North Crawley

North Crawley is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England.[2] It is located near the border with Bedfordshire, about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east of Newport Pagnell, and 6 miles (9.7 km) north-east of Central Milton Keynes.

North Crawley
North Crawley village centre
North Crawley Location within Buckinghamshire
Population	736 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid reference	SP925447
Civil parish	North Crawley
Unitary authority	Milton Keynes
Ceremonial county	Buckinghamshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NEWPORT PAGNELL
Postcode district	MK16
Dialling code	01234
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Buckinghamshire
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Milton Keynes North

The village name 'Crawley' is an Old English language word, and means 'clearing frequented by crows'. In the Domesday Book of 1086 the village was referred to as Crauelai. In manorial records in 1197 the area was split into Great Crawley and Little Crawley. The prefix 'North' was added sometime before 1398.[3] Local speculation has it that the prefix was added to distinguish the village from the town of Crawley in West Sussex but supporting historical evidence remains to be found. The hamlet of Little Crawley still exists under that name.

St Firmin's Church, North Crawley

Anciently North Crawley was the location of a monastery dedicated to Saint Firmin. The monastery was recorded in the Domesday Book, though had fallen into such decay by the Dissolution of the Monasteries that little notice was taken of it, and it fell into ruin shortly afterwards. The Anglican parish church continues to be dedicated to the saint.

The village has many different societies. They range form the Women's Institute and Masonic Lodges to the Historical Society. There is also North Crawley Cricket Club and North Crawley Bowls Club.

There are two public houses in North Crawley. One named The Cock, the other named The Chequers. There also used to be a third pub named The Castle in North Crawley. All of these are mentioned in the song written about North Crawley named Hasten The Day by Jim Lancaster whilst he was in Burma.