Seer Green

Seer Green
Holy Trinity Parish Church
Seer Green is located in Buckinghamshire
Seer Green
Seer Green
Location within Buckinghamshire
Population2,311 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceSU9691
Civil parish
  • Seer Green
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBEACONSFIELD
Postcode districtHP9
Dialling code01494
PoliceThames Valley
FireBuckinghamshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Buckinghamshire
51°37′05″N 0°36′18″W / 51.618°N 0.605°W / 51.618; -0.605

Seer Green is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the Chiltern Hills, 1.8 miles (2.9 km) east-north-east of Beaconsfield and 1.8 miles (2.9 km) south-west of Chalfont St Giles.

History

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The toponym "Seer" is derived from the Norman French for "dry or arid place". In manorial rolls of 1223 it was called La Sere,[2] although local legend has it that the "Seer" refers to King Arthur's Court visiting the area and locals consulting his "seer" – a nice story but of doubtful origin. Even so, there is a pub called Merlin's Cave in the nearby village Chalfont St Giles, after this legend. The affix "Green" came later.

The Church of England parish church of the Holy Trinity was built in 1846. It is brick and flint with lancet windows. There is also a Baptist church.

Seer Green became a separate parish in 1866, having previously been a hamlet of the parish of Farnham Royal. It had levied a separate poor rate before then.

Until the early part of the 20th century Seer Green was mainly an agricultural village, known for its cherry orchards. The remnants of some of these orchards remain and in honour of this tradition the local school holds a "Cherry Pie Fair" every summer which usually involves a fancy dress parade and a procession through the village.

Amenities

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The parish has a Church of England primary school. The village has a Scout troop that is successful in regional competitions. The village youth football club, Seer Green United, has under 7s, under 8s and under 13s teams. The village is close to Hodgemoor Wood, a Site of Special Scientific Interest.[3]

Seer Green and Jordans railway station is on the Chiltern Main Line between Beaconsfield and Gerrards Cross. The station was originally called "Beaconsfield Golf Club", the golf club being next door, but the name was later changed to reflect its position between the two settlements. Bus route 104, provided by Carousel, also runs through the village.

M40 Junction 2 is nearby.

Notable people

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Notable residents have included:

Demography

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Seer Green compared
2001 UK Census Seer Green ward (Former) Chiltern District England
Population 2,267 89,228 49,138,831
Foreign born 1.3% 9.3% 9.2%
White 98% 95.5% 90.9%
Asian 0.8% 2.8% 4.6%
Black 0.1% 0.3% 2.3%
Christian 78% 74.7% 71.7%
Muslim 0.3% 1.9% 3.1%
Hindu 0.3% 0.5% 1.1%
No religion 14.0% 15.0% 14.6%
Unemployed 1.3% 1.7% 3.3%
Retired 13.7% 14.6% 13.5%

At the 2001 UK census, the Seer Green electoral ward had a population of 2,267. The ethnicity was 98% white, 0.6% mixed race, 0.8% Asian, 0.1% black and 0.5% other. The place of birth of residents was 88.7% United Kingdom, 0.7% Republic of Ireland, 2.6% other Western European countries, and 8% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 78% Christian, 0.2% Buddhist, 0.3% Hindu, 0% Sikh, 0.7% Jewish, and 0.3% Muslim. 14% were recorded as having no religion, 0.4% had an alternative religion and 6.1% did not state their religion.[5]

The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 40.6% in full-time employment, 11.2% in part-time employment, 13.6% self-employed, 1.3% unemployed, 2.2% students with jobs, 3.6% students without jobs, 13.7% retired, 9.9% looking after home or family, 2.1% permanently sick or disabled and 1.8% economically inactive for other reasons. The industry of employment of residents was 14% retail, 10.8% manufacturing, 5.5% construction, 25.7% real estate, 9.3% health and social work, 8% education, 6.3% transport and communications, 3.5% public administration, 2.3% hotels and restaurants, 4.9% finance, 1.1% agriculture and 8.6% other. Compared with national figures, the ward had a relatively high proportion of workers in real estate, and a relatively low proportion in public administration, hotels and restaurants. Of the ward's residents aged 16–74, 36.2% had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide.[5]

References

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  1. ^ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Seer Green Parish (E04001577)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. ^ Seer Green Green and Beaconsfield Walk
  3. ^ Hodgemoor Wood
  4. ^ Buckinghamshire Examiner Friday 14 January 1994, page 10
  5. ^ a b "Neighbourhood Statistics". Statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
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