The priory was started after Sybil d'Aungerville granted land at Tattenhoe to Lavendon Abbey, who most likely started a cell at Snelshall.
It contains Howe Park Wood, one of England's few remaining primeval woodlands (though certainly coppiced) and home to a wide variety of wildlife, notably Odonata.
Westcroft District Centre is a large retail development that serves this side of Milton Keynes (Tattenhoe, Emerson Valley, Furzton, Kingsmead, Shenley Brook End, Shenley Lodge, Oakhill, Shenley Wood, Shenley Church End and western West Bletchley).