The village name is a combination of Brythonic and Anglo Saxon words for 'hill' (Brythonic: breg, Anglo Saxon hyll). The prefix 'Bow' comes from an Anglo Saxon personal name, Bolla.
The village church stands separate from the rest of the village, on the side of a steep hill. This arrangement is common in places that have a strong Celtic history. The church stood in ruins for many years, services having ceased long before the English Civil War took place, so the church was demolished and completely rebuilt in 1757. The church is dedicated to All Saints.
The hymn tune "Bow Brickhill" by Sydney Nicholson was composed in honour of the church here, after it played host to Nicholson and his choristers from Westminster Abbey in 1923.
This parish was inclosed by an act of parliament, passed in 1776, when an allotment of land was assigned to the rector, in lieu of tithes, and an allotment to the poor in lieu of their right of cutting furze.
That Great Brickhill survives today as a village is due in no small part to the objections of its residents to the ever-increasing development of Milton Keynes.
Great Brickhill was considered a strategic site due to its elevation and proximity to Watling Street (now the A5 road), at the time the main approach road to London from the north.
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