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Great Missenden is a large village in the Misbourne Valley in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England, situated between the towns of Amersham and Wendover. It closely adjoins the villages of Little Missenden and Prestwood. The narrow High Street is bypassed by the main A413 London to Aylesbury Road. The source of the Misbourne is to be found just north of the village, although the upper reach of the river runs only in winter and the perennial head is in Little Missenden. The village is now best known as home to the late Roald Dahl, the internationally famous children's author.〔Lynn F. Pearson (Discovering Famous Graves ) Osprey Publishing, 2008〕 Great Missenden lay on a major route between the Midlands and London. Several coaching inns, particularly the Red Lion (now an estate agency) and The George (which still exists), provided rest and refreshment for travellers and their horses. The first railway line in the area was, however, routed alongside the Grand Union Canal to the east. Once the coaches stopped running Great Missenden declined in importance and prosperity, becoming an agricultural village. Following the arrival of the Metropolitan Railway, (later the London Underground's Metropolitan line) in 1892, Great Missenden became a commuter village for London with writers, entertainers and even Prime Ministers among the passengers. Great Missenden railway station is now on the Chiltern Railways line and offers services running into London Marylebone. The village is overlooked by the medieval parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul. Its position away from the village suggests an earlier settlement round the church with a move to its present location in the early Middle Ages. In the twelfth century Great Missenden was granted a charter allowing it to hold an annual Fair in August. Missenden Abbey, founded in 1133 as an Augustinian monastery, was ruined following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and the remains were incorporated into a Georgian mansion which is now a conference centre. Gipsy House in Great Missenden was the home of author Roald Dahl from 1954 until his death in 1990 and still remains in the family,〔 and many local scenes and characters are reflected in his work.〔David Hurst (20 June 2005) ("Roald Dahl's fantasy factory" ). ''The Daily Mail''. Retrieved 26 October 2012〕 Dahl is buried at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church and children still leave toys and flowers at his grave. In June 2005 the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre opened in Great Missenden to honour the work of Dahl.〔〔Clarie Heald (11 June 2005) (Chocolate doors thrown open to Dahl ) ''BBC News''〕 Great Missenden was also temporarily home to Robert Louis Stevenson, the writer of famous works such as ''Treasure Island'' and the ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde''. It is currently home to actor Geoffrey Palmer, and his wife Sally. Model turned cookery show presenter Sophie Dahl (granddaughter of Roald Dahl) and her husband jazz musician Jamie Cullum have also bought a property in the village.〔("Ooh, I think I felt the little Dahling kick: Just a month to go until Sophie and Jamie's big day" ). Daily Mail. Retrieved 26 October 2012〕 The village is home to the Gateway School,〔(Gateway School )〕 Great Missenden Church of England Combined School and The Misbourne secondary school. The village falls under Great Missenden Parish Council. The Chairwoman is Brenda Gover. During 1980, Hammer Film Productions filmed a small series of horror films for television, many of them filmed in and around Great Missenden. Of note is the episode "Rude Awakening" starring Denholm Elliott who plays an Estate Agent trapped in a recurring nightmare. The location of the premises used as the Estage Agent's office is located on the corner of Station Approach and High St. in the centre of the village. Nowadays the property is a Gentlemen's Hairdresser. ==Demography== At the 2001 UK census, the Great Missenden electoral ward had a population of 2,192. The ethnicity was 98.1% white, 0.7% mixed race, 0.5% Asian, 0.5% black and 0.2% other. The place of birth of residents was 90.6% United Kingdom, 1.5% Republic of Ireland, 2.8% other Western European countries, and 5.1% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 77.7% Christian, 0% Buddhist, 0.2% Hindu, 0.1% Sikh, 0% Jewish, and 0.1% Muslim. 14.2% were recorded as having no religion, 0.3% had an alternative religion and 7.4% did not state their religion.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher= Statistics.gov.uk )〕 The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 35.7% in full-time employment, 11.3% in part-time employment, 14.9% self-employed, 1.9% unemployed, 1.9% students with jobs, 3.8% students without jobs, 19% retired, 8% looking after home or family, 2% permanently sick or disabled and 1.6% economically inactive for other reasons. The industry of employment of residents was 13.3% retail, 11.6% manufacturing, 5.5% construction, 24.1% real estate, 9.7% health and social work, 8.8% education, 4.7% transport and communications, 3.6% public administration, 4.2% hotels and restaurants, 4.3% finance, 1.9% agriculture and 8.3% other. Compared with national figures, the ward had a relatively high proportion of workers in agriculture and real estate. There were a relatively low proportion in public administration, transport and communications. Of the ward's residents aged 16–74, 35.8% had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Great Missenden」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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