Wikipedia
Buckinghamshire (abbreviated '' Bucks'') is a county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury.Buckinghamshire is divided into four districts, Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern (district) Chiltern, South Bucks and Wycombe. The ceremonial county (which is based on the post-1974 administrative county) also includes Milton Keynes (borough)Milton Keynes. For the traditional county boundaries, see History of Buckinghamshire.The ceremonial county borders onto those of Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Berkshire and Greater London. In the local government reform of 1974, Buckinghamshire lost Slough and Eton, BerkshireEton to Berkshire; these areas have been administered under the unitary authorities of Slough and Windsor and Maidenhead since 1998. Milton Keynes (borough)Milton Keynes and district became a unitary authority in 1997.It is an agricultural county, covering part of the Chiltern Hills to the South and the Vale of Aylesbury to the north. The highest point is Coombe Hill, BuckinghamshireCoombe Hill near Wendover at 876 feet (267 m) above sea level. It has fertile agricultural lands, with many landed estates, especially those of the Rothschild family in the 19th century (see Rothschild properties in Buckinghamshire). Industry is mainly agricultural, with furniture-making traditionally centred at High Wycombe, pharmaceuticals, service and distribution industries. There are some residential commuter areas for London in the south.
History - Main article: 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 been in existence 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 BC1500 !B.C.Penn, Wendover), or a compound of Brythonic and Anglo Saxon (Brill, Chetwode, Great Brickhill) and there are pre-Roman BritainRoman earthworks (engineering)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 BookDomesday Survey was taken in 1086.The Plantagenets continued to take advantage of the wealth of the county. William the Conqueror annexed most of the Manorialismmanors for himself and his family: Odo, Odo of BayeuxBishop of Bayeux, William's half brother, became a major landowner locally. Many ancient huntinghunts became the king's property (worthy of note are 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 heraldryheraldic 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 Henry VIII of EnglandKing 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, 1st Earl of WiltshireThomas Boleyn so that he could marry his daughter Anne BoleynAnne. 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 RoyalistRoyalism 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.The Industrial Revolution and the arrival of the railway completely changed the landscape of certain parts of the county. Wolverton, Milton KeynesWolverton 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 citycities 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 authorityunitary 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. ]]
Administration - The modern county of Buckinghamshire is administered by Buckinghamshire County Council. The county council was founded in 1889 with its base in new municipal buildings in Walton Street, Aylesbury (which are still there). In Buckinghamshire local administration is run on a two-tier system where public services are split between the county council and a series of district councils.In the 1960s the council moved into new premises: a 15-storey tower block in the centre of Aylesbury (pictured) designed by architect Thomas Pooley. Said to be one of the most unpopular and disliked buildings in Buckinghamshire it is now a Grade II listed building.In 1997 the northern part of Buckinghamshire in Milton Keynes (borough)Milton Keynes Borough separated to form its own single-tier local administration system however for ceremonial and some other purposes Milton Keynes is still considered to be part of Buckinghamshire.
Coat of Arms - The heraldrycoat of arms for Buckinghamshire County Council features a white swan in chains. This dates back to the Anglo Saxon period, when swans were bred in Buckinghamshire for the monarchking's pleasure. That the swan is in chains illustrates that the swan is bound to the king, an ancient law that still applies to wild swans in the UK today. The herald was first used at the Battle of Agincourt by the Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of BuckinghamDuke of Buckingham.Above the swan is a gold band, in the centre of which is Whiteleaf Cross, representing the many ancient landmarks of the county. The shield is mounted by a beech tree, representing the Chiltern Forest that once covered almost half the county. Either side of the shield are a stag and a swan.The motto of the shield says ''Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum''. This is Latin and means 'no stepping back'.
Places in Buckinghamshire - This is a list of the towns in the county of Buckinghamshire. For the full list of towns, villages and hamlet (place)hamlets in Buckinghamshire, see List of places in Buckinghamshire. Buckinghamshire was subdivided into 18 hundred (division)hundreds at the time of the Domesday Book. These later consolidated to eight — Aylesbury (hundred)Aylesbury, Ashendon (hundred)Ashendon, Buckingham (hundred)Buckingham, Burnham (hundred)Burnham, Cottesloe (hundred)Cottesloe, Desborough (hundred)Desborough, Newport (hundred)Newport and Stoke (hundred)Stoke. Burnham, Desborough and Stoke are collectively known as the Chiltern Hundreds and are used as a pretext for resignation from the House of Commons.
Places traditionally in Buckinghamshire - This is a list of the towns in the Traditional Counties of Englandtraditional county of Buckinghamshire that after various local government reorganisations are no longer adminstered by it. For the full list of towns, villages and hamlet (place)hamlets in Buckinghamshire see List of places in Buckinghamshire.Eton, BerkshireEtonMilton Keynes (including Bletchley, BuckinghamshireBletchley, Fenny Stratford, Stony Stratford and Wolverton, Milton KeynesWolverton)Newport PagnellOlney, BuckinghamshireOlneySlough
Places of interest - EngPlacesKey?
Famous people from Buckinghamshire - The following people are either from Buckinghamshire, have lived in Buckinghamshire, or continue to live in Buckinghamshire.Nancy Astor, politician and society hostess, lived in ClivedenNick Beggs, musician, is from Winslow, BuckinghamshireWinslowLynda Bellingham, actress, is from AylesburyCilla Black, television presenter, lives in Denham, BuckinghamshireDenhamEnid Blyton, writer, lived in BeaconsfieldAnne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII of EnglandKing Henry VIII, had a house in WendoverMelanie Brown, musician, lives in Little MarlowJohn Craven, television presenter, lives in Princes RisboroughPeter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, politician, lives in BledlowRoald Dahl, writer, lived in Great MissendenBenjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, politician, lived at Hughenden ManorIain Duncan Smith, politician, lives in SwanbourneIan Dury, musician, lived in WingraveNoel Edmonds, television presenter, once lived in Weston TurvilleEdward the Confessor, king of England, had a palace in BrillT.S. Eliot, writer, lived in Marlow, BuckinghamshireMarlowFrederick, Prince of Wales lived in ClivedenNoel Gallagher, musician, lives in Little ChalfontSir John Gielgud, actor, was living in Wotton Underwood when he diedMartin Grech, musician, is from AylesburyJohn Hampden, politician, was from Great HampdenDavid Jason, actor, lives in WendoverJerome K. Jerome, writer, lived in Marlow, BuckinghamshireMarlowAngelina Jolie, actress, lives in Penn, BuckinghamshirePennHoward Jones (musician)Howard Jones, musician, is from High WycombeJason KayJason "Jay" Kay, musician and frontman of Jamiroquai, lives in HorsendenArthur Lasenby Liberty, merchant, was from CheshamJohn Milton, writer, lived in Chalfont St GilesMike Oldfield, musician, once lived in Little ChalfontOzzy Osbourne, musician, has a house in Chalfont St PeterSaint Osyth was from QuarrendonJohn Otway, musician, is from AylesburyWilliam Penn, politician, was from PennBrad Pitt, actor, has a house in Penn, BuckinghamshirePennTerry Pratchett, writer, was born in BeaconsfieldPauline Quirke, actress, lives in BeaconsfieldTim Rice, lyricist, is from AmershamAndy Riley, writer, is from AylesburyArchibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, Prime Minister, lived at MentmoreRothschild family, bankers, had houses in Ascott, BuckinghamshireAscott, Aston Clinton, Eythrope, Halton, BuckinghamshireHalton, Mentmore and WaddesdonMary Shelley, writer, lived in Marlow, BuckinghamshireMarlowPercy Bysshe Shelley, writer, lived in Marlow, BuckinghamshireMarlowJackie Stewart, racing driver, lives in EllesboroughEdmund Waller, poet, was from AmershamRoger of Wendover, chronicler, was from WendoverJohn Wilkes, an English radical, journalist and politicianJohn Wyclif, theologian, lived in Ludgershall, BuckinghamshireLudgershall
See also - Wikipedia:List of images/Places/Europe/United !Kingdom/Counties/Buckinghamshi reWikipedia images of Buckinghamshire
External links - bucksfhs.org.uk - Buckinghamshire Family History Societyvisitbuckinghamshire.org - Buckinghamshire Tourist Guide!thisisbuckinghamshire.co.uk - Bucks Free Press Local Newspaperbuckscc.gov.uk - Buckinghamshire County Councilbuckscc.gov.uk - Bucks Travel InformationEngland ceremonial counties
England traditional counties !Category:Buckinghamshire !da:Buckinghamshirede:Buckingha mshirees:Buckinghamshireeo:Buc kinghamshirefr:Buckinghamshire no:Buckinghamshirept:Buckingha mshiresimple:Buckinghamshiresv :Buckinghamshire
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