Although this village is situated just over the county border into Buckinghamshire, I feel that it is still worthy of a mention!

The village's name comes from the English word 'marsh', which accurately described the typical state of the land, caused by the high water table of the Aylesbury Vale. The second part - 'Gibbon' - was added in honour of the Gibbewin/Gibwen/Gibbon family, who were the Lords of the Manor during the 12th century.

On the manorial roll documents of 1292, the village was recorded as 'Mersh Gibwyne', although earlier (in 1086), it was known simply as 'Mersh/Merse'.

In the Domesday Book, the entry for Marsh Gibbon reads: 'Ailric held it in King Edward's time, but now holds in farm of William heavily and miserably'.

Ailric was believed to have been a nobleman who had once held the manor, but had been dispossessed of it by a man called William Fitz-Ansculf. Ailric remained as an under-tenant to Fitz-Ansculf, which perhaps explains why Ailric was so miserable!

Fitz-Ansculf was succeeded by the Gibbewin family, of whom the earliest known member was Ralph Gibbewin, who was known to be alive in 1166.

In 1213, Ralph's son - Geoffrey Gibbewin - got involved in a dispute with a man called John de Montague, who had 'claimed advowson of Marsh church' ('advowson' = the right to recommend a member of the clergy for a vacant benefice). This dispute went on for 11 years, with Geoffrey claiming that the advowson had been inherited by him from his father (Ralph); Geoffrey remained Lord of the Manor until his death, which occurred circa 1236. Geoffrey's heirs were named as Robert de Lisle (also known as de Insula), and Robert's son, Brian - you may remember the de Lisle's from one of my previous posts, regarding the history of Stratton Audley!

The manor was held by numerous other families throughout the centuries.

A small church was first built in Marsh Gibbon in the 13th century, with other additions such as the tower being built around 20 years later. The south porch was added in the 15th century, and the church we see today was completed by 1880.

Within the church is a monument to one of its former rectors, the Reverend John Dod, who died in 1698.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the village was very run-down and poverty-stricken. Sir Henry Acland, master of Ewelme, greatly improved living conditions for the inhabitants of Marsh Gibbon; houses were rebuilt, modern sanitisation introduced, and a reading room was opened.

The manor house lies immediately south of the church, and was built in Elizabethan times. Another, earlier manor house called Westbury Manor exists around 200 metres away.

Following a skirmish at Hillesden in 1645, Parliamentarian troops were garrisoned in Marsh Gibbon before marching on to Boarstall. Up until the late 1950's, the groundworks of their encampment were still visible in a field to the northwest of the Elizabethan manor house (pictured below).