Farnham Royal is a village and civil parish within the South Bucks district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the south of the county, around 22 miles west of Charing Cross, Central London.
The village name 'Farnham' is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'homestead where ferns grow'. In the Domesday Book of 1086 the village was recorded as Ferneham. The affix 'Royal' was given to the village in the late 11th century by the king, who gave the lord of the manor of Farnham Bertram de Verdun the Grand Serjeanty, on the condition of providing a glove and putting it on the king's right hand at the coronation, and supporting his right arm, while the Royal sceptre was in his hand (see also Manor of Worksop).
At the centre of the village, where there are now two mini-roundabouts, stood the old water pump. This was removed when the mini-roundabouts were created sometime in the 1970s, but recently came back to Farnham Royal and has been placed on the green nearby, next to the Duke's Head pub.
Within the parish boundary is the village of Farnham Common and the hamlet of Farnham Park. In 1832, Francis Osborne was created Baron Godolphin, of Farnham Royal in the County of Buckingham.
Read more about Farnham Royal: Demography, Education
Famous quotes containing the words farnham and/or royal:
“Our own theological Church, as we know, has scorned and vilified the body till it has seemed almost a reproach and a shame to have one, yet at the same time has credited it with power to drag the soul to perdition.”
—Eliza Farnham (1815–1864)
“Bohemia is nothing more than the little country in which you do not live. If you try to obtain citizenship in it, at once the court and retinue pack the royal archives and treasure and move away beyond the hills.”
—O. Henry [William Sydney Porter] (1862–1910)