Clifton Hampden is noted for its delightful riverside cottages and a church high on a cliff of greensand that forms a solid bed to the nearby River Thames.
After a visit to Oxford in 1862 the Lord Mayor of London's State Barge embarrassingly ran aground here, and in 1891 the river was so thickly frozen that a sheep roast could be held on the ice. From the church porch there is a fine view of the elegant bridge of locally made bricks, designed by George Gilbert Scott and built in 1864 for the Lord of the Manor, later the first Lord Aldenham.
Between 1843 and 1864 the same eminent architect rebuilt the derelict church. Now Victorian in aspect it retains features dating back to the 12th century.
