| Buckinghamshire |
Article Index for Buckinghamshire |
Articles about Buckinghamshire |
Website Links For Buckinghamshire |
Information AboutBuckinghamshire |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT BUCKINGHAMSHIRE | |
| buckinghamshirebuckinghamshire | |
| counties of england | |
| diocese of oxford | |
| south east england | |
|
Buckinghamshire (abbreviated '''Bucks''') is one of the Home Counties in South East England . The County Town is Aylesbury . DIVISIONS AND ENVIRONS The area under the control of Buckinghamshire County Council, or Shire County , is divided into four districts - Aylesbury Vale , Chiltern , South Bucks and Wycombe . Milton Keynes is a unitary authority and forms part of the county for various functions such as Lord Lieutenant but does not come under county council control. The ceremonial county, the area including Milton Keynes , borders Greater London , Berkshire , Oxfordshire , Northamptonshire , Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire . PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY The county includes the Chiltern Hills to the South and the Vale Of Aylesbury to the north. At 876 feet (267 m) above sea level, the two highest points are Coombe Hill near Wendover , and Haddington Hill in Wendover Woods, Buckinghamshire, near Wendover where a stone marks the summit. HISTORY Main article: History Of Buckinghamshire . The name Buckinghamshire is Anglo Saxon in origin 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). The history of the area though predates the Anglo Saxon period and the county has a rich history from the intervening in local politics in the 16th Century and just a century later the English Civil War was reputedly started by John Hampden in mid-Bucks Biography of John Hampden . The biggest change to the county historically came in the 19th Century when a combination of Cholera and Famine hit the rural county forcing many to migrate to larger towns to find work. Not only did this alter the local economical picture it meant a lot of land was going cheap at a time when the rich were more mobile and leafy Bucks became a popular rural idyll: an image it still has today. Buckinghamshire is a very popular home for celebrities working in London leading to greater local affluence however some pockets of severe deprivation remain. ECONOMY Buckinghamshire has a modern service-based economy and is part of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire . The county has fertile agricultural lands, with many Landed Estate s, especially those of the Rothschild Banking Family Of England in the 19th century (see Rothschild Properties In Buckinghamshire ). Manufacturing industries include Furniture -making (traditionally centred at High Wycombe ), pharmaceuticals and agricultural processing. This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Buckinghamshire at current basic prices published by the Office For National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling (except GVA index). Office of National Statistics (pp.240-253) DEMOGRAPHICS Today Buckinghamshire is a multi-cultural area, particularly in the larger towns. At the end of the nineteenth century some Welsh drover families settled in north Bucks. Aylesbury has a sizable Italian population, and Amersham has a large Polish community dating from the Second World War. Amersham is twinned with Krynica in Poland . LORD LIEUTENANT See Also: Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire Currently the Lord Lieutenant Of Buckinghamshire is Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher and the High Sheriff Of Buckinghamshire is Alexander Boswell. The ''Custos rotulorum'' has been combined with the duties of Lord Lieutenant since 1702. All these titles cover the Ceremonial County of Buckinghamshire. 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 separated to form a unitary authority, however for ceremonial and some other purposes Milton Keynes is still considered to be part of Buckinghamshire. Coat of arms The Coat 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 King '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 Duke 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 Buck , for Buckingham, and a swan, the county symbol. The motto of the shield says ''Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum''. This is Latin and means 'no stepping back'. The flag of Buckinghamshire, which flies outside County Hall in Aylesbury, comprises red and black halves with a white swan. The flag takes the county emblem which is on the county shield. SETTLEMENTS This is a list of the towns in the shire county of Buckinghamshire. For the full list of Town s, Village s and Hamlets in Buckinghamshire, see List Of Places In Buckinghamshire . This is a list of the towns in the Historic Bounds of Buckinghamshire that after various local government reorganisations are no longer administered as part of it.
PLACES OF INTEREST NOTABLE PEOPLE Anciently Buckinghamshire is the birth place and/or final resting place of several notable individuals. who lived in Ludgershall Biography of John Wycliffe . From a slightly later period Buckinghamshire became home to some notable literary characters. who is from Aylesbury Aylesbury Grammar School Old Boys data . During the lived in exile at Hartwell House from 1809 to 1814 Biography of Louis XVIII of France . Also on the local political stage Buckinghamshire has been home to , who has an official residence at Chequers . Finally John Archdale colonial governor of North Carolina and South Carolina , although more notably American, was born in Buckinghamshire1 Other natives of Buckinghamshire who have become notable in their own right include:
Today Buckinghamshire is a very picturesque landscape and is home to numerous celebrities and has attracted its fair share in the past. These include:
SEE ALSO REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|