country churchyard of the nearest church to where he died. However, he died in London, and none of the local churches had any space in their graveyards. Thinking that he might have to be cremated against his wishes, his widow asked her friends whether they knew of a church that had space for him. David Astor was a friend of Orwell and was able to arrange his burial in Sutton Courtenay, a "classic English country village" as Orwell had specifically requested, as the Astor family owned the manor of Sutton Courtenay. With approval from the local vicar and encouragement from Malcolm Muggeridge, arrangements were made. The churchyard also contains the graves of David Astor and H. H. Asquith, Earl of Oxford and Asquith. Asquith so much loved the simplicity of the village that he chose to be buried there rather than in Westminster Abbey. Housing development and major planning applications In 2015 three housing developers, Pye, Linden and Redrow, began work on separate housing developments that will add a total of 127 new homes to the village. Their sites are off the Milton Road. Another housing development of 193 homes on the Amey site also has planning approval. The parish's existing infrastructure is at capacity. Grampian conditions were imposed on the new developments to enable upgrades to the existing sewer system. In the summer of 2015 the Redrow Asquith Park site was being investigated for breaching these conditions. The Pye, Linden and Redrow are all now linked to the sewer system. Village residents are concerned at further planning applications by housing developers that would add another 560 homes to the parish. In October 2015 Redrow applied for outline planning permission for 200 homes in the field behind the Village Hall. This site is known as East Sutton Courtenay. This field is adjacent to the FCC landfill and composting sites and there are recorded odour problems with this site. Residents have cited numerous reasons why the site is unsuitable including concerns about the proximity to the landfill site. Statutory consultees have also advised refusing permission for this application. An independent expert has rejected the drainage proposal for this site. In December 2015 Savills applied for outline planning permission for 90 homes in the field North of Appleford Road. In April 2016 VOWH Planning Committee granted planning permission for 90 homes. In March 2016, London Regeneration applied for outline planning permission for