Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road along the foot of the Chilterns. The town is some north west of London and south east of Aylesbury, and is very popular with commuters working in London. The parish has an area of and had, at the time of the 2011 census, a population of 7,399. Outside the town of Wendover, the parish is mainly arable and also contains many hamlets that nestle amongst the woodlands on the surrounding hills. Although Wendover has a weekly market, and has had a market charter since medieval times, many of its inhabitants identify it as a village, and the parish council does not describe itself as a town council. Etymology The name is of Brythonic Celtic origin. The first element, wen can mean "blessed" or "white" (wyn or gwyn in Modern Welsh). The second element, duẞr or dwfr simply means water (dŵr in Modern Welsh, a common element in English place names such as Dover). As such, the meaning of Wendover is often given as "White-water", and likely refers to the chalky stream that flows through the middle of the town. This stream rises in the adjacent hills, bringing white chalk deposits with it. Despite circumstantial evidence (such as the abundance of spring water), the alternative interpretation of "Blessed-water" is not accepted. History The first known documentary reference to Wendover, then known as Wændofron, is in the will of Ælfheah, the ealdorman of Hampshire, and dates from between 965 and 971. Prior to the Norman Conquest, the manor, which at the time measured 24 hides in area, was held by Edward the Confessor. The settlement appears to have been centred some to the south of the present-day focus of the town, near the current location of the parish church of St Mary. By 1086, the manor of Wendovre was in the hundred of Aylesbury, with William the Conqueror as its tenant in chief. The manor remained in royal ownership until 1154, and then passed back and forth between royal and private ownership several times. Wendover was granted a market charter in 1214, and had become a borough by 1228, although it does not appear to have achieved any degree of self-government.