Kingston Blount and Crowell

Kingston Blount and Crowell are spring-line villages at the foot of the Chiltern Hills a mile or so south west of Chinnor on the B4009. At Kingston Blount although there are a few cottages on the main road, also the village pub, much of the village is actually off the main road. The name of the village is derived from an estate or manor belonging to the king with the manorial affix of the Le Blund family in the 13th century.

In the 19th century Kingston Blount had a number of pubs, a draper, grocers, wine merchants, a smithy, corn merchant, butcher, baker, post office and a school and was considered to be a large and respectable town. Now, like in many villages, the shops have all closed and there now remains just one pub.

Crowell is a tiny village just outside Kingston Blount, also on the B4009. The name is thought to be derived from a well or spring where crows gather! Unlike Kingston Blount, and despite being such a tiny village, Crowell has a parish church - The church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Although largely reconstructed in about 1880, parts of the church date from the 13th century.