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ON-LINE GUIDE TO BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
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This brief guide provides
summary information on towns, villages and places to visit
in Buckinghamshire as well as some interesting
facts and anecdotes on the local area. To find a specific
place either scroll down the page or use the find
facility on your browser. Much more information can be
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TRAVEL GUIDES.
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South Buckinghamshire, with the River Thames as its southern county boundary, lies
almost entirely within the Chiltern Hills and is a charming and delightful area that has, over
the years inspired many writers and artists,
including Milton, Shakespeare and Roald Dahl.
Though many of the towns and villages here have histories going back well before the
Norman Conquest, the influence of London is never
far away and several have been linked with the capital for many years by the
Metropolitan Railway. The links with London have also
seen many famous and wealthy people make their homes here and, tucked away in the
rolling countryside, can be found two fabulous
former residences of the Rothschild family,
Waddesdon Manor and Mentmore Towers.
Buckinghamshire is also home to the country retreat of the
Prime Minister, Chequers. The north of the county
is dominated by the New Town of Milton Keynes.
High Wycombe
The largest town in Buckinghamshire and originally
an old Chilterns Gap market town, High Wycombe is
traditionally known for its manufacture of chairs and, in particular,
the Windsor design. Several old buildings survive today,
including the Little Market House of 1761, and what is now the
Wycombe Local History and Chair Museum.
Just to the north of the town lies Hughenden
Manor, which was bought by Benjamin Disraeli shortly after the publication of
his novel Tancred and was his home until his death in 1881. Today,
the remodelled 18th century house displays an interesting collection
of memorabilia of Disraeli's life; the great Victorian Prime Minister
lies buried in the estate church.
To the west of Wycombe lies the charming estate village of
West Wycombe and West Wycombe Park, the home of the
Dashwood family until the 1930s. The house dates from the early 18th
century, and the grounds and parkland, landscaped by a pupil of
Capability Brown, contain temples and an artificial lake shaped like a swan.
Hewn out of the nearby hillside are West Wycombe Caves
which were created by Sir Francis Dashwood, who employed his estate
workers on the task after a series of failed harvests. Along with his
passion for remodelling old buildings, Sir
Francis had a racier side to his character and was a
founder member of the Hellfire Club, a group of rakes who engaged
in highly colourful activities.
Around High Wycombe
Princes Risborough
7½ miles NW of High Wycombe on the A4010
Once home to a palace belonging to the Black Prince, the eldest
son of Edward III, this attractive place has a host of 17th and 18th
century cottages. Nearby is Princes Risborough Manor
House (National Trust), which is an early example of a redbrick building _
it dates from 1670.
One of the most famous residences in the country lies
at nearby Great Kimble: the 16th century mansion,
Chequers, has been the country house of the British Prime Minister since 1920.
Great Missenden
5 miles N of High Wycombe on the A4128
This attractive village is home to the early 15th century
Old Court House, one of only two court houses in the Chiltern
Hundreds, and the home of Roald Dahl, the author of much loved
children's books. His grave is in the churchyard of St Peter and St Paul.
Wendover
9½ miles N of High Wycombe on the B4009
A delightful old market town situated in a gap in the
Chiltern Hills, Wendover has several half-timbered, thatched houses and cottages, the best example of
which are Anne Boleyn's Cottages. Close by, on the edge of
the Chiltern escarpment, lie Wendover Woods, created for
recreational pursuits as well as for conservation and timber production by
the Forestry Commission.
Amersham
6 miles NE of High Wycombe on the A404
The town's main street has a good mix of fine old buildings,
notably the 17th century Market Hall and Amersham
Museum, housed in part of a medieval hall.
Amersham was a staging post for coaches and many of the old inns
remain, including the Crown Hotel that many will recognise from the
film Four Weddings and a Funeral.
To the east of Amersham is the picturesque village of
Chenies, home to the fascinating 15th century
Chenies Manor house. Originally the home of the earls
of Bedford (before they moved to Woburn), the house was built
by the architect who enlarged Hampton Court for Henry VIII.
Chalfont St Giles
7 miles E of High Wycombe off the A413
The most famous building in this typical English village is the
16th century Milton's Cottage, where the poet stayed in 1665 to
escape the plague in London. Though he only lived here a short time,
the blind poet wrote Paradise Lost and began
Paradise Regained before moving back to London.
The cottage and its garden are now a
Museum dedicated to the poet. A fascinating place in the
nearby Newland Park is the Chiltern Open Air
Museum, dedicated to rescuing vernacular architecture.
Beaconsfield
5 miles SE of High Wycombe on the A40
The old part of this town is known for its literary connections:
the 17th century poet Edmund Waller was a resident (and is buried in
the churchyard of St Mary and All Saints), and GK Chesterton,
poet Robert Frost and the children's author Enid Blyton all
made Beaconsfield their home. Here, too, is
Bekonscot, a rural model village which was created by
Roland Callingham, a London accountant, in the 1920s and 30s.
To the southeast lies Stoke Poges, whose churchyard
provided Thomas Gray with the inspiration to write his famous
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. The poet
is buried in the church; to the east stands the massive
Gray Monument, built in 1799 by John Penn, grandson of William
Penn, founder of Pennsylvania.
Just south of Beaconsfield lies Burnham
Beeches, an area that has long been a place of leisure
and relaxation for Londoners.
Marlow
4 miles S of High Wycombe on the A4155
An attractive commuter town on the banks of the River Thames.
It was at a riverside pub, the Two Brewers, that Jerome K
Jerome wrote his masterpiece Three Men in a
Boat. Today, Marlow is probably
best known for its annual June Regatta.
To the west lies the much-filmed village of
Hambleden which was given to the National Trust by the family of
the bookseller WH Smith (later Viscount Hambleden).
Milton Keynes
One of the town's most notable buildings is Christ
Church, built in the style of Christopher
Wren, which is the first purpose-built ecumenical church in Britain.
The rural heritage of the villages that are now incorporated into
its suburbs has not been forgotten and the Museum of Industry
and Rural Life has a large collection of industrial, domestic and
agricultural bygones; in the Exhibition
Gallery, displays of art, crafts and local history can be seen.
Around Milton Keynes
Olney
8 miles N of Milton Keynes on the A509
This pretty town on the banks of the River Ouse is associated
with William Cowper, reformed slave-trader, preacher and
hymn-writer, who lived here between 1768 and 1786; his house is now the
Cowper and Newton Museum, which not only concentrates on Cowper's
life and work but also houses a nationally important
Lace Collection. The town's recent claim
to fame is the Pancake Race held each Shrove Tuesday.
Bletchley
3 miles SE of Milton Keynes on the A5
Now virtually a suburb of Milton Keynes, Bletchley is famous as
the home of Bletchley Park, the Victorian mansion that housed
the country's wartime code breakers.
Mentmore
12 miles SE of Milton Keynes off the B488
The village is home to the first of the Rothschild
mansions, Mentmore Towers, which was built for Baron Meyer Amschel
de Rothschild in the mid 19th century. A splendid building in
the Elizabethan style and a superb example of grandiose
Victorian extravagance, the house was sold in the 1970s and is now
the headquarters of the University of Natural Law. To the southeast
lies Ivinghoe Beacon, an Iron Age hill
fort which provides a wonderful viewpoint on the edge of
the Chiltern Hills. The Beacon is at one end of Britain's oldest road,
the Ridgeway National Trail - the other end is at the World
Heritage site of Avebury in Wiltshire.
Aylesbury
15½ miles S of Milton Keynes on the A413
The county town of Buckinghamshire since the
18th century, this ancient town sheltered by the Chiltern Hills is famous
for its Aylesbury ducks. The old part of the town (now a
conservation area) is centred on the market square and here, amongst the
sleepy lanes, is the King's Head Inn where Henry VIII is said to
have wooed Anne Boleyn. During the Civil War, Aylesbury was a base
for both Cromwell and the King, depending on how well the
conflict was progressing and, nearby, at
Holman's Bridge, Prince Rupert suffered a crushing defeat.
Housed in a splendid Georgian building, the County
Museum has an excellent section on Louis XVIII of
France, who lived at Hartwell House during his years of exile.
To the northwest, near the village of
Waddesdon, is another of the county's magnificent
country houses, Waddesdon Manor, built between 1874 and 1889 for
Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in the style of a French Renaissance château.
The house contains one the best collections of 18th century
French decorative arts in the world. Close by, at
Quainton, is the Buckinghamshire Railway
Centre, a working museum with one of the largest collections
of steam and diesel locomotives in the country.
At Boarstall, close to the village of Brill, are two
interesting NationalTrust properties. Boarstall Duck Decoy
is a rare working example of an ingenious contraption for catching ducks
that was common in the 17th century. Boarstall Tower
is a superb moated gatehouse and the only part that remains of Boarstall
House, which was built in 1312.
Middle Claydon
11 miles SW of Milton Keynes off the A413
Close to the village lies 17th century Claydon
House, best remembered for its associations with Florence Nightingale
who
stayed here for long periods, especially during her old age
(her sister had married into the Verney family, who owned the
house). `Florrie's Lorry', the carriage used by Florence in the Crimea, is
one of the many fascinating exhibits on display.
Buckingham
10 miles W of Milton Keynes on the A413
Dating back to Saxon times, Buckingham was a
prosperous place in the Middle Ages, though few old buildings survived
a disastrous fire in 1725. As a consequence many of the
buildings here are Georgian and the Old Gaol
Museum is a fine example of mid 18th century architecture.
One building that did survive the flames is the
Buckingham Chantry Chapel, built in 1475 on the site
of a Norman building. A more recent addition to this delightful
market town is the University of Buckingham that was granted
its charter in 1983.
To the north of Buckingham lies Stowe School, a leading
public school that occupies an 18th century mansion that was once
the home of the Dukes of Buckingham. The grounds of
the house, Stowe Landscape Gardens, were created in the
18th century by Earl Temple and his nephew and they remain one of
the most original and finest landscape gardens in Europe.
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