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{{Infobox county
{{Infobox county
|name=Buckinghamshire
|name=Buckinghamshire
|map image=BuckinghamshireBrit5.PNG
|map image=Buckinghamshire Brit Isles Sect 5.svg
|picture=Ivinghoe Beacon seen from The Ridgeway.jpg
|picture=Ivinghoe Beacon seen from The Ridgeway.jpg
|picture caption=Ivinghoe Beacon
|picture caption=Ivinghoe Beacon
|flag=FlagOfBuckinghamshire.PNG
|area=745 square miles
|area=745 square miles
|county town=[[Aylesbury]]
|county town=[[Aylesbury]]
|biggest town=[[Slough]]
|biggest town=[[Slough]]
}}
}}
The '''County of Buckingham''' is a [[Counties of the United Kingdom|shire]] in southern England. A distinctively shaped inland county, it reaches from the Salcey Forest in the north to the banks of the Thames in the south.
The '''County of Buckingham''' is a [[Counties of the United Kingdom|shire]] in southern England. A distinctively shaped inland county, it reaches from the Salcey Forest in the north to the banks of the [[Thames]] in the south.


The delightful [[Chiltern Hills]], sweeping through the south of the county, give the shire much of its character; with beech woods in the west, rising to higher, more windswept landscape around Ivinghoe Beacon, and all full of pretty villages of flint and thatch. It provides fine walking country. The more gentle, pastoral Vale of Aylesbury lies north of the Chilterns.
The delightful [[Chiltern Hills]], sweeping through the south of the county, give the shire much of its character; with beech woods in the west, rising to higher, more windswept landscape around Ivinghoe Beacon, and all full of pretty villages of flint and thatch. It provides fine walking country. The more gentle, pastoral [[Vale of Aylesbury]] lies north of the Chilterns.


Buckinghamshire's short southern boundary is the River Thames, which above Slough is considered the finest stretch of that river. In the north of the county, along the Great Ouse, Milton Keynes has been dropped across the landscape; a sudden, planned New Town of the 1970's, in ironic contrast to Buckingham to the west, an ancient and very picturesque town
Buckinghamshire's short southern boundary is the River Thames, which above Slough is considered the finest stretch of that river. In the north of the county, along the [[River Great Ouse|Great Ouse]], Milton Keynes has been dropped across the landscape; a sudden, planned New Town of the 1970s, in ironic contrast to Buckingham to the west, an ancient and very picturesque town.


The [[county town]] is [[Aylesbury]] in the Vale of Aylesbury, a central position.  The county's largest towns are it the very northern and southern ends; [[Slough]] in the south close to the [[River Thames]] and [[Milton Keynes]], a new town, in the north in the plains of the [[River Great Ouse]].
The [[county town]] is [[Aylesbury]] in the Vale of Aylesbury, a central position.  The county's largest towns are it the very northern and southern ends; [[Slough]] in the south close to the [[River Thames]] and [[Milton Keynes]], a new town, in the north in the plains of the [[River Great Ouse]].


Sections of the county closer to neighbouring [[Hertfordshire]] and to the influence of London are part of the Metropolitan Green Belt, which prohibits excessive development.
Sections of the county closer to neighbouring [[Hertfordshire]] and to the influence of London are part of the [[Metropolitan Green Belt]], which prohibits excessive development.


==Landscape==
==Landscape==
Line 23: Line 24:
The two highest points in Buckinghamshire, both 876 feet above sea level, are Coombe Hill near [[Wendover]] and Haddington Hill in Wendover Woods.
The two highest points in Buckinghamshire, both 876 feet above sea level, are Coombe Hill near [[Wendover]] and Haddington Hill in Wendover Woods.


Southern Buckinghamshire forms the outer part of the London commuter belt spreading out from neighbouring [[Middlesex]].  The county's proximity to Middlesex has mean that some major routes carve their way through the county, including no fewer than four motorways; the M40 through the Chilterns, the M1 passing Milton Keynes in the north, the M25 for a few miles by the Middlesex border and the M4 motorway in the southern tip.  Several major A roads pass through Buckinghamshire as well, though since these large routes serve traffic to and from the London conurbation, travel within the county itself is difficult cumbersome, there being few big roads to serve internal travel.
Southern Buckinghamshire forms the outer part of the London commuter belt spreading out from neighbouring [[Middlesex]].  The county's proximity to Middlesex has mean that some major routes carve their way through the county, including no fewer than four motorways; the [[M40 motorway|M40]] through the Chilterns, the [[M1 motorway|M1]] passing Milton Keynes in the north, the [[M25 motorway|M25]] for a few miles by the Middlesex border and the [[M4 motorway]] in the southern tip.  Several major A roads pass through Buckinghamshire as well, though since these large routes serve traffic to and from the London conurbation, travel within the county itself is difficult and cumbersome, there being few big roads to serve internal travel.


===Waterways===
===Waterways===
Line 34: Line 35:
==History==
==History==
[[File:Buckingham OldCountyGaol021.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Buckingham and the Old County Gaol]]
[[File:Buckingham OldCountyGaol021.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Buckingham and the Old County Gaol]]
Buckinghamshire takes its name from its original county town, Buckingham, whose name in turn is form the Old English ''Buccingaham'' ("Bucca's kin's home").  The Mercian underkingdom of ''Cilternesæte'' ("Chiternset") was in these hills.  Buckinghamshire first appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (as ''Buccingahamscir'') in 1010<ref>Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 1010; Abingdon Chronicle and Peterborough Chronicle</ref>
Buckinghamshire takes its name from its original county town, Buckingham, whose name in turn is form the Old English ''Buccingaham'' ("Bucca's kin's home").  The Mercian underkingdom of ''Cilternesæte'' ("Chiternset") was in these hills.  Buckinghamshire first appears in the [[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]] (as ''Buccingahamscir'') in 1010<ref>Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 1010; Abingdon Chronicle and Peterborough Chronicle</ref>


The Early Middle Ages brought war, the later Middle Ages calm agricultural prosperity.  In the 17th century the Buckinghamshire Chilterns became a heartland of Puritanism, which shaped local politics into a new, resistant form.  John Hamden of [[Great Hampden]] was a vocal parliamentarian and his resistance to King Charles's demands for ship money that forced the King to treat Parliament seriously.  Thus in these hills began the English Civil War.<ref name="Biography of John Hampden">{{cite web|url=http://www.johnhampden.org/ |title=Biography of John Hampden |publisher=Johnhampden.org |date= |accessdate=2010-09-19}}</ref>  Hamden himself became a leader of the Parliamentarian party, a position he lost to Cromwell only by his death in 1643 of wounds received in battle at  Chalgrove Field.
The Early Middle Ages brought war, the later Middle Ages calm agricultural prosperity.  In the 17th century the Buckinghamshire Chilterns became a heartland of Puritanism, which shaped local politics into a new, resistant form.  John Hamden of [[Great Hampden]] was a vocal parliamentarian and his resistance to King Charles's demands for ship money that forced the King to treat Parliament seriously.  Thus in these hills began the English Civil War.<ref name="Biography of John Hampden">{{cite web|url=http://www.johnhampden.org/ |title=Biography of John Hampden |publisher=Johnhampden.org |date= |accessdate=2010-09-19}}</ref>  Hamden himself became a leader of the Parliamentarian party, a position he lost to Cromwell only by his death in 1643 of wounds received in battle at  Chalgrove Field.


The biggest demographic change to the county came in the 19th century, when a combination of [[cholera]] and [[famine]] hit the rural county, forced many to migrate to larger towns to find work. Not only did this alter the local economical picture, it released a great deal of land, sold at low prices and '''leafy Bucks''' became a popular rural idyll: an image it still has today. The Metropolitan Railway extended into Buckinghamshire from 1889, which line now forms the uttermost part of the [[London Underground]] system and its [[London Underground#Metropolitan Line|Metropolitan Line]].
The biggest demographic change to the county came in the 19th century, when a combination of cholera and famine hit the rural county, forced many to migrate to larger towns to find work. Not only did this alter the local economical picture, it released a great deal of land, sold at low prices and '''leafy Bucks''' became a popular rural idyll: an image it still has today. The Metropolitan Railway extended into Buckinghamshire from 1889, which line now forms the uttermost part of the [[London Underground]] system and its [[London Underground#Metropolitan Line|Metropolitan Line]].


Buckinghamshire is a popular home for London commuters, a factor in great local affluence.
Buckinghamshire is a popular home for London commuters, a factor in great local affluence.


==Symbols==
==Geography==
The traditional badge of Buckinghamshire is a white swan. The ancient arms of the Borough of Buckingham were a white swan in chains on a field ''per pale gules and sable'' (red and black). Now the same arms, with a golden chief added for difference, are used by the county council which borrows the county's name.
[[File:Buckinghamshire Hundreds.svg|thumb|200px|The Hundreds of Buckinghamshire]]
The county is divided into eight hundreds. ({{kmloutline|BuckinghamshireHundredsA}}) These are:
*[[Ashendon Hundred|Ashendon]]
*[[Aylesbury Hundred|Aylesbury]]
*[[Buckingham Hundred|Buckingham]]
*[[Burnham Hundred|Burnham]]<sup>*</sup>
*[[Cottesloe Hundred|Cottesloe]]
*[[Desborough Hundred|Desborough]]<sup>*</sup>
*[[Newport Hundred|Newport]]
*[[Stoke Hundred|Stoke]]<sup>*</sup>


The origin of the swan badge is unknown.  Some claim it is as old as Anglo-Saxon times, related to swan-breeding, others that a swan is in chains illustrates that the swan is bound to the monarch.  At the Battle of Agincourt it is said that the men of Buckingham bore a swan as a badge<ref>Drayton, ‘’The Battatle of Agincourt’’</ref>, Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham is said also to have borne arms with a swan.
<sup>*</sup>: These hundreds are collectively known as the [[Chiltern Hundreds]].


==Places of interest==
===Cities===
Buckinghamshire rightly known for its open countryside and fine natural features.  The [[Chiltern Hills]] (an "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty") and the [[River Thames]] are best known.<ref name="Visit">{{cite web|url=http://www.visitbuckinghamshire.org/|title=Welcome to Buckinghamshire!|publisher=Visit Buckinghamshire|accessdate=2010-08-19}}</ref>  The county is also home to many historic houses, some of which are open to the public through the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]] such as Waddesdon Manor, West Wycombe Park and Cliveden and others which still act as private houses such as the Prime Minister's country retreat, Chequers.
* [[Milton Keynes]]
 
{{UKPlacesKey|E}}
*[[File:HH icon.png|Historic house]] The Abbey, Aston Abbotts
*[[File:Museum icon (red).png|Museum paid admission]] [[Amersham]] Museum
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] [[Ascott, Buckinghamshire|Ascott]]
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] Ashridge Estate
*[[File:Museum icon (red).png|Museum paid admission]] Bekonscot, [[Beaconsfield]]
*[[File:Forestry commission logo.svg]] Bernwood Forest
*[[File:Country parks.svg|15px|Country Park]] Black Park
*[[File:HH icon.png|Historic house]] Bletchley Park
*[[File:UKAL icon.svg|Accessible open space]] Blue Lagoon Local Nature Reserve
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] Boarstall Duck Decoy
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] Boarstall Tower
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] [[Bradenham]] Village
*[[File:AP_Icon.svg]] Bradwell Abbey
*[[File:EH icon.svg|English Heritage]] [[Brill]] Windmill
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] [[Buckingham]] Chantry Chapel
*[[File:Museum icon.png|Museum]] Buckinghamshire County Museum
*[[File:HR icon.svg|Heritage railway]] Buckinghamshire Railway Centre in [[Quainton]]
*[[File:HH icon.png|Historic house]] Bulstrode Park
*[[File:HH icon.png|Historic house]] Chequers Court
*[[File:Museum icon (red).png|Museum paid admission]] [[Chesham]] Museum
*[[File:HH icon.png|Historic house]] Chicheley Hall
*[[File:Museum icon.png|Museum]] Chiltern Open Air Museum, [[Chalfont St Giles]]
*[[File:UKAL icon.svg|Accessible open space]] Chiltern scarp
*[[File:HR icon.svg|Heritage railway]] Chinnor & [[Princes Risborough]] Railway
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] Claydon House
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] Cliveden
*[[File:UKAL icon.svg|Accessible open space]] Concrete Cows, [[Milton Keynes]]
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] Coombe Hill
*[[File:Museum icon (red).png|Museum paid admission]] The Cowper and Newton Museum
*[[File:UKAL icon.svg|Accessible open space]] Dorney Lake
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] Dorneywood
*[[File:Country parks.svg|15px|Country Park]] Emberton Country Park
*[[File:HH icon.png|Historic house]] Eythrope
*[[File:HH icon.png|Historic house]] Halton House
*[[File:HH icon.png|Historic house]] Hampden House
*[[File:HH icon.png|Historic house]] Hartwell House
*[[File:EH icon.svg|English Heritage]] Hospital of St John the Baptist, [[High Wycombe]]
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] Hughenden Manor
*[[File:UKAL icon.svg|Accessible open space]] [[Ivinghoe Beacon]]
*[[File:Museum icon (red).png|Museum paid admission]] Kederminster Library
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] The King's Head Inn, [[Aylesbury]]
*[[File:HH icon.png|Historic house]] Linford Manor
*[[File:UKAL icon.svg|Accessible open space]] Little Britain
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] Long Crendon Courthouse
*[[File:HH icon.png|Historic house]] Mentmore Towers
*[[File:Museum icon (red).png|Museum paid admission]] [[Milton Keynes]] Museum
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] [[Pitstone]] Windmill
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] [[Princes Risborough]] Manor House
*[[File:Museum icon (red).png|Museum paid admission]] Roald Dahl Children's Gallery
*[[File:Museum icon (red).png|Museum paid admission]] Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, [[Great Missenden]]
*[[File:HH icon.png|Historic house]] Shardeloes, [[Amersham]]
*[[File:AP_Icon.svg]] Snelshall Priory
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] [[Stowe, Buckinghamshire|Stowe Park]]
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] Waddesdon Manor
*[[File:Museum icon (red).png|Museum paid admission]] [[West Wycombe]] Caves
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] [[West Wycombe]] Park
*[[File:NTE icon.svg|National Trust]] [[West Wycombe]] Village
*[[File:UKAL icon.svg|Accessible open space]] [[Whiteleaf, Buckinghamshire|Whiteleaf Cross]]
*[[File:HH icon.png|Historic house]] Winslow Hall
*[[File:HH icon.svg|Historic house]] Wycombe Abbey


==Towns and villages==
===Towns and villages===
The main towns of Buckinghamshire are:
The main towns of Buckinghamshire are:
 
{{div col|3}}
* [[Amersham]]
* [[Amersham]]
* [[Aylesbury]]
* [[Aylesbury]] ''([[county town]])''
* [[Beaconsfield]]
* [[Beaconsfield]]
* [[Buckingham]]
* [[Buckingham]]
* [[Chesham]]
* [[Chesham]]
* [[Gerrard's Cross]]
* [[High Wycombe]]
* [[High Wycombe]]
* [[Marlow]]
* [[Marlow]]
* [[Milton Keynes]]
* [[Newport Pagnell]]
* [[Olney]]
* [[Olney]]
* [[Princes Risborough]]
* [[Princes Risborough]]
Line 128: Line 77:
* [[Wendover]]
* [[Wendover]]
* [[Winslow]]
* [[Winslow]]
{{div col end}}
==Symbols==
[[File:FlagOfBuckinghamshire.PNG|right|thumb|160px|Buckinghamshire's county flag]]
The traditional badge of Buckinghamshire is a white swan.  The ancient arms of the Borough of Buckingham were a white swan in chains on a field ''per pale gules and sable'' (red and black). Now the same arms, with a golden chief added for difference, are used by the county council which borrows the county's name.
The origin of the swan badge is unknown.  Some claim it is as old as Anglo-Saxon times, related to swan-breeding, others that a swan is in chains illustrates that the swan is bound to the monarch.  At the Battle of Agincourt it is said that the men of Buckingham bore a swan as a badge,<ref>Drayton, ''The Battale of Agincourt''</ref> Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham is said also to have borne arms with a swan.
In May 2011, the Flag Institute accepted the traditional emblem as the flag of Buckinghamshire.
==Places of interest==
Buckinghamshire rightly known for its open countryside and fine natural features.  The [[Chiltern Hills]] (an "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty") and the [[River Thames]] are best known.<ref name="Visit">{{cite web|url=http://www.visitbuckinghamshire.org/|title=Welcome to Buckinghamshire!|publisher=Visit Buckinghamshire|accessdate=2010-08-19}}</ref>  The county is also home to many historic houses, some of which are open to the public through the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]] such as Waddesdon Manor, West Wycombe Park and Cliveden and others which still act as private houses such as the Prime Minister's country retreat, Chequers.
{{UKPlacesKey|E}}
*{{i-House}} [[The Abbey, Aston Abbotts]]
*{{i-MuseumNotFree}} [[Amersham]] Museum
*{{i-NTE}} [[Ascott House]]
*{{i-NTE}} [[Ashridge Estate]]
*{{i-MuseumNotFree}} Bekonscot model village, [[Beaconsfield]]
*{{i-Forest}} Bernwood Forest
*{{i-Park}} Black Park
*{{i-House}} [[Bletchley Park]]
*{{i-OpenSpace}} Blue Lagoon Local Nature Reserve
*{{i-NTE}} [[Boarstall Duck Decoy]]
*{{i-NTE}} [[Boarstall Tower]]
*{{i-NTE}} [[Bradenham, Buckinghamshire|Bradenham Village]]
*{{i-Abbey}} [[Bradwell Abbey]]
*{{i-EH}} [[Brill Windmill]]
*{{i-NTE}} [[Buckingham Chantry Chapel]]
*{{i-Museum}} Buckinghamshire County Museum
*{{i-HR}}  [[Buckinghamshire Railway Centre]] in [[Quainton]]
*{{i-House}} [[Bulstrode Park]]
*{{i-House}} [[Chequers]]
*{{i-MuseumNotFree}} [[Chesham]] Museum
*{{i-House}} [[Chicheley Hall]]
*{{i-Museum}} [[Chiltern Open Air Museum]], [[Chalfont St Giles]]
*{{i-OpenSpace}} Chiltern scarp
*{{i-HR}} [[Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway]]
*{{i-NTE}} [[Claydon House]]
*{{i-NTE}} [[Cliveden]]
*{{i-OpenSpace}} Concrete Cows, [[Milton Keynes]]
*{{i-NTE}} [[Coombe Hill, Buckinghamshire|Coombe Hill]]
*{{i-MuseumNotFree}} The Cowper and Newton Museum
*{{i-OpenSpace}} [[Dorney Lake]]
*{{i-NTE}} [[Dorneywood]]
*{{i-Park}} Emberton Country Park
*{{i-House}} [[Eythrope]]
*{{i-House}} [[Halton House]]
*{{i-House}} [[Hampden House]]
*{{i-House}} [[Hartwell House]]
*{{i-EH}} [[Hospital of St John the Baptist, High Wycombe]]
*{{i-NTE}} [[Hughenden Manor]]
*{{i-OpenSpace}} [[Ivinghoe Beacon]]
*{{i-MuseumNotFree}} Kederminster Library
*{{i-NTE}} [[The King's Head Inn, Aylesbury]]
*{{i-House}} [[Linford Manor]]
*{{i-OpenSpace}} Little Britain
*{{i-NTE}} [[Long Crendon Courthouse]]
*{{i-House}} [[Mentmore Towers]]
*{{i-MuseumNotFree}} [[Milton Keynes]] Museum
*{{i-NTE}} [[Pitstone Windmill]]
*{{i-NTE}} [[Princes Risborough Manor House]]
*{{i-MuseumNotFree}} Roald Dahl Children's Gallery
*{{i-MuseumNotFree}} Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, [[Great Missenden]]
*{{i-House}} Shardeloes, [[Amersham]]
*{{i-Abbey}} [[Snelshall Priory]]
*{{i-NTE}} [[Stowe Park]]
*{{i-NTE}} [[Waddesdon Manor]]
*{{i-MuseumNotFree}} [[West Wycombe Caves]]
*{{i-NTE}} [[West Wycombe Park]]
*{{i-NTE}} [[West Wycombe]] Village
*{{i-OpenSpace}} [[Whiteleaf, Buckinghamshire|Whiteleaf Cross]]
*{{i-House}} [[Winslow Hall]]
*{{i-House}} [[Wycombe Abbey]]


==References==
==References==
Line 137: Line 160:
* [http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/museum Buckinghamshire County Museum and Roald Dahl Children's Gallery]
* [http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/museum Buckinghamshire County Museum and Roald Dahl Children's Gallery]
* [http://www.bucksfhs.org.uk/ Buckinghamshire Family History Society]
* [http://www.bucksfhs.org.uk/ Buckinghamshire Family History Society]
* [http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/libraries Buckinghamshire Libraries]
* [http://www.adultlearningbcc.ac.uk/ Buckinghamshire Adult Learning]
* [http://www.visitbuckinghamshire.org/ Buckinghamshire Tourist Guide]
* [http://www.visitbuckinghamshire.org/ Buckinghamshire Tourist Guide]
* [http://www.bucksonline.gov.uk/portal/home/index.jsp/ Bucks County and District Councils Portal]
* [http://www.thisisbuckinghamshire.co.uk/ Bucks Free Press] Local Newspaper
* [http://www.thisisbuckinghamshire.co.uk/ Bucks Free Press] Local Newspaper
* [http://www.bucks11plus.co.uk/ Information about Buckinghamshire schools entrance exams]
* [http://www.theatrenights.com/index.php?list=Events&location=1 Local Theatre in Buckinghamshire]
* [http://apps.buckscc.gov.uk/eforms/photolibrary/webform1.aspx Photographic Archive of Buckinghamshire]
* [http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/swop Sharing Wycombe's Old Photos - A Photographic Archive of part of Buckinghamshire mostly High Wycombe and surrounding area]


{{British county}}
{{British county}}

Latest revision as of 11:30, 9 June 2023

Buckinghamshire
United Kingdom

Ivinghoe Beacon
Flag of Buckinghamshire
Flag
Buckinghamshire
[Interactive map]
Area: 745 square miles
Population: 916,903
County town: Aylesbury
Biggest town: Slough
County flower: Chiltern gentian [1]

The County of Buckingham is a shire in southern England. A distinctively shaped inland county, it reaches from the Salcey Forest in the north to the banks of the Thames in the south.

The delightful Chiltern Hills, sweeping through the south of the county, give the shire much of its character; with beech woods in the west, rising to higher, more windswept landscape around Ivinghoe Beacon, and all full of pretty villages of flint and thatch. It provides fine walking country. The more gentle, pastoral Vale of Aylesbury lies north of the Chilterns.

Buckinghamshire's short southern boundary is the River Thames, which above Slough is considered the finest stretch of that river. In the north of the county, along the Great Ouse, Milton Keynes has been dropped across the landscape; a sudden, planned New Town of the 1970s, in ironic contrast to Buckingham to the west, an ancient and very picturesque town.

The county town is Aylesbury in the Vale of Aylesbury, a central position. The county's largest towns are it the very northern and southern ends; Slough in the south close to the River Thames and Milton Keynes, a new town, in the north in the plains of the River Great Ouse.

Sections of the county closer to neighbouring Hertfordshire and to the influence of London are part of the Metropolitan Green Belt, which prohibits excessive development.

Landscape

Buckinghamshire may be split into two sections geographically. The south leads from the River Thames up the gentle slopes of the Chiltern Hills to the more abrupt slopes on the northern side leading to the Vale of Aylesbury, a large flat expanse of land, which includes the path of the River Great Ouse.

The two highest points in Buckinghamshire, both 876 feet above sea level, are Coombe Hill near Wendover and Haddington Hill in Wendover Woods.

Southern Buckinghamshire forms the outer part of the London commuter belt spreading out from neighbouring Middlesex. The county's proximity to Middlesex has mean that some major routes carve their way through the county, including no fewer than four motorways; the M40 through the Chilterns, the M1 passing Milton Keynes in the north, the M25 for a few miles by the Middlesex border and the M4 motorway in the southern tip. Several major A roads pass through Buckinghamshire as well, though since these large routes serve traffic to and from the London conurbation, travel within the county itself is difficult and cumbersome, there being few big roads to serve internal travel.

Waterways

The county includes two of the four longest rivers in Britain; the Thames and the Great Ouse. The Thames forms Buckinghamshire's southern boundary, with Berkshire. On its banks are several pretty riverside villages, amongst them Datchet, Eton (home to the famous school) and the town of Marlow.

The Great Ouse rises in Northamptonshire and flows through six counties before reaching the sea. In its upper reaches it passes through Buckingham, along the northern edge of Milton Keynes (where for a time it forms the boundary with Northamptonshire) and to Olney.

The main branch of the Grand Union Canal flows through the county as do its arms to Slough and Aylesbury and disused arms to Buckingham and Wendover. The canal has been incorporated into the structure of Milton Keynes.

History

Buckingham and the Old County Gaol

Buckinghamshire takes its name from its original county town, Buckingham, whose name in turn is form the Old English Buccingaham ("Bucca's kin's home"). The Mercian underkingdom of Cilternesæte ("Chiternset") was in these hills. Buckinghamshire first appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (as Buccingahamscir) in 1010[1]

The Early Middle Ages brought war, the later Middle Ages calm agricultural prosperity. In the 17th century the Buckinghamshire Chilterns became a heartland of Puritanism, which shaped local politics into a new, resistant form. John Hamden of Great Hampden was a vocal parliamentarian and his resistance to King Charles's demands for ship money that forced the King to treat Parliament seriously. Thus in these hills began the English Civil War.[2] Hamden himself became a leader of the Parliamentarian party, a position he lost to Cromwell only by his death in 1643 of wounds received in battle at Chalgrove Field.

The biggest demographic change to the county came in the 19th century, when a combination of cholera and famine hit the rural county, forced many to migrate to larger towns to find work. Not only did this alter the local economical picture, it released a great deal of land, sold at low prices and leafy Bucks became a popular rural idyll: an image it still has today. The Metropolitan Railway extended into Buckinghamshire from 1889, which line now forms the uttermost part of the London Underground system and its Metropolitan Line.

Buckinghamshire is a popular home for London commuters, a factor in great local affluence.

Geography

The Hundreds of Buckinghamshire

The county is divided into eight hundreds. (map) These are:

*: These hundreds are collectively known as the Chiltern Hundreds.

Cities

Towns and villages

The main towns of Buckinghamshire are:

Symbols

Buckinghamshire's county flag

The traditional badge of Buckinghamshire is a white swan. The ancient arms of the Borough of Buckingham were a white swan in chains on a field per pale gules and sable (red and black). Now the same arms, with a golden chief added for difference, are used by the county council which borrows the county's name.

The origin of the swan badge is unknown. Some claim it is as old as Anglo-Saxon times, related to swan-breeding, others that a swan is in chains illustrates that the swan is bound to the monarch. At the Battle of Agincourt it is said that the men of Buckingham bore a swan as a badge,[3] Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham is said also to have borne arms with a swan.

In May 2011, the Flag Institute accepted the traditional emblem as the flag of Buckinghamshire.

Places of interest

Buckinghamshire rightly known for its open countryside and fine natural features. The Chiltern Hills (an "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty") and the River Thames are best known.[4] The county is also home to many historic houses, some of which are open to the public through the National Trust such as Waddesdon Manor, West Wycombe Park and Cliveden and others which still act as private houses such as the Prime Minister's country retreat, Chequers.

Key
Cathedral/Abbey/Priory Cathedral/Abbey/Priory
Accessible open space Accessible open space
Amusement/Theme Park Amusement/Theme Park
Castle Castle
Country Park Country Park
English Heritage English Heritage
Forestry Commission Forestry Commission
Heritage railway Heritage railway
Historic house Historic House
Museum (free)
Museum (not free)
Museum (free/not free)
National Trust National Trust
Zoo Zoo

References

  1. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 1010; Abingdon Chronicle and Peterborough Chronicle
  2. "Biography of John Hampden". Johnhampden.org. http://www.johnhampden.org/. Retrieved 2010-09-19. 
  3. Drayton, The Battale of Agincourt
  4. "Welcome to Buckinghamshire!". Visit Buckinghamshire. http://www.visitbuckinghamshire.org/. Retrieved 2010-08-19. 

Outside links

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