and The Vale of Aylesbury

Aylesbury is only one amongst many wonderful places to explore in the area whilst you are on holiday or just visiting friends.

The Romans were in the Aylesbury area when they built Akeman Street (now A41). Apart from the Saxon mercenaries they left to guard Akeman Street, there is little sign that they did anything else in the area. The Celtic Britons had the Aylesbury area almost to themselves until an Anglo-Saxon army lead by Cuthwulf forced them out in 571. Aylesbury probably took its name at this time from the Anglo-Saxon word "Aigle's Burgh" meaning HILL TOWN or FORT. The Danes were in this area in 921 but were ousted by Edward the Confessor. There was then no real stability until the Norman Conquest in 1066.

Aylesbury as a settlement in Saxon times was a small market town, it has been the county town of Buckinghamshire since the reign of Henry VIII. Queen Anne Boleyn's father William through marriage took over Lordship of Aylesbury in 1515. Aylesbury received borough status in 1554 as a reward for supporting Mary Tudor's accession. Aylesbury remained mostly like a small market town until the town centre was redeveloped in the early 1960's. The population of Aylesbury in 1811 was 3,447 by 1995 was nearly 60,000. The population having nearly double since the 1960's. The town centre was redeveloped again in the 1990's.

Most of the older buildings in Aylesbury are contained in the areas around Market Square, Kingsbury Square, Church Street. One of the oldest is the 14^th century Kings Head, a coaching hostelry with stained-glass windows commemorating the marriage of King Henry VI to Margaret of Anjou in 1445, the couple are said to have stayed at The Kings Head on their honeymoon. Another famous person from British History who stayed at The Kings Head was Oliver Cromwell who stayed their after the battle of Worcester in 1651. The chair he used can still be seen but not used.

The Parliamentary cause is also commemorated in the form of a Bronze Statue (at the top of the Market Square) of MP John Hampden who came from a family of wealthy landowners and who lived at Great Hampden. John Hampden was a cousin of Oliver Cromwell, he apposed Charles 1 by voting against and refusing to pay Ship Money, a tax levied for increasing the Royal Navy at that time. He led the defense of Aylesbury at the Battle of Holman's Bridge in 1642, he died of his wounds, received at the Battle at Chalgrove Field Oxfordshire in 1643.

Another radical MP for Aylesbury was John Wilkes who was a former member of the Hell Fire Club. Wilkes was imprisoned in King's Bench Prison for seditious libel after he published The North Briton newspaper that publicly criticized King George III.

The Aylesbury Branch of The Grand Union Canal was opened in 1814

In 1839 Aylesbury was the very first place in the world to get its own railway branch line. This was part of the main London to Birmingham Railway.

The Metropolitan Railway arrived in 1892.

Another one of Aylesbury's claim to fame or shame took place in the 1960's with the Great Train Robbery. Aylesbury was the base for the police enquires, where the Train Robbers and their Trials were held. Where the robbery took place and the robbers hideout are not far from Aylesbury.

From 1204 until its closure in 1987 there was a twice weekly cattle, sheep and pig market where these animals were sold by auction. The area around Aylesbury has always been known for its dairy rich farmlands owing to the River Thame (not THAMES) and other rivers and streams that flow through this part of The Vale of Aylesbury.

The Parish Church, St Mary’s, dates back from the 13^th Century, the central tower being Norman, the Stained glass windows Victorian. From the Norman Conquest until 1845 the Parish of Aylesbury belonged to the Bishops of Lincoln, and its vicars were appointed by the Canon of Lincoln Cathedral.

Other attractions none of whom are very far from Aylesbury include: -

For those of you who like old church's, apart from St Mary's in Aylesbury, The Saxon Church at Wing is worth a visit, it is reputed to be the Oldest one in England probably the British Isles.

For those of you who like old houses, stately homes and Gardens, just outside Wing at Ascott is a Jacobean half timbered house that has many fine paintings. There is a lavishly decorated Jacobean Manor House at Middle Claydon and of cause the Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild’s 1870’s Renaissance style Chateau, Waddesdon Manor in Waddesdon. If you want to take a trip out of the area into the North Bucks Province there is Woburn Abbey or into the Oxford and District Province where there is Blenheim Palace.

For those of you who like old Castles there are the remains of the moat and earthworks of Bolebec Castle in Whitchurch which was originally built in 1147 and pulled down after the civil war.

For those of you who like Zoo's and Safari Parks not far from Aylesbury in the North Bucks Province you will find Woburn Abbey Safari Park and in the Luton and District Province, Whipsnade Zoo.

Those of you who like Windmills there are at least three within easy reach of Aylesbury, these being Brill, Pitstone and Quainton Windmills.

For the Steam Railway enthusiast there is Quainton Steam Railway originally built to be a major Railway Junction and Station where the Metropolitan Line from London and the Steam Trains from Manchester where to meet. Quainton Station was included in a 1973 TV program about the Metropolitan Line made by Sir John Betjeman.