A lost landmark of the Chiltern Hills is a spot in the parish of Aston Clinton formerly known as the Shepherd’s Grave. It was described as a ‘lofty eminence’ – perhaps a barrow – commanding a wide view of the countryside.
Tradition states that a shepherd named Faithful… used to make this spot his common resting place, while attending his master’s flock. Becoming at length so attached to it, he exacted a promise from his fellow shepherds that at his death they would bury him here. This promise they fulfilled, and cut in the turf the following epitaph:
Faithful lived and faithful died,
Faithful shepherd on the hill side;
The field so wide, the hill so round,
In the day of judgement he’ll be found.
The contributor of this tradition to Records of Buckinghamshire (1854) says that the ‘rustics’ of the neighborhood used to keep the letters clear but had neglected to do for some time. Poignantly, when he visited the grave in about 1847, only the word ‘Faithful’ could be read. He notes, “The spot, however, was still held in reverence, and my guide approached it with unmistakable awe, and narrated the story with grave solemnity.’ The local farmer was not so respectful: the writer adds that since his visit the Shepherd’s Grave had been ploughed out.