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BUCKINGHAMSHIRE |
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History of Buckinghamshire. The name Buckinghamshire is Anglo Saxon and
means The district (scire) of Bucca's home. Bucca's home refers to
Buckingham in the north of the county, and is named after an
Anglo-Saxon landowner. The county has been so named since about the
12th century; however, the county itself has existed since it was a
subdivision of the kingdom of Mercia (585–919). Some of the settlements in Buckinghamshire
date back much further than the Anglo-Saxon period. Aylesbury, for
example, is known to date back at least as far as 1500 B.C.. There are
a wealth of places that still have their Brythonic names (Penn,
Wendover), or a compound of Brythonic and Anglo Saxon (Brill, Chetwode,
Great Brickhill) and there are pre-Roman earthworks all over the
county. Also, one of the most legendary kings of the Britons,
Cunobelinus, had a castle in the area (the earthworks of which still
remain) and lent his name to the group of villages known as the Kimbles. The Roman influence on Buckinghamshire is
most widely felt in the Roman roads that cross the county. Watling
Street and Akeman Street both cross the county from east to west, and
the Icknield Way follows the line of the Chiltern Hills. The first two
were important trade routes linking London with other parts of Roman
Britain, and the latter was used as a line of defence, though it may
have been an extension of a much older road. The single group of people who probably had
the greatest influence on Buckinghamshire's history, however, are the
Anglo-Saxons. Not only did they give the county and most of the places
within it their names, but the modern geography of the county is
largely as it was in the Anglo-Saxon period. One of the great battles
worthy of mention in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was fought between
Cerdic of Wessex and the Britons at Chearsley, no fewer than three
saints from this period were born in Quarrendon and in the late
Anglo-Saxon period a royal palace was established at Brill. The sheer
wealth in the county was worthy of note when the Domesday Survey was
taken in 1086. The Plantagenets continued to take advantage
of the wealth of the county. William the Conqueror annexed most of the
manors for himself and his family: Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, William's
half brother, became a major landowner locally. Many ancient hunts
became the king's property (worthy of note are Bernwood Forest, Whaddon
Chase and Princes Risborough) as did all the wild swans of England. The
ancient tradition of breeding swans in Buckinghamshire for the king's
pleasure later provided the heraldic supporter for the county's coat of
arms (see below). Another flush of annexations of local manors
to the Crown accompanied the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536),
when almost a third of the county became the personal property of King
Henry VIII, to dispose of at his pleasure. Henry VIII was also
responsible for making Aylesbury the county town over Buckingham, which
he did to curry favour with Thomas Boleyn so that he could marry his
daughter Anne. Another of Henry's wives, Catherine Parr, also had a
sphere of influence within the county. In the English Civil War
(1642–1649) Buckinghamshire was mostly Parliamentarian,
although some pockets of Royalism did exist. The Parliamentarian hero
John Hampden was from Buckinghamshire, and he helped defend Aylesbury
in battle in 1642. Some villages to the west of the county (Brill and
Boarstall for example) were under constant conflict for the duration of
the war, given their equidistance between Parliamentarian Aylesbury and
Royalist Oxford. Many of these places were effectively wiped off the
map from the conflict, but have since been rebuilt. In 1682 William Penn, whose family seat was
at Penn founded Bucks County, Pennsylvania with Quaker migrants from
Buckinghamshire. Bucks County, Pennsylvania has a Buckingham, Chalfont,
Wycombe and Solebury (formerly spelt Soulbury) named after the places
in Buckinghamshire. The Industrial Revolution and the arrival of
the railway completely changed the landscape of certain parts of the
county. Wolverton in the north (now part of Milton Keynes) became a
national centre for railway carriage construction and furniture and
paper industries took hold in the south. In the centre of the county,
the lace industry was introduced and grew rapidly, because it gave
employment to women and children from poorer families. Buckinghamshire
still has good rail links to London, Birmingham and Manchester and
furniture is still a major industry in parts of south Bucks. In the early to mid Victorian era a major
cholera epidemic and agricultural famine took their hold on the farming
industry which for so many years had been the stable mainstay for the
county. Migration from the county to nearby cities and abroad was at
its height at this time, and certain landowners took advantage of the
cheaper land on offer that was left behind. One of the county's most
influential families arrived in Bucks as a result of this, the
Rothschilds, and their impact on the county's landscape was huge (see
Rothschild properties in Buckinghamshire). Mass urbanisation of the very north and
south of the county took place in the 20th century, which saw the new
towns of Milton Keynes and Slough being formed. This was a natural
extension of the industrialisation of the landscape, and provided much
needed employment for many local people. Both have since become unitary
authorities in their own right, reducing the land area of
Buckinghamshire by almost a third. Today Buckinghamshire is considered by many
to be the idyllic rural landscape of Edwardian fiction and is known
colloquially as leafy Bucks. This point of view has led to many parts
of the county being very popular with commuters for London, which in
turn has led to an increase in the general cost of living for local
people. However pockets of deprivation still remain in the county,
particularly in the large towns of Aylesbury and High Wycombe. Places of interest Ascott Ashridge Estate Bletchley Park Boarstall Tower Bradenham Village Buckingham Chantry Chapel Buckinghamshire County Museum Buckinghamshire Railway Centre in Quainton Chequers Court Chicheley Hall Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway
Claydon House Cliveden Coombe Hill Country Parks Country Walks and Rights of Way Dorneywood Halton House Hampden House Hartwell House Hughenden Manor Kederminster Library The King's Head Inn, Aylesbury Long Crendon Courthouse Mentmore Towers Pitstone Windmill Princes Risborough Manor House Roald Dahl Children's Gallery Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre Shardeloes Stowe Park Waddesdon Manor West Wycombe Caves Walks by bus and rail West Wycombe Park West Wycombe Village Whiteleaf Cross Winslow Hall Wycombe Abbey |
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| Addington Adstock Akeley Amersham Ashendon Asheridge Ashley Green Askett Aston Abbotts Aston Clinton Aston Sandford Astrope Astwood Aylesbury Ballinger Common Bancroft Bancroft Park Barton Hartshorn Beachampton Beacons Bottom Beaconsfield Beamond End Bellingdon Bennett End Biddlesden Bierton Bishopstone Bledlow Bledlow Ridge Bletchley Blue Bridge Boarstall Bolbeck Park Bolter End Booker Botley Botolph Claydon Bourne End Boveney Bovingdon Green Bow Brickhill Bradenham Bradville Bradwell Bradwell Common Braziers End Brill Brook End Broughton - Aylesbury Broughton - Milton Keynes Bryant's Bottom Buckingham Buckland Buckland Common Burcott Burcott - Leighton Buzzard Burnham Butlers Cross Cadmore End Calvert Calverton Castlethorpe Chackmore Chalfont Common Chalfont St Giles Chalfont St Peter Charndon Chartridge Chearsley Cheddington Chenies Chesham Chesham Bois Chetwode Chicheley Chilton Cholesbury Clifton Reynes Cold Brayfield Coleshill Conniburrow Cores End Crafton Creslow Cryers Hill Cublington Cuddington Dadford Dagnall Dancers End Denham Denham Green Dinton Dorney Dorton Downhead Park Downley Downs Barn Drayton Beauchamp Drayton Parslow Dudswell Dunsmore Dunton Eaglestone Easington East Burnham East Claydon Edgcott Edlesborough Ellesborough Emberton Emerson Valley Eythrope Fairford Leys Far Bletchley Farnham Common Farnham Royal Fawley Fenny Stratford Filgrave Fingest Fishermead Flackwell Heath Fleet Marston Ford Forty Green Foscote Frieth Fullers Slade Fulmer Furzton Gawcott Gayhurst George Green Gerrards Cross Gibraltar Giffard Park Granborough Great Brickhill Great Hampden Great Holm Great Horwood Great Kimble Great Kingshill Great Linford Great Missenden Greenlands Greenleys Greenwillows Grendon Underwood Grove Haddenham Halton Halton Camp Hambleden Hampden Row Handy Cross Hanslope Hardmead Hardwick Hartwell Haversham Hawridge Hazlemere Heads Hill Heath End Hedgerley Hedgerley Green Hedsor Heelands High Wycombe Hillesden Hiraethog Hodge Lea Hoggeston Hogshaw Hollingdon Holmer Green Holtspur Horn Hill Horsenden Horsley's Green Horton Hughenden Valley Hulcott Hungate End Hunts Green Hyde End Hyde Heath Ibstone Ickford Ilmer Iver Iver Heath Ivinghoe Ivinghoe Aston Jordans Kiln Farm Kimblewick Kings Ash Kingsey Kingsmead Kingswood Knotty Green Lacey Green Laity Moor Lane End Lathbury Latimer Lavendon Layter's Green Leadenhall Leckhampstead Ledburn Lee Clump Lee Common Lee Gate Lent Rise Ley Hill Lillingstone Dayrell Lillingstone Lovell Linford Wood Little Brickhill Little Chalfont Little Crawley Little Hampden Little Horwood Little Kimble Little Kingshill Little Linford Little Marlow Little Missenden Little Shrewley Long Crendon Long Street Longwick Loosley Row Loudwater Loughton Lower End Lower Hartwell Lower Woodend Ludgershall Lye Green Nether Winchendon Maids Moreton Marlow Marlow Bottom Marsh Marsh Gibbon Marsworth Meadle Medmenham Mentmore Middle Claydon Mill End Milton Keynes Milton Keynes Village Miswell Monks Risborough Mop End Moulsoe Mursley Naphill Nash Nash Lee Neath Hill Nether Winchendon New Bradwell New Ground Newport Pagnell Newton Blossomville Newton Longville North Crawley North Dean North Lee North Marston Northall Northend Northend Woods Nup End Oakley Old Farm Park Old Wolverton Oldbrook Olney Orchard Leigh Oving Owlswick Padbury Parmoor Peartree Bridge Pednor Penn Penn Street Pennyland Penstrowed Petsoe End Pheasant's Hill Piddington Pindon End Pitch Green Pitchcott Pitstone Potter Row Poundon Preston Bissett Prestwood Princes Risborough Quainton Radclive Radnage Ravenstone Richings Park Ringshall Rockwell End Rout's Green Rowsham Saunderton Saunderton Lee Sedrup Seer Green Shabbington Shalstone Shenley Brook End Shenley Church End Shenley Lodge Shenley Wood Sherington Shipton Shreding Green Simpson Singleborough Skirmett Skittle Green Slapton Soulbury South Heath Speen St Leonards Stacey Bushes Stantonbury Stantonbury Fields Startops End Steeple Claydon Stewkley Stocking Green Stoke | |||||||||||
