era) construction that was built of red brick in 1867. Both sit within an oval churchyard, common in places of importance in the pre-[Roman](/source/Roman_Britain) period.

There is a Methodist chapel at Lee Common, which was built in 1839 as a Primitive Methodist chapel. It is one of the oldest Methodist chapels in Bucks. There is a small churchyard attached to it. The Methodist church is part of the Amersham Methodist Circuit.

Formerly there was also a Strict Baptist chapel at Lee Clump, and Mission Halls at Swan Bottom and Potter Row.

## Hamlets

[Hamlets](/source/Hamlet_(place)) in the parish of The Lee include **Lee Clump**, **Lee Common**, **Lee Gate**, **Hunt's Green**, **Potter Row** and **Swan Bottom**.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## Locations

The village has been used as the backdrop for a number of television programmes including several episodes of *[Midsomer Murders](/source/Midsomer_Murders)*.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Neighbourhood Statistics 2011 Census](http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=11129521&c=the+lee&d=16&e=62&g=6404296&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1359815551461&enc=1), Accessed 2 February 2013

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Location of Mid Buckinghamshire"](https://members.parliament.uk/constituency/4175/location). *parliament.uk*. July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-dnb_3-0)** Burnet, George Wardlaw (1888). ["Deering, John Peter"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/Deering,_John_Peter). In [Stephen, Leslie](/source/Leslie_Stephen) (ed.). *[Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography)*. Vol. 14. London: [Smith, Elder & Co](/source/Smith%2C_Elder_%26_Co).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Liberty Family The Lee Village website](http://www.thelee.org.uk/200806/NL0806%20lord%20howe.html), accessed 16 April 2013

## External links

- [The village's website](http://www.thelee.org.uk)

Media related to [The Lee](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:The_Lee) at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Chiltern (former district) Buckinghamshire Unitary Council elections County Council elections District Council elections Chesham and Amersham Constituency Towns (component areas and hamlets) Amersham Woodrow Chesham Asheridge Vale Botley Chesham Vale Chessmount Codmore Great Hivings Hilltop Loundes Lye Green Newtown Pednormead End Pond Park Townsend Waterside Other civil parishes (component villages and hamlets) Ashley Green Ashley Green Whelpley Hill Chalfont St Giles Bottrells Close Chalfont Grove Chalfont St Giles Jordans Stratton Chase Chalfont St Peter Austenwood Chalfont Common Layters Green Chartridge Asheridge Bellingdon Chartridge Hundridge Pednor Pednor Bottom Chenies Chesham Bois Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards Buckland Common Cholesbury Hawridge St Leonards Coleshill Great Missenden Ballinger Ballinger Bottom Ballinger Common Bryant's Bottom Frith-hill Great Missenden Heath End Hotley Bottom Hyde End Little Wood Corner Mobwell Prestwood South Heath Latimer and Ley Hill Latimer Ley Hill Orchard Leigh Tyler's Hill Little Chalfont Little Missenden Beamond End Holmer Green Hyde Heath Little Kingshill Little Missenden Mantles Green Mop End Spurlands End Penn Beacon Hill Forty Green Knotty Green Penn Penn Bottom Penn Street Winchmore Hill Seer Green The Lee Lee Clump Lee Common Lee Gate Hunt's Green Potter Row Swan Bottom The Lee Former districts and boroughs Amersham Rural District Chesham Urban District Former constituencies Buckinghamshire County Constituency Amersham Constituency List of parliamentary constituencies in Buckinghamshire List of places in Buckinghamshire List of civil parishes in Buckinghamshire

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Lee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lee) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lee?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.