Shalstone
Shalstone is a
village in
Buckinghamshire,
England. It is located in the north of the county, about four miles north west of
Buckingham. The village name is
Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'farm by a shallow stream'. In the
Domesday Book of
1086 the village was recorded as
Celdestone.
Shalstone Church dedicated to
St Edward was almost entirely reconstructed in
1862 by the
architect Sir
George Gilbert Scott. Some memorial tablets in the church survived the rebuilding and these are dedicated to members of the Purefoy family and their relatives the Jervoise family. Some of the memorial statuary is by Sir
Richard Westmacott (remembered chiefly for his work on the new
Houses of Parliament in
London).
One remarkable
memorial tablet commemorates the life of Elizabeth Purefoy - a seemingly dominating woman who ruled her unmarried son Henry until he predeceased her. She was widowed in
1704 when she was 32, and survived her husband by a further 61 years. Her memorial reads:-
''She was a Woman of Excellent Sense and Spiritt:''Prudent and Frugal:''As well as a true ffriend To the family She married into:''And was moreover endued:''With all Those Graces and Virtues:''Which distinguish and Adorn
The good Wife The good Mother and good Christian (sic)The most remarkable thing about this glowing tribute is that Mrs. Purefoy not only wrote it herself, but had the tablet erected in the church while she was still alive. She died in
1765.
Shalstone's claim to fame came in
1973 with the publication of the 'Purefoy Letters' a detailed catalogue of the everyday lives of the inhabitants of the village and surrounding area as seen through the eyes of the 90 year old Elizabeth Purefoy to her son Henry during the period
1735 -
1753. Henry, the
squire, and his mother both lived at Shalstone House. The book records Shalstone at this period in minute detail.
Shalstone House is built in the
Georgian style, of stone. The rectangular house is of a plain design five
bays by six bays, on two floors. The hipped
roof is hidden by a solid
parapet. The house contains a notable
chimneypeice by
William Palmer installed in
1739. Shalstone House is still the home of the Purefoy family today,
