Drayton Beauchamp is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the east of the county, near the border with Hertfordshire, about six miles from Aylesbury and two miles from Tring.
The village name 'Drayton' is Anglo Saxon in origin and means 'farm where sledges are used'. It is a common place name in England, and refers to places that were perched on the hillside, thus requiring the use of a sledge rather than a cart to pull heavy loads. The suffix 'Beauchamp' refers to the ancient manorial family of the parish, and was commonly added to differentiate the village from nearby Drayton Parslow. The village is intersected by the Roman roadIcknield Way.
The ancient manor house was once the property of King Edward III, but has since been pulled down.
"DraytonBeauchamp, six miles from Aylesbury, and two from Tring, in Hertfordshire, is situated near the course of the turnpike-road from London, on the eastern verge of Buckinghamshire, and near the Roman Ickeneld Way, which intersects this parish, and has imparted to it many interesting features.
The manor was anciently in the Maignons, from whom it passed to the Beauchamps and Cobhams.
Drayton continued to be one of the chief seats of his descendants, till the death of William Cheyne, Lord Viscount Newhaven, in 1728.