About Our Village
A LITTLE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR VILLAGE
Seer Green is a small village of about 938 households in the County of Buckinghamshire, England.
There is a legend that King Arthur’s ‘seer’, Merlin, rested here on his journeys to and from Camelot. Locals would consult with him about the future at the village well.
A more likely origin of the name ‘Seer’ comes from a Norman map that show the hamlet called ‘Sere’ (literally) dry. In 1086 Seer Green was known as the Manor of La Sere.
Woodland to the north of the village is today known as Hodgemoor after a former owner Stephano de Hoddesmere of 1275.
Edward, the Black Prince (1330-1376) hunted in the large forests that covered the area and built a hunting box close by. The box is now called Hall Place and is in private ownership. This is the oldest building in Seer Green and is remarkably well preserved. The epithet ‘Black Prince’ and probably posthumous, referred to his black armour.
In the 1800’s, the centre of the village was dominated by cherry orchards. Local people would harvest the fruit and take it by horse and cart to Covent Garden, the great London fruit and vegetable market. Seer Green became known as the ‘Cherry Pie Village’ and held and holds a Cherry Pie Fayre every year.
Sadly, many of the orchards have disappeared but the careful observer can still find the odd tree. The Parish Council has a modest cherry tree planting programme on its property to recapture some of the splendour of the blossoms of former years.
The principal source of employment in earlier years was on agriculture. Some small industries such as chair bodging, tile and brick manufacture in nearby Potkiln Lane, and lace making were also in evidence.
Holy Trinity Church was built of flint and stone in 1846 on the triangle of land at the centre of the village formerly used for grazing.
The current Parish Church Hall was built in 1829 as a lace making school for women and girls in the village. Seer Green was renowned for its lace and the Seer Green pattern was the motif for many beautiful pieces of work. The hall was purchased in 1857 by the Baptist Congregation which had been meeting there since 1843. The congregation steadily outgrew this building so built a new Chapel across the road which opened in 1900. They still used the lace making school for their Sunday School. Eventually, in 1979, work began on a completely new building which is where the congregation still meets. The Chapel was sold off at auction and is now a private home and the lace making school was handed over to Holy Trinity to be their Parish Church Hall.
However, Seer Green jealously guards its village atmosphere and surrounded as it is by trees and fields, will seek to preserve its identify and its heritage.
For further history of the village see the website:- http://www.