Brill, Buckinghamshire

Brill is a town in Buckinghamshire, England, close to the border with Oxfordshire. It is situated about four miles north west of Long Crendon, seven miles south east of Bicester. Although it is still in possession of a Royal charter to hold a weekly market, on account of its prestigious history (see below) there hasn't been a market held here for some years. Today Brill is no larger than most of the villages that surround it.

The town name is a combination of Celtic and Anglo Saxon words for 'hill' (Celtic brez and Anglo Saxon hyll). At the time of King Edward the Confessor it was known as Bruhella.

The manor of Brill has, for a long time, been a property belonging to the crown. Edward the Confessor had a grand palace here, that remained in place through to the time of King Charles I of England, who turned the building into a garrison. This action led to its eventual destruction by John Hampden in 1643 in the English Civil War. There is evidence that kings Henry II, John, Henry III and Stephen all held court here.

Ecclesiastically, Brill was originally a chapel of ease to the nearby parish of Oakley, though certainly since the English Civil War it has been a parish in its own right. There was also a convent in Brill, dedicated to St Fridewide, and a hermitage dedicated to St Werburgh, though these were both disbanded during the [[dissolution of the monasteries.