If you like your villages to look like they’ve jumped straight from of the pages of a fairytale, or – better yet – the front of an old-school Cadbury’s chocolate box, you’re going to want to hear this. Picture-perfectly perched in the middle of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, sat against the jaw-droppingly gorgeous backdrop of the rolling Chiltern Hills, is a village so idyllic, it’s recently been named one of the most beautiful in the whole country.
Great Missenden is tucked away in the Misbourne Valley, and boasts historic half-timbered houses, leafy lanes, ancient architecture, and some rather impressive literary links. The dreamy village is so quaint and quiet; it’s hard to believe you’re less than an hour from the chaos of the capital city.
Things to do in Great Missenden
Being located slap-bang in the middle of the countryside, it’s unsurprising that Great Missenden offers some incredible walking and cycling routes. If you’re more of a culture vulture than a fresh-air fiend, though, fear not. The village dates all the way back to the 12th century and is filled to the brim with history and charm. The rather majestic Missenden Abbey, for example, is set within ten acres of glorious grounds, and was built in 1133.
Great Missenden’s largest claim-to-fame, however, is its close ties to the beloved children’s author, Roald Dahl. Great Missenden was the village that Dahl called home from 1954 until his death in 1990, and his legacy lives on in the area. In 2005, the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre was built to pay homage to his work. Inside the museum, you can stand within the very hut in which Dahl wrote some of his most celebrated work and dreamt up some of his most beloved characters.
Visitors to Great Missenden can also embark on the ‘Roald Dahl Village Trail’, a walking route that takes you past some of the exact spots that inspired Dahl’s work. You’ll pass Crown House (the building that inspired Sophie’s orphanage in The BFG), Great Missenden Library (the literary locale that inspired the library that Matilda frequented), and the Red Pump Garage (which inspired the fuel pumps in Danny, the Champion of the World). Visitors can also visit the church of St Peter and St Paul, which is where Roald Dahl is buried.
Getting to Great Missenden from London
Perched comfortably inside the London commuter belt, it’s ever so easy get to Great Missenden from the capital city. By car, the journey takes around 90 minutes. But by train, you can get from London Marylebone to Great Missenden in just 45 minutes.