Hardmead

Village in the City of Milton Keynes, England

Human settlement in England

Astwood and Hardmead

Unitary authority

Milton Keynes

Ceremonial county

Buckinghamshire

Region

South East

CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townNEWPORT PAGNELLPostcode districtMK16Dialling code01234PoliceThames ValleyFire Buckinghamshire Ambulance South Central UK Parliament

Milton Keynes North

List of places: UK; England; Buckinghamshire

52°07′04″N 0°38′11″W / 52.1178°N 0.6363°W / 52.1178; -0.6363

Hardmead is a small village in the unitary authority area of the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England.^[1] It is in the north of the Borough, about 7.5 miles (12.1 km) west of Bedford, 7 miles (11 km) north-east of Central Milton Keynes and 5 miles (8.0 km) north east of Newport Pagnell. The village is close to the A422 road, on a very small road linking that to nearby Newton Blossomville. Together with the neighbouring village of Astwood, it forms the civil parish of Astwood and Hardmead.

The village name is Old English in origin, and means 'Heoruwulf's meadow'. In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was called Herulfmede.^[2] The village is very small with a population of around 100 people. The nearest pub is located one mile away in Astwood and the nearest shop is about four miles distant.

The former church of St Mary's Hardmead is Grade I listed and parts date from the 12th century.^[2] It has been redundant since the 1980s and is now in the care of the charity Friends of Friendless Churches. There are monuments in the church to the Catesby family and to the explorer Robert Shedden.^[3]

References

^ "Contact your Parish, Town or Community Council". Milton Keynes Council. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
^ ^a ^b William Page, ed. (1927). "Parishes : Hardmead". A History of the County of Buckingham. Victoria History of the Counties of England. Vol. 4. London: Constable & Co. Ltd. pp. 362–366.
^ "St Mary's Hardmead". Friends of Friendless Churches. Archived from the original on 1 July 2011.