Editing Pitstone (section)

==History==
The village name is [[Old English|Anglo-Saxon]] in origin, and means 'Picel's thorn tree'. It was recorded in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as ''Pincelestorne''.

Pitstone was given to the [[abbey]] at [[Ashridge]] by the [[Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall|Earl of Cornwall]] in 1283.  In 1290 [[Edward I of England|King Edward I]] spent [[Christmas]] in Pitstone at the estate that had been given to the abbey, and stayed for five weeks, during which time he held [[Parliament of England|parliament]] in Ashridge.  His stay caused great inconvenience to the local inhabitants of the village who were legally obliged to keep the king and his court.

It was described in a Victorian gazetteer by John Marius Wilson as "7 miles in length and 1 in breadth. Post-town, Tring. Acres, 2,836 [{{convert|2836|acres|km2}}] Real property, £3,692. Pop., 581. Houses, 109. The property is divided among a few.".  Its area dropped between 1851 and 1891 from the said number acres to 1,644.<ref>[http://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10157742/cube/AREA_ACRES "A Vision of Britain"] Units and statistics collated by the University of Portsmouth and others. Retrieved 2016-09-04</ref>  The number of houses rose most steeply in the 1950s, from 169 to 252.<ref>[http://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10157742/cube/HOUSES "A Vision of Britain"] Units and statistics collated by the University of Portsmouth and others. Retrieved 2016-09-04</ref>