The parish church of St Bartholomew's dates from the early Norman period. It has an unusual tower, with a double vaulted roof. The church is a Grade I listed building.[2]
The manor of Fingest anciently belonged to St Albans Abbey. In 1163 it was given to the bishop of Lincoln. The ghost of Henry Burghersh, 14th-century Bishop of Lincoln, is reputed to haunt the area.[8] After this time it was used as the country residence for the Lincoln diocese until 1547 when it was seized by the Crown. It was then given two years later to the Duke of Somerset who exchanged it with a property belonging to Wells Cathedral.[7] The manor is now privately owned.
The civil parish of Fingest, originally based on the ecclesiastical parish, was enlarged in 1934 by adding land from the parishes of West Wycombe, Great Marlow and Hambleden. As a result, Lane End became the largest settlement in the parish, and the parish was renamed Fingest and Lane End in 1937.[9] In the 1980s the civil parish was abolished. The larger part became the parish of Lane End, and the village of Fingest was added to Hambleden parish.
^ People of Celtic origin found the ' Þ ' of the Old Norse language ( pronounced ” Th ” )
difficult, hence words that began ' Th ' were often shortened to begin with just
' T ' , ' H ' or ' F ' ( E.g. Number three - ” tree ” )
^ Examples of place names derived from Old Norse Þing - ( ” thing ” ) :
^ abWilliam Page, ed. (1925). "Parishes: Fingest". A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 3. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
