Saunderton – History and Nature

If you take local history and landscape into account when choosing a hotel, Saunderton offers several points of interest: a settlement recorded in the Domesday Book, Roman and medieval archaeological remains, a parish church, and opportunities to explore nature and go hiking.

Saunderton’s settlement history

A Domesday Book record lists Saunderton as a medieval and post-medieval settlement. A description of the place in the Domesday Book also mentions a mill and woodland for 50 pigs.

A well-preserved medieval moated site lies 430 m north of Church Farm. The Saunderton Moat complex includes the buried remains of an adjoining medieval church and cemetery. It lies in a sheltered hollow between two converging streams at the northern end of a broad valley in the Chiltern Hills.

A field survey recorded earthworks of a medieval moat in Roundabout Wood. The field with the moat is thought to have been the site of Brown’s Manor.

Roman villas and earlier sites

A Romano-British villa, sometimes called “Saunderton Villa,” lies south of the road between Princes Risborough and Bledlow. Lodge Hill Farm villa overlies the north-eastern corner of a late Iron Age trapezoidal enclosure bounded by ditches.

Lodge Hill Farm villa has an H-shaped plan. There may have been a bath at its southern end. The villa can be identified in aerial photographs by cropmarks and soil discoloration. Taken together, the plan, possible bathhouse, and underlying Iron Age enclosure illustrate different aspects of this archaeological site, without making the possible bathhouse a certainty.

Landscape, nature, and hiking

A report dated 21 July 2026 describes a sighting of the Duke of Burgundy butterfly in a newly restored habitat in Saunderton.

A local Chilterns walking series also passes through Saunderton on various routes. If you are planning a walk, check the specific route beforehand. The route itself is key to your planning, as the series includes different paths.

Church and travel

Saunderton’s parish church, St Mary, is Grade II* listed and is also called St Mary & St Nicholas. Choral Evensong is held there at 6 pm on the fifth Sunday of the month. If this service is important for your travel plans, check the current schedule beforehand, as it may change.

Saunderton railway station is on the line between London Marylebone and Birmingham, operated by Chiltern Railways. If you plan to travel by train, check the timetable and operator for your travel date; services and operators may change.

Discover more destinations: Little Missenden, Stoke Poges, Ivinghoe, Beaconsfield, Stone, Denham, West Wycombe, Chesham.

See the broader travel guide: Buckinghamshire.