Gayhurst

For other uses, see Gayhurst (disambiguation).

Gayhurst is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England.^[2] It is about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) NNW of Newport Pagnell, and 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Central Milton Keynes.

Gayhurst
Gayhurst Location within Buckinghamshire
Population	128 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid reference	SP849466
Civil parish	Gayhurst
District	City of Milton Keynes
Unitary authority	Milton Keynes City Council
Ceremonial county	Buckinghamshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NEWPORT PAGNELL
Postcode district	MK16
Dialling code	01908
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Buckinghamshire
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Milton Keynes North
List of places UK England Buckinghamshire 52.1122°N 0.7608°W / 52.1122; -0.7608

The village name is an Old English language word meaning 'wooded hill where goats are kept'.^[3] In the Domesday Book in 1086 it was recorded as Gateherst; later names include Goathurst.^[4] At that time the manor was owned by Bishop Odo of Bayeux.^[4]

History

In 1582, Queen Elizabeth I made a grant of Gayhurst Manor "in the event of its reversion to the Crown" to Sir Francis Drake,^[4] but there is no record that he ever received it. The house once belonged to Sir Everard Digby (1578–1606),^[5] one of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.^[4] His son, Sir Kenelm Digby (1603–1665), was an English courtier, diplomat, natural philosopher and astrologer.^[6] He was born at Gayhurst.

Gayhurst had an outstation from the Bletchley Park codebreaking establishment, where one of the Bombes used to decode German Enigma messages in World War Two were housed.^[7]

Listed buildings and structures

The parish has two buildings listed at Grade I,^[8] five at Grade II* and 20 at grade II.^[9] The (Grade I listed) Church of St Peter was built in the classical style in 1728 to replace a medieval church; the designer is unknown.^[10]