St Leonards is a small village in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is 3 miles east of Wendover and 4 miles south of Tring, Hertfordshire. A short section of Grim's Ditch delineates the northern end of the village, which lies within the civil parish of Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards.
Early history
Prehistoric
The earliest evidence of habitation is indicated by a short section of the Chiltern Grim's Ditch linear earthwork, which is believed to have been constructed during the Iron Age. Though what remains is eroded and poorly preserved a ditch and bank are still visible. There are also examples of pottery shards, possibly associated with a small Iron Age bloomery found in a brick-earth quarry and iron slag (at Newsetts Wood) indicating there was a significant community living in the area close to the present-day Dundridge Manor. St Leonards is not mentioned in the Domesday Book however the muster roll tells us that by 1522 St Leonards was a hamlet of some 30–40 residents.
St Leonard's Church
Source:
The early history of the village centres on the foundation of a chapel at St Leonards. A charter of Henry de Crokesley from around 1187 refers to him granting the manor at Dundridge to Missenden Abbey and setting aside land for the chapel-of-ease at St Leonards. By 1278 St Leonards was more closely associated with Aston Clinton. Richard Gravesend Bishop of Lincoln and Archdeacon of Oxford on a visitation granted William de Clinton Lord of the Manor of Aston Clinton, the right to establish a consecrated chapel on the site of the former hermitage belonging to Missenden Abbey. The chapel was dedicated to St Leonard of Noblac also recorded as "Leonardi de Blakemere" (possessive form) in 1250).
It has been determined that most of the current church was built in the 15th century, though a piscina and sedile are of 14th century design and were probably saved from the earlier building. The bell in the Bell-Cot was made in 1702 by Chandler from Drayton Parslow. Despite the Dissolution of the Monasteries the church continued in use as a chapel-of-ease until after 1586 when an inquisition was held in the name of Queen Elizabeth into why the chapel and lands had not reverted to the crown. However following successful pleas from Silvester and Henry Baldwin, it was permitted that from 1587 services could be held there once again, for the benefit of local woodsmen, because Aston Clinton church was a good hour's walk away, and the long journey stopped them from getting on with their work). The house was recorded as Grade II listed in 1983.
A Sylvester Baldwin was born at Dundridge manor around 1602. He subsequently became the tenant of Chapel Farm, part of the Dundridge estate. In 1638, with his wife and children, he set sail for New England on the ship Martin. Though Sylvester did not survive the journey, the Baldwin family successfully settled in the newly established New Haven Colony on land adjacent to the present day Milford, Connecticut, from where it spread out across the continent.
Daniel Bacheler
thumb|right|200px|Daniel Bacheler in the funeral procession of Sir Philip Sidney in 1587. Engraving by [[Thomas Lant]] Daniel Bacheler, sometimes spelt Batchellor, (1572–1619) was born in the village at Chapel Farm. He was a composer of lute music at the Court of Elizabeth I. He was also a servant and courier to Francis Walsingham and the Earl of Essex, particularly when the latter served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. On one occasion he was paid £10 by Elizabeth to act as go-between and deliver letters to Essex. He accompanied Walshingham to the Netherlands to recover and return to England the body of Sir Philip Sidney, Walshingham's son-in-law. Bacheler's close association with court life is evidenced by a contemporary mural of Sidney's funeral procession to St Paul's Cathedral in 1587, which depicts him astride a horse. He is credited with introducing consort music and was a contemporary of John Dowland who was a lutinist at the Court of James I, whilst Bacheler had been elevated to Groom of the Privy Chamber, a position of significant trust as confidant to Anne of Denmark.
Development of the settlement
200px|thumb|White Lion PubAround 1700 a number of unlicensed alehouses were opened and soon closed by the constables. The first licensed premise was the White Lion in 1714. After ceasing trading in 2015, an attempt to change use to residential was unsuccessful. The premises were then refurbished until June 2021 and the pub has now reopened. The extensive Commons at St Leonards were enclosed in 1816.