Stoke Mandeville

Stoke Mandeville is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located three miles (5 km) from Aylesbury and 3.4 miles (5.5 km) from the market town of Wendover. Although a separate civil parish, the village falls within the Aylesbury Urban Area. According to the Census Report the area of this parish is 1,460 acres (5.9 km2). Stoke Mandeville Hospital, although named after the village, is located in Aylesbury. The hospital has the largest spinal injuries ward in Europe, and is best known internationally as the birthplace of the Paralympic movement; the Stoke Mandeville Games, instituted at the hospital by Sir Ludwig Guttmann in 1948 evolved to become the first Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960, which were also the 9th Stoke Mandeville Games. Stoke Mandeville hospital and stadium were also joint host of the 1984 Summer Paralympics with New York, with the wheelchair elements of the Games being held at the hospital and stadium. Stoke Mandeville Stadium, although in Aylesbury, gave its name to the Paralympic Games mascot, Mandeville, in 2012.