Military Rank:

Colonel

First Name:

John

Last Name:

Hampden

Memorial Type:

Monument - Other

Does the monument still exist?

Yes

Installation Date:

11 September 1863 or circa 1894 have been suggested (see Memorial Notes below)

Inscription:

FOR THESE LANDS IN STOKE MANDEVILLE JOHN HAMPDEN WAS ASSESSED IN TWENTY SHILLINGS SHIP MONEY LEVIED BY COMMAND OF THE KING WITHOUT THE AUTHORITY OF LAW THE 4TH AUGUST 1635. BY RESISTING THE CLAIM OF THE KING IN LEGAL STRIFE HE UPHELD THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE UNDER THE LAW AND BECAME ENTITLED TO GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE. HIS WORK ON EARTH ENDED AFTER THE CONFLICT IN CHALGROVE FIELD THE 18TH JUNE 1643 AND HE RESTS IN GREAT HAMPDEN CHURCH.

Allegiance:

Parliamentarian

Condition Description:

The celtic cross and plinth are in good condition but the inscription is badly weathered and is unreadable.

Memorial Notes:

The monument is in the custody of the Chiltern Society and is located within own its own small hedged enclosure beside the road. In the summer months it may be partially obscured by vegetation. There is no car park or formal layby for parking. The monument can be reached on foot along marked footpaths. There is no pavement on Honor End lane. See this link for a walk that avoids using the road as much as possible:
https://chilternsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/CS_Walks_HampdenMonument_Feb2021.pdf. The Chiltern Society also has an entry about the monument on its web site at: https://chilternsociety.org.uk/our-sites/hampden-monument/. Robert Gibb's 'Buckinghamshire. A record of local occurences and general events, chronologically arranged. Volume IV.' suggested the 1863 date for the erection of the monument. Derek Lester, John Hampden and the Battle of Chalgrove 1643 (Solihull: Helion Press, 2023) provides a more detailed history of the Prestwood monument and gives a circa 1894 data for the monuments erection.