The Village
The village name 'Newton' is an Old English language word meaning 'new village' or 'new homestead'. It was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under the holdings of Clifton Reynes (Clystone) as not much was left of the original settlement, possibly a victim of raids from across the River Great Ouse. Called 'Niwetone' when first named independently in 1175, it gained the affix 'Blossevill', referring to the family name of the lords of the manor in the 13th century (a common thing to happen to settlement names at that time).
The church
The church of ST. NICHOLAS consists of a chancel, north chapel, nave, north aisle, west tower square, and south porch.
There was a late 11th-century church on the site, consisting probably of a chancel and nave, of which a few remains exist in the walls of the nave. The chancel was probably rebuilt and a north chapel added to it in the 13th century. In the middle of the 14th century the chancel was enlarged, while a little later the existing north chapel replaced the older one, and the north aisle was added to the nave. The west tower, south porch, and the embattled parapets of the nave and aisle were built early in the 15th century. The church underwent a restoration in 1862.
There are three bells: the treble by Russell, 1719; the second is inscribed, 'John Hodson of Landon made mee 1635'; and the tenor, dated 1769, which is inscribed with the names of the rector and churchwardens, is probably by Joseph Eayre of St. Neots.
Full details of this church architecture are available at
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/bucks/vol4/pp422-425#h3-0003
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