Denham, Buckinghamshire

Denham is a village and civil parish in the South Buckinghamshire district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is north west of Uxbridge and north of junction 1 of the M40 motorway. Denham contains the Buckinghamshire Golf Club.

Origin
The village toponym is derived from the Old English for "homestead in a valley". It was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Deneham.

Buildings
The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary has a flint and stone Norman tower and Tudor monuments. The tree-lined Village Road includes several old red brick houses with mature Wisteria on them, and has been used as a location in British films and television.

Denham Film Studios were near the village.

Development
Housing growth has over the years created new parts to Denham. Modern-day Denham consists of:


 * Denham Village, as above; the original settlement
 * Denham Garden Village, located to the north of Denham Green Lane - originally built in the 1950s, redeveloped in 2006.
 * Denham Green grew up around the shops beside Denham railway station. Alexander Korda's Denham Film Studios (now demolished) used to be sited between the junction of the road to Rickmansworth (A412 North Orbital road) and Moor Hall Road towards Harefield. The site of the studios is now used as a business area named Broadwater Park.
 * New Denham grew along the old Oxford Road north-west of Uxbridge, west of the Grand Union Canal
 * Higher Denham was built on the site of a First World War army training and transit camp, placed to take advantage of the adjacent Denham Golf Club station. After the War, the camp land was sold off piecemeal for housing, following a similar trend all over Metro-land. Martin-Baker Aircraft Ltd, manufacturers of aircraft ejector seats, have a small factory in Higher Denham
 * Tatling End, Denham is on the Oxford Road, west of the junction with the A412, at the top of the hill leading out of the Misbourne Valley

Transport
Denham railway station has direct services to London Marylebone and High Wycombe and limited services to Princes Risborough, Aylesbury and Banbury. Connecting services link to Birmingham Snow Hill, Stratford-on-Avon and Kidderminster.

The 331 bus service between Uxbridge and Ruislip stations (operated by First London for London Buses) calls at the Station Parade shops in Denham Green. The 724 Green Line bus service between Harlow and Heathrow passes through Denham Green to Uxbridge and onwards to Heathrow Airport, terminating at the Bus Station at Heathrow Central. The 581 circular bus service provides a link between the various areas of Denham and Uxbridge bus station. The Saturdays-only 582 service links the various Denhams with Iver, Slough and Windsor. The R21 bus service between Uxbridge and Mount Vernon Hospital in Northwood stops twice daily at Denham Station every day except Sunday. This service is run by Red Rose Travel and forms part of a more regular service between Northwood and Maple Cross.

Denham Aerodrome was established during the 1930s and is sited on higher land to the north of the village. It is the base of many private and executive aircraft and helicopters and has several hangars and a hard runway.

Economy
InterContinental Hotels Group has its corporate headquarters and European head office in Denham.

Schools
Denham Village Infant School, in Cheapside Lane, was the original school for Denham, and has classes for Reception and Years 1 and 2. The school building dates from 1832 and is listed.

Denham Green E-ACT Primary Academy is located on Nightingale Way, Denham Green. The academy opened in September 2013, replacing the former Tilehouse Combined School, and is for children from ages 4–11 and also offers pre-school services. The school's current leadership team completed an Ofsted inspection shortly before converting to an Academy. Ofsted noted that the school was a Good school with Outstanding features. The academy accepts all children from the Denham area (including Denham Village, Denham Green, Maple Cross, Harefield and North Uxbridge) who wish to attend the school.

Boundaries
The current eastern boundary with the London Borough of Hillingdon is aligned with the Grand Union Canal. A Boundary Commission proposal to reassign to Hillingdon the area of Denham that lies east of the A412 and south of the A40/M40 was not implemented.

Twinning
Denham is twinned with Denham in Shark Bay, Western Australia.

Notable residents

 * Raymond Baxter, BBC Television presenter, lived in Denham until 1978.
 * Cilla Black, singer, entertainer and television personality has her main residence in Denham Green, bought with her late husband Bobbie in the 1970s. In a burglary in 2002 £1 million worth of gems were stolen.
 * Sir George Bowyer, 5th Baronet was born at Denham Court.
 * Brian Connolly, lead singer with 1970s glam rock band Sweet, lived at Denham until his death in 1997.
 * Jess Conrad, actor and singer, lived in Denham.
 * Paul Daniels, magician, lived in Denham.
 * Rosemarie Ford, stage actor and British television game show presenter.
 * Robert Lindsay, actor, lives in Denham.
 * Sir John Mills, film actor, was a resident of the village for many years, and is commemorated by a blue plaque on his former house by the church.
 * Roger Moore, actor, lived in Sherwood House, Tilehouse Road, Denham.
 * Mike Oldfield, musician, lived in Tilehouse Lane, Denham 1979-86.
 * Shane Ritchie, actor, who plays Alfie Moon on BBC Television's EastEnders, used to live at Baker's Wood, Denham.
 * Cyril Davies, British Blues musician and co-Founder of the influential London Blues and Barrelhouse Club in 1955 with Alexis Korner, was born at St Mildred's, 15 Hawthorn Drive, Willowbank, Denham.