Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a
ceremonial county in
South East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshi ...
that borders
Greater London to the south-east,
Berkshire to the south,
Oxfordshire to the west,
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
to the north,
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...
to the north-east and
Hertfordshire to the east.
Buckinghamshire is one of the
Home Counties
The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often included ...
, the
counties of England that surround
Greater London. Towns such as
High Wycombe
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...
,
Amersham,
Chesham
Chesham (, , or ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, south-east of the county town of Aylesbury, north-west of central London, and part of the London commuter belt. It is in the Chess Valley, surrounded by farmla ...
and the Chalfonts in the east and southeast of the county are parts of the London commuter belt, forming some of the most densely populated parts of the county, with some even being served by the
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.
The ...
. Development in this region is restricted by the
Metropolitan Green Belt
The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It comprises parts of Greater London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, parts of two of the three districts of Bedfordshire and a s ...
. The county's largest settlement and only
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
is
Milton Keynes in the northeast, which with the surrounding area is administered by
Milton Keynes City Council
Milton Keynes City Council is the local authority of the City of Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It has both borough status ...
as a unitary authority separately to the rest of Buckinghamshire. The remainder of the county is administered by
Buckinghamshire Council
Buckinghamshire Council is a unitary local authority in England, the area of which constitutes most of the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire. It was created in April 2020 from the areas that were previously administered by Buckinghamshire Cou ...
as another unitary authority. Other large settlements include the county town of
Aylesbury in the centre, the former county town of
Buckingham in the northwest,
Marlow in the south near the
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
and
Princes Risborough in the west near Oxford.
A large part of the
Chiltern Hills, an
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...
, runs through the south of the county and attracts many walkers and cyclists from London. In this area older buildings are often made from local flint and red brick. Many parts of the county are quite affluent and like many areas around London this has led to high housing costs: several reports have identified the market town of
Beaconsfield as having among the highest property prices outside London.
Chequers, a mansion estate owned by the government, is the country retreat of the incumbent Prime Minister. To the north of the county lies rolling countryside in the
Vale of Aylesbury
The Aylesbury Vale (or Vale of Aylesbury) is a geographical region in Buckinghamshire, England, which is bounded by the Borough of Milton Keynes and South Northamptonshire to the north, Central Bedfordshire and the Borough of Dacorum (Hertfordsh ...
and around the
Great Ouse
The River Great Ouse () is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the W ...
. The
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
forms part of the county's southwestern boundary. Notable service amenities in the county are
Pinewood Film Studios,
Dorney rowing lake and part of
Silverstone race track on the Northamptonshire border. Many national companies have head-offices or major centres in Milton Keynes.
Heavy industry
Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...
and quarrying is limited, with agriculture predominating after service industries.
History
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 has existed since it was a subdivision of the kingdom of
Mercia
la, Merciorum regnum
, conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia
, common_name=Mercia
, status=Kingdom
, status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879) Client state of Wessex ()
, life_span=527–918
, era= Heptarchy
, event_start=
, date_start=
, ...
(585–919).
The history of the area predates the Anglo-Saxon period and the county has a rich history starting from the
Brythonic and
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
periods, though the Anglo-Saxons perhaps had the greatest impact on Buckinghamshire: the geography of the rural county is largely as it was in the Anglo-Saxon period. Later, Buckinghamshire became an important political arena, with
King Henry VIII intervening in local politics in the 16th century, and just a century later the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
was reputedly started by
John Hampden
John Hampden (24 June 1643) was an English landowner and politician whose opposition to arbitrary taxes imposed by Charles I made him a national figure. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and cousin to Oliver Cromwell, he was one of t ...
in mid-Bucks.
Historically, the biggest change to the county came in the 19th century, when a combination of
cholera and
famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompani ...
hit the rural county, forcing many to migrate to larger towns to find work. Not only did this alter the local economic situation, 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 popular home for London commuters, leading to greater local affluence; however, some pockets of relative deprivation remain.
The expansion of London and coming of the railways promoted the growth of towns in the south of the county such as
Aylesbury,
Amersham and
High Wycombe
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...
, leaving the town Buckingham itself to the north in a relative backwater.
As a result, most county institutions are now based in the south of the county or
Milton Keynes, rather than in Buckingham.
Geography
The county can be split into two sections geographically. The south leads from the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
up the gentle slopes of the
Chiltern Hills to the more abrupt slopes on the northern side leading to the
Vale of Aylesbury
The Aylesbury Vale (or Vale of Aylesbury) is a geographical region in Buckinghamshire, England, which is bounded by the Borough of Milton Keynes and South Northamptonshire to the north, Central Bedfordshire and the Borough of Dacorum (Hertfordsh ...
and the City of Milton Keynes UA, a large and relatively level expanse of land that is the southern
catchment
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
of the
River Great Ouse.
Waterways
Rivers
The county includes parts of two of the four longest rivers in England. The
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
forms the southern boundary with
Berkshire, which has crept over the border at
Eton and
Slough so that the river is no longer the sole boundary between the two counties. The River Great Ouse rises just outside the county in
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
and flows east through Buckingham, Milton Keynes and
Olney.
Canals
The main branch of the
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...
passes through the county as do its arms to
Slough,
Aylesbury,
Wendover
Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road a ...
(disused) and
Buckingham (disused). The canal has been incorporated into the landscaping of Milton Keynes.
Landscape
The southern part of the county is dominated by the Chiltern Hills. The two highest points in Buckinghamshire are
Haddington Hill in Wendover Woods (a stone marks its summit) at above sea level and
Coombe Hill near
Wendover
Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road a ...
at .
Mineral extraction
Quarrying has taken place for chalk, clay for brickmaking and gravel and sand in the river valleys. Flint, also extracted from quarries, was often used to build older local buildings. Several former quarries, now flooded, have become nature reserves.
Demography
Buckinghamshire is sub-divided into civil parishes.
Today Buckinghamshire is ethnically diverse, particularly in the larger towns. At the end of the 19th century some Welsh drover families settled in north Bucks and, in the last quarter of the 20th century, a large number of Londoners in Milton Keynes. Between 6 and 7% of the population of Aylesbury are of Asian or Asian British origin. Likewise Chesham has a similar-sized Asian community, and High Wycombe is the most ethnically diverse town in the county,
with large Asian and
Afro-Caribbean populations.
During the Second World War there were many Polish settlements in Bucks, Czechs in Aston Abbotts and Wingrave, and Albanians in Frieth. Remnants of these communities remain in the county.
Politics
Ceremonial
The
ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire consists of both unitary authority areas combined. The ceremonial county has a
Lord Lieutenant and a
High Sheriff. Since November 2020, the
Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire
There has been a Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire almost continuously since the position was created by King Henry VIII in 1535. The only exception to this was the English Civil War and English Interregnum between 1643 and 1660 when there wa ...
is The Countess Elizabeth Howe and the
High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire
The High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'.
Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the ...
is George Anson. The office of ''
Custos rotulorum
''Custos rotulorum'' (; plural: ''custodes rotulorum''; Latin for "keeper of the rolls", ) is a civic post that is recognised in the United Kingdom (except Scotland) and in Jamaica.
England, Wales and Northern Ireland
The ''custos rotulorum'' is t ...
'' has been combined with that of Lord Lieutenant since 1702.
Buckinghamshire County Council (1889–1997)
Until 31 March 2020, the ceremonial county had two top-level administrations: Buckinghamshire County Council, which administered about four-fifths of the county, and Milton Keynes City Council, a unitary authority, which administers the remaining fifth. There were four district councils that are subsidiary to the county council: Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern,
South Bucks
South Bucks was one of four local government districts in the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in South East England.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, by the amalgamation of the area of Beac ...
and Wycombe districts.
The
county council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.
Ireland
The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irel ...
was founded in 1889 with its base in new municipal buildings in Walton Street, Aylesbury (which are still there). In Buckinghamshire, local administration was run on a two-tier system where public services were split between the county council and a number of district councils.
In 1966, the council moved into new premises: a 15-storey tower block in the centre of Aylesbury (pictured) designed by county architect
Fred Pooley
Fred Bernard Pooley CBE (18 April 1916 – 11 March 1998) is best known as the county architect of Buckinghamshire, and his futuristic monorail proposals for a new town in north Bucks that eventually became Milton Keynes. Pooley was born in We ...
. It is now a Grade II
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
Buckinghamshire County Council (1997–2020)
In 1997, the northernmost part of Buckinghamshire, the part of Buckinghamshire north of the
Varsity Line
The Varsity Line (or the Oxford to Cambridge railway line) was the main railway route that once linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway.
During World War II the line was ...
together with
Bow Brickhill,
Woburn Sands
Woburn Sands () is a town that straddles the border between Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire in England, and also is part of the Milton Keynes urban area. See map. The larger part of the town is in Woburn Sands civil parish, which is in the Cit ...
, and parts of
Bletchley and Fenny Stratford
Bletchley and Fenny Stratford is a civil parish with a town council, in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It was formed in 2001 from the unparished area of Milton Keynes, and according to the 2011 census had a population of 15,313. Togeth ...
, until then Milton Keynes District, was separated to form a unitary authority, the Borough of Milton Keynes; for ceremonial purposes Milton Keynes remains part of Buckinghamshire. The administration of the remainder of the county continued to be called Buckinghamshire County Council.
Buckinghamshire County Council was a large employer in the county and provided a variety of services, including education (schools, adult education and youth services), social services, highways, libraries, County Archives and Record Office, the
County Museum and the
Roald Dahl Children's Gallery in Aylesbury, consumer services and some aspects of waste disposal and planning.
Buckinghamshire Council (2020 onwards)
Buckinghamshire Council
Buckinghamshire Council is a unitary local authority in England, the area of which constitutes most of the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire. It was created in April 2020 from the areas that were previously administered by Buckinghamshire Cou ...
is a unitary authority covering most of the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire. It was created in April 2020 from the areas that were previously administered by
Buckinghamshire County Council
Buckinghamshire County Council was the upper-tier local authority for the administrative county and later the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in England, the United Kingdom established in 1889 following the Local Government Act 1888 ...
and the district councils of
South Bucks
South Bucks was one of four local government districts in the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in South East England.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, by the amalgamation of the area of Beac ...
,
Chiltern,
Wycombe,
Aylesbury Vale
The Aylesbury Vale (or Vale of Aylesbury) is a geographical region in Buckinghamshire, England, which is bounded by the Borough of Milton Keynes and South Northamptonshire to the north, Central Bedfordshire and the Borough of Dacorum (Hertford ...
.
Milton Keynes City Council
Milton Keynes City Council
Milton Keynes City Council is the local authority of the City of Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It has both borough status ...
was formed by the Local Government Act 1972 as the "Milton Keynes District Council", subordinate to Buckinghamshire County Council. The (district) council was first
elected in 1973, a year before formally coming into its powers and prior to the creation of the
District of Milton Keynes on 1 April 1974. The council gained
borough status, entitling it to be known as "Milton Keynes Borough Council" and to annually appoint a (ceremonial) Mayor of Milton Keynes.
On 1 April 1997, it became a self-governing
unitary authority
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
. In 2022, the Borough of Milton Keynes became the City of Milton Keynes, following award of Letters Patent.
Flag
The traditional
flag of Buckinghamshire
The flag of Buckinghamshire is the flag of the historic county of Buckinghamshire in England. It has been in use for centuries and flew from County Hall in Aylesbury. The flag was registered with the Flag Institute on 20 May 2011.
Flag design
...
comprises a chained swan on a bicolour of red and black. The flag was registered with the
Flag Institute
The Flag Institute is a UK membership organisation headquartered in Kingston upon Hull, England, concerned with researching and promoting the use and design of flags. It documents flags in the UK and internationally, maintains a UK Flag Regi ...
on 20 May 2011.
Coat of arms
The
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
of the former 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 monarch, an ancient law that still applies to wild swans in the UK today. The arms were first borne at the
Battle of Agincourt by the
Duke of Buckingham
Duke of Buckingham held with Duke of Chandos, referring to Buckingham, is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been earls and marquesses 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 surmounted 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 is ''Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum''. This is
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
and means 'no stepping back' (or 'no steps backwards').
Economy
Buckinghamshire has a modern service-based economy and is part of the
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and
Oxfordshire NUTS-2 region, which was the seventh richest subregion in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
in 2002. As well as the highest GDP per capita outside Inner London, Buckinghamshire has the highest quality of life, the highest life expectancy and the best education results in the country. The southern part of the county is a prosperous section of the
London commuter belt
The London metropolitan area is the metropolitan area of London, England. It has several definitions, including the London Travel to Work Area, and usually consists of the London urban area, settlements that share London's infrastructure, and ...
. The county has fertile agricultural lands, with many
landed estate
In real estate, a landed property or landed estate is a property that generates income for the owner (typically a member of the gentry) without the owner having to do the actual work of the estate.
In medieval Western Europe, there were two compet ...
s, especially those of the
Rothschild banking family of England
The Rothschild banking family of England was founded in (1798) by Nathan Mayer von Rothschild (1777–1836) who first settled in Manchester but then moved to London (at the time in the Kingdom of Great Britain). Nathan was sent there from his ...
in the 19th century (see
Rothschild properties in England
The Rothschild family owned multiple estates in the home counties, particularly the Buckinghamshire area.
Properties
The country houses that were purchased or built in or around Buckinghamshire included:
* Ascott House, Wing in the Vale of Ay ...
). The county has several annual agricultural shows, with the
Bucks County Show established in 1859. Manufacturing industries include furniture-making (traditionally centred at
High Wycombe
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...
), pharmaceuticals and agricultural processing.
Pinewood Studios in
Iver Heath
Iver is a large civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park.
Geography, transport and economy
Part of the 43-square- ...
is a principal centre of operations for film and TV production in the UK.
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Buckinghamshire at current basic prices published by the
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for t ...
with figures in millions of British
Pounds sterling
Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and ...
(except GVA index).
Places of interest
Buckinghamshire is notable for its open countryside and natural features, including the
Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...
,
Stowe Landscaped Gardens near
Buckingham, and the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
.
The Ridgeway Path, a long-distance footpath, passes through the county. The county also has many historic houses. Some of these are opened to the public by the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
, such as
Waddesdon Manor
Waddesdon Manor is a English country house, country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. Owned by National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, National Trust and managed by the Rothschild Foundation ...
,
West Wycombe Park
West Wycombe Park is a country house built between 1740 and 1800 near the village of West Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. It was conceived as a pleasure palace for the 18th-century libertine and dilettante Sir Francis Dashwood, 2nd Bar ...
and
Cliveden
Cliveden (pronounced ) is an English country house and estate in the care of the National Trust in Buckinghamshire, on the border with Berkshire. The Italianate mansion, also known as Cliveden House, crowns an outlying ridge of the Chiltern ...
.
Other historic houses are still in use as private homes, such as the
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
's country retreat
Chequers.
Claydon House
Claydon House is a country house in the Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire, England, near the village of Middle Claydon. It was built between 1757 and 1771 and is now owned by the National Trust.
The house is a listed Grade I on the National Heri ...
(near
Steeple Claydon
Steeple Claydon is a village and civil parish in the Buckinghamshire district of the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is about south of Buckingham, west of Winslow and northwest of Waddesdon. The 2011 Census recorde ...
),
Hughendon Manor (near High Wycombe), Stowe Landscaped Gardens, and
Waddesdon Manor
Waddesdon Manor is a English country house, country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. Owned by National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, National Trust and managed by the Rothschild Foundation ...
(near Aylesbury) are in the care of the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
.
Mentmore Towers
Mentmore Towers, historically known simply as "Mentmore", is a 19th-century English country house built between 1852 and 1854 for the Rothschild family in the village of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire. Sir Joseph Paxton and his son-in-law, George ...
, a 19th-century
English country house built by the
Rothschilds is located the village of
Mentmore
Mentmore is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about three miles east of Wingrave, three miles south east of Wing.
The village toponym is derived from the Old English for "Menta's moor ...
. It is the largest of the English Rothschild houses and is known for its Jacobean-styled architecture designed by
Joseph Paxton.
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years followin ...
in Milton Keynes is the site of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
British codebreaking and
Colossus, the world's first programmable electronic
digital computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These program ...
. Together with the co-located
National Museum of Computing
The National Museum of Computing is a museum in the United Kingdom dedicated to collecting and restoring historic computer systems. The museum is based in rented premises at Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire and opened in 200 ...
, it is a nationally important visitor attraction.
Examples of historical architecture in the Chiltern region are preserved at the
Chiltern Open Air Museum, an
open-air folk museum
A folk museum is a museum that deals with folk culture and heritage. Such museums cover local life in rural communities. A folk museum typically displays historical objects that were used as part of the people's everyday lives. Examples of such ...
near
Chalfont St Giles
Chalfont St Giles is a village and civil parish in southeast Buckinghamshire, England. It is in a group of villages called The Chalfonts, which also includes Chalfont St Peter and Little Chalfont.
It lies on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, we ...
. The site contains reconstructed buildings which might otherwise have been destroyed or demolished as a result of redevelopment or road construction.
The market town of
Olney, in the City of Milton Keynes UA, is home to
Cowper and Newton Museum which celebrates the work and lives of two famous figures:
William Cowper
William Cowper ( ; 26 November 1731 – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and sce ...
(1731–1800) a celebrated 18th-century poet; and
John Newton
John Newton (; – 21 December 1807) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric and slavery abolitionist. He had previously been a captain of slave ships and an investor in the slave trade. He served as a sailor in the Royal Navy (after forc ...
, a prominent
slave trade abolitionist who was curate in the local church. Together, Cowper and Newton wrote the ''
Olney Hymns
The ''Olney Hymns'' were first published in February 1779 and are the combined work of curate John Newton (1725–1807) and his poet friend William Cowper (1731–1800). The hymns were written for use in Newton's rural parish, which was made up ...
'', including one of the world's most popular hymns,
Amazing Grace
"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both ...
''.
Buckinghamshire is the home of various notable people in connection with whom tourist attractions have been established: for example the author
Roald Dahl who included many local features and characters in his works.
Artists
William Callow
William Callow (1812–1908) was an English landscape painter, engraver and water colourist.
Career
Callow was born in Greenwich on 28 July 1812. He was apprenticed to the artist Copley Fielding, where he learnt the technique of ''plein air ...
and
Harriet Anne Smart Callow produced many paintings of the area in the late 19th century.
Sports facilities in Buckinghamshire include half of the international
Silverstone Circuit which straddles the Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire border, the
Adams Park Stadium in the south and
Stadium MK in the north, and
Dorney Lake
Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and is around 3 km (2 miles) west of Wi ...
(named 'Eton Dorney' for the event) was used as the rowing venue for the
2012 Summer Olympics.
Television
The county is covered by three terrestrial
television transmitters:
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
(
BBC South
BBC South is the BBC English Region serving
Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Dorset, Berkshire and parts of Gloucestershire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Surrey, West Sussex and Wiltshire, with geographic coverage varying b ...
and
ITV Meridian
ITV Meridian (previously Meridian Broadcasting) is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station was launched at 12:00 am on 1 January 1993, replacing previous broadcaster Television South, and is owned ...
regions), covering the western side of the county,
Sandy Heath (
BBC East
BBC East is one of BBC's English Regions covering Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, northern Buckinghamshire, and the majority of Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex. It is headquartered in The Forum, Norwich since 2003. It wa ...
and
ITV Anglia
ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated ...
) covering the north and east of the county, and
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
(
BBC London
BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London and parts of the surrounding area. Its output includes the daily ''BBC London News'' and weekly '' Sunday Politics'' on television, ...
&
ITV London
ITV London is the on-air brand name used by ''ITV Broadcasting Limited'' for two broadcast franchises of ITV, Carlton Television (weekdays) and London Weekend Television (weekends) in the London ITV region. Its terrestrial digital signal is ...
), covering the south of the county.
Transport
Roads
The ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire is served by four motorways, although two are on its borders:
*
M1 motorway
The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which ...
: serves Milton Keynes in the north.
*
M4 motorway: passes through the very south of the county with only J7 in Bucks.
*
M25 motorway: passes into Bucks but has only one junction (J16-interchange for the M40).
*
M40 motorway: cuts through the south of the county serving towns such as High Wycombe and Beaconsfield.
Five important A roads also enter the county (from north to south):
*
A4: serves
Taplow
Taplow is a village and civil parish in the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It sits on the left bank of the River Thames, facing Maidenhead in the neighbouring county of Berkshire, with Cippenham and Burnham to the east. It is the ...
in the very south.
*
A5: serves Milton Keynes.
*
A421: serves Milton Keynes and Buckingham; links the M1 to the M40.
*
A40: parallels M40 through south Bucks and continues to
Central London.
*
A41: cuts through the centre of the county from Watford to Bicester, serving
Aylesbury.
Also less important primary A roads enter the country:
*
A404: serves Marlow and High Wycombe.
*
A509
The A509 is a short A-class road (around long) for north–south journeys in south central England, forming the route from Kettering in Northamptonshire to the A5 in Milton Keynes, via M1 J14.
From north to south, the road begins at Wi ...
: serves the north of the county through Olney, crossing the M1 at J14, ending at the A5 in Milton Keynes.
*
A4010: runs from M40 J4 (High Wycombe) to Stoke Mandeville.
*
A4146: runs from Leighton Buzzard (Bedfordshire) to Milton Keynes.
The county is poorly served with internal routes, with the
A413
The A413 is a major road in England that runs between Gerrards Cross (west of London) to Towcester (northwest of Milton Keynes). It passes through or near various towns and villages including (in northbound order) Amersham, Great Missenden, ...
and
A418 linking the south and north of the county.
Rail
As part of the
London commuter belt
The London metropolitan area is the metropolitan area of London, England. It has several definitions, including the London Travel to Work Area, and usually consists of the London urban area, settlements that share London's infrastructure, and ...
, Buckinghamshire is well connected to the national rail network, with both local commuter and inter-city services serving some destinations.
Chiltern Railways is a principal
train operating company in Buckinghamshire, providing the majority of local commuter services from the centre and south of the county, with trains running into .
Great Western operates commuter services from and into
London Paddington
Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great ...
.
West Midlands Trains
West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...
provides these services from into or , and
Southern operates commuter services via the
West London Line from Milton Keynes Central to
East Croydon.
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise.
During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...
operates inter-city services from Milton Keynes Central to Euston,
North West England, the
West Midlands, the Scottish
Central Belt
The Central Belt of Scotland is the Demography of Scotland, area of highest population density within Scotland. Depending on the definition used, it has a population of between 2.4 and 4.2 million (the country's total was around 5.4 million in ...
, and
North Wales
North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...
. Great Western operates non-stop services through the south of the county from Paddington to
South West England
South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities ...
and
South Wales.
There are four main lines running through the county:
*The
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
in the north of the county serves stations in Milton Keynes
*
London to Aylesbury Line
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...
serves
Aylesbury and other settlements along the A413 towards London. Once part of the
Metropolitan line of
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.
The ...
, which now runs to Amersham
*
Chiltern Main Line
The Chiltern Main Line is a railway line which links London () and Birmingham ( Moor Street and Snow Hill), the United Kingdom's two largest cities, by a route via High Wycombe, Bicester, Banbury, Leamington Spa and Solihull.
It is one of t ...
: serves the towns along the M40 motorway including
High Wycombe
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...
and
Beaconsfield
*
Great Western Main Line: runs through
Slough. Slough is now in
Berkshire, but the line enters Bucks twice, on either side of Slough, with
Taplow
Taplow is a village and civil parish in the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It sits on the left bank of the River Thames, facing Maidenhead in the neighbouring county of Berkshire, with Cippenham and Burnham to the east. It is the ...
and
Iver
Iver is a large civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park.
Geography, transport and economy
Part of the 43-square- ...
both having stations in Buckinghamshire.
There are the following additional lines:
*
Princes Risborough to Aylesbury Line: a single track branch that connects the Chiltern Main Line to the London to Aylesbury Line.
*
Marston Vale Line: between
Bletchley
Bletchley is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated in the south-west of Milton Keynes, and is split between the civil parishes of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and West Bletchley.
Bletchley is best know ...
and
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
. This is a remnant of the former
Varsity Line
The Varsity Line (or the Oxford to Cambridge railway line) was the main railway route that once linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway.
During World War II the line was ...
between and
*
Marlow Branch Line: between
Marlow,
Bourne End and
Maidenhead.
*
Metropolitan line: between and to London
*
Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway
The Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway is a preserved standard gauge heritage railway with its headquarters and main station at Chinnor in South Oxfordshire, England. It runs along the foot of the Chilterns escarpment. Although a few fi ...
, a preserved railway.
* The new
Elizabeth line
The Elizabeth line is a high-frequency hybrid urban–suburban rail service in London and its suburbs. It runs services on dedicated infrastructure in central London from the Great Western Main Line west of Paddington to and via Whitechapel ...
(constructed as
Crossrail
Crossrail is a railway construction project mainly in central London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system crossing the capital from suburbs on the west to east, by connecting two major railway l ...
) serves
Iver
Iver is a large civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park.
Geography, transport and economy
Part of the 43-square- ...
.
,
contractors are working on behalf of the
East West Rail
East West Rail is a major project to establish a strategic railway connecting East Anglia with Central, Southern and Western England. In particular, it plans to build (or rebuild) a line linking Oxford and Cambridge via Bicester, Milton Keyn ...
Company to reinstate the route between and Bletchley via , enabling services to Milton Keynes Central from 2025. The line between Aylesbury and
Claydon Junction
Claydon railway station is a former railway station on the 'Varsity Line' (former Oxford Cambridge line), that served the village of Steeple Claydon in Buckinghamshire.
History
Claydon was opened by the Buckinghamshire Railway on 1 May ...
may also be reinstated in the same programme, enabling services between Aylesbury and Milton Keynes, but this option is not programmed. Construction of
High Speed 2
High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...
is also underway and is planned to run non-stop through the county at some future date.
Settlements
For the full list of towns, villages and
hamlets
A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...
in Buckinghamshire, see
List of places in Buckinghamshire. Throughout history, there have been a
number of changes to the Buckinghamshire boundary.
Education
Artist and composer
Harriet Anne Smart started a school in Buckinghamshire in the 1850s to teach local laborers how to read. Today, education in Buckinghamshire is governed by two
Local Education Authorities
Local education authorities (LEAs) were local councils in England that are responsible for education within their jurisdiction. The term was used to identify which council (district or county) is locally responsible for education in a system wit ...
. Buckinghamshire Council is one of the few remaining
LEA
Lea or LEA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Lea River, Tasmania, Australia
* Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows
* RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA"
England
* Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish
* Lea, Derbyshire, a set ...
s still using the
tripartite system
The Tripartite System was the arrangement of state-funded secondary education between 1945 and the 1970s in England and Wales, and from 1947 to 2009 in Northern Ireland. It was an administrative implementation of the Education Act 1944 and th ...
, albeit with some revisions such as the abolition of
secondary technical schools. It has a completely selective education system: pupils transfer either to a
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
or to a
secondary modern school
A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usuall ...
or
free school depending on how they perform in the
Eleven-Plus exam
The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academi ...
and on their preferences. Pupils who do not take the test can only be allocated places at secondary modern schools or free school. There are 9 independent schools and 34 maintained (state) secondary schools, not including
sixth form college
A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate Di ...
s, in the county council area. There is also the
Buckinghamshire University Technical College
Aylesbury UTC is a university technical college (UTC) which opened in September 2013 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England. In November 2021, the college joined a Multi-Academy Trust. In 2022, the school underwent a rebrand and name-change from ...
which offers secondary education from age 14. The unitary authority of Milton Keynes operates a
comprehensive education
Comprehensive may refer to:
* Comprehensive layout, the page layout of a proposed design as initially presented by the designer to a client.
*Comprehensive school, a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement ...
system: there are 8 maintained (state) secondary schools in the City Council area.
Buckinghamshire is also home to the
University of Buckingham
, mottoeng = Flying on Our Own Wings
, established = 1973; as university college1983; as university
, type = Private
, endowment =
, administrative_staff = 97 academic, 103 support
, chanc ...
,
Buckinghamshire New University
, mottoeng = By Art and Industry
, established = 2007 – gained university status 1891 – Science and Art School
, type = Public
, staff =
, chancellor = Jay Blades
, vice_chancellor = Nick Braisby
, st ...
, the
National Film and Television School, and the
Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
. The
University of Bedfordshire
The University of Bedfordshire is a public research university with campuses in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England. The University has roots from 1882, however, it gained university status in 1993 as the University of Luton. The Universi ...
has a campus in Milton Keynes.
Notable people
Buckinghamshire is the birthplace and/or final resting place of several notable individuals. St
Osyth
Osgyth (or Osyth; died 700 AD) was an English saint. She is primarily commemorated in the village of Saint Osyth, Essex, near Colchester. Alternative spellings of her name include Sythe, Othith and Ositha. Born of a noble family, she founded ...
was born in
Quarrendon and was buried in
Aylesbury in the 7th century while at about the same time
Saint Rumwold was buried in
Buckingham. In the medieval period
Roger of Wendover
Roger of Wendover (died 6 May 1236), probably a native of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, was an English chronicler of the 13th century.
At an uncertain date he became a monk at St Albans Abbey; afterwards he was appointed prior of the cell o ...
was, as the name suggests, from
Wendover
Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road a ...
and
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...
also owned property in the same town. It is said that
King Henry VIII made Aylesbury the county town in preference to Buckingham because
Boleyn's father owned property there and was a regular visitor himself. Other medieval residents included
Edward the Confessor, who had a palace at
Brill
Brill may refer to:
Places
* Brielle (sometimes "Den Briel"), a town in the western Netherlands
* Brill, Buckinghamshire, a village in England
* Brill, Cornwall, a small village to the west of Constantine, Cornwall, UK
* Brill, Wisconsin, an un ...
, and
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of ...
who lived in
Ludgershall.
Buckinghamshire later became home to some notable literary characters.
Edmund Waller
Edmund Waller, FRS (3 March 1606 – 21 October 1687) was an English poet and politician who was Member of Parliament for various constituencies between 1624 and 1687, and one of the longest serving members of the English House of Commons.
S ...
was brought up in
Beaconsfield and served as
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) for both
Amersham and
Wycombe.
Mary Shelley
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also ...
and her husband
Percy Bysshe Shelley lived for some time in
Marlow, attracted to the town by their friend
Thomas Love Peacock
Thomas Love Peacock (18 October 1785 – 23 January 1866) was an English novelist, poet, and official of the East India Company. He was a close friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley and they influenced each other's work. Peacock wrote satirical novels, ...
who also lived there.
John Milton lived in
Chalfont St Giles
Chalfont St Giles is a village and civil parish in southeast Buckinghamshire, England. It is in a group of villages called The Chalfonts, which also includes Chalfont St Peter and Little Chalfont.
It lies on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, we ...
and his cottage can still be visited there and
John Wilkes
John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he f ...
was
MP for
Aylesbury. Later authors include
Jerome K. Jerome
Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humourist, best known for the comic travelogue ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections '' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow'' (1886) an ...
who lived at Marlow,
T. S. Eliot who also lived at Marlow,
Roald Dahl who lived at
Great Missenden
Great Missenden is an affluent village with approximately 2,000 residents in the Misbourne Valley in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England, situated between the towns of Amersham and Wendover, with direct rail connections to London Mar ...
,
Enid Blyton
Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have b ...
who lived in
Beaconsfield and
Edgar Wallace
Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer.
Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...
who lived at
Bourne End and is buried in
Little Marlow
Little Marlow is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England.
History
The Church of England parish church of Saint John the Baptist lies at the heart of the village, not far from the river and next to the Manor House. The origina ...
. Modern-day writers from Bucks include
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his '' Discworld'' series of 41 novels.
Pratchett's first no ...
who was born in Beaconsfield,
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ...
who is from Amersham and
Andy Riley
Andy Riley (born 1970) is a British author, cartoonist, and Emmy-winning screenwriter for TV and film.
Riley has written and drawn many best-selling cartoon books, including '' The Book of Bunny Suicides'' (2003) and its sequels, and ''Great L ...
who is from Aylesbury.
During the Second World War a number of European politicians and statesmen were exiled in England. Many of these settled in Bucks as it is close to London. President
Edvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 194 ...
of
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
lived at
Aston Abbotts
Aston Abbotts or Aston Abbots is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. It is about north of Aylesbury and south-west of Wing. The parish includes the hamlet of Burston and had a population of 426 at the 2021 Census.
Manor
"A ...
with his family while some of his officials were stationed at nearby
Addington and
Wingrave
Wingrave is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, about four miles north east of Aylesbury and three miles south west of Wing.
The civil parish is called Wingrave with Rowsham within Buckinghamshire district and incorporates the hamlet of R ...
. Meanwhile,
Władysław Sikorski
Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski (; 20 May 18814 July 1943) was a Polish military and political leader.
Prior to the First World War, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause for Polish i ...
, military leader of Poland, lived at
Iver
Iver is a large civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park.
Geography, transport and economy
Part of the 43-square- ...
and King
Zog of Albania
Zog I ( sq, Naltmadhnija e tij Zogu I, Mbreti i Shqiptarëve, ; 8 October 18959 April 1961), born Ahmed Muhtar bey Zogolli, taking the name Ahmet Zogu in 1922, was the leader of Albanian Kingdom (1928–1939), Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27 ...
lived at
Frieth
Frieth is a village in the parish of Hambleden, in Buckinghamshire, England. It lies on the top of "Frieth Hill", which is part of the chalk escarpments of the Chiltern Hills.
Frieth lies at a height of around , on the edge of a broad and dee ...
. Much earlier, King
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...
lived in exile at
Hartwell House from 1809 to 1814.
Also on the local political stage Buckinghamshire has been home to
Nancy Astor
Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, Viscountess Astor, (19 May 1879 – 2 May 1964) was an American-born British politician who was the first woman seated as a Member of Parliament (MP), serving from 1919 to 1945.
Astor's first husband was America ...
who lived in
Cliveden
Cliveden (pronounced ) is an English country house and estate in the care of the National Trust in Buckinghamshire, on the border with Berkshire. The Italianate mansion, also known as Cliveden House, crowns an outlying ridge of the Chiltern ...
,
Frederick, Prince of Wales
Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fa ...
who also lived in Cliveden,
Baron Carrington
Baron Carrington is a title that has been created three times, once in the Peerage of England, once in the Peerage of Ireland and once in the Peerage of Great Britain.
History
The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1643 in favo ...
who lives in
Bledlow
Bledlow is a village in the civil parish of Bledlow-cum-Saunderton in Buckinghamshire, England. It is about WSW of Princes Risborough, and is on the county boundary with Oxfordshire.
The toponym "Bledlow" is derived from Old English and m ...
,
Benjamin Disraeli who lived at
Hughenden Manor
Hughenden Manor, Hughenden, Buckinghamshire, England, is a Victorian mansion, with earlier origins, that served as the country house of the Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield. It is now owned by the National Trust and o ...
and was made Earl of Beaconsfield,
John Hampden
John Hampden (24 June 1643) was an English landowner and politician whose opposition to arbitrary taxes imposed by Charles I made him a national figure. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and cousin to Oliver Cromwell, he was one of t ...
who was from
Great Hampden and is revered in Aylesbury to this day
and Prime Minister
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death o ...
who lived at
Mentmore
Mentmore is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about three miles east of Wingrave, three miles south east of Wing.
The village toponym is derived from the Old English for "Menta's moor ...
. Also worthy of note are
William Penn
William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
who believed he was descended from the Penn family of
Penn and so is buried nearby and the current
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...
, who has an official residence at
Chequers.
John Archdale
John Archdale (5 March 1642 – 4 July 1717) served as British colonial Governor of North Carolina and Governor of South Carolina in 1695 and 1696. He may have also been appointed to serve circa 1683-1686. Archdale was appointed to the position b ...
, the colonial governor of
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
and
South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
, was born in Buckinghamshire.
Other notable natives of Buckinghamshire include:
*
Amber Bain
Amber Mary Bain (born 13 July 1995), known professionally as The Japanese House, is an English indie pop musician from Buckinghamshire. Bain contributes vocals and plays guitar, synthesizer and keyboard for her music. As a teenager, Bain deci ...
, musician, known as The Japanese House
*
Errol Barnett
Errol Barnett (born 3 April 1983) is a British-born American anchor and national correspondent for CBS News based in New York City after covering the Trump administration for three years while based in Washington D.C. Barnett also anchored '' ...
, news reporter, was born in
Milton Keynes
*
Nick Beggs
Nicholas Beggs (born 15 December 1961Larkin, Colin (1997) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music'', Virgin Books, , p. 270-271) is an English musician, noted for playing the bass guitar and the Chapman Stick; he is a member of the Mute Go ...
, musician, is from
Winslow Winslow may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Winslow, Buckinghamshire, England, a market town and civil parish
* Winslow Rural District, Buckinghamshire, a rural district from 1894 to 1974
United States and Canada
* Rural Municipality of Winslo ...
*
Lynda Bellingham
Lynda Bellingham, OBE ( ; 31 May 194819 October 2014) was an English actress, broadcaster and author. She acted in television series such as '' All Creatures Great and Small'', '' Doctor Who'', '' Second Thoughts'' and '' Faith in the Future''. S ...
, actress, was from
Aylesbury
*
Emily Bergl
Anne Emily Bergl''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 25 April 1975) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Rachel Lang in the supernatural horror film '' The Rage: Carrie ...
, actress, born in Milton Keynes, though her family moved to suburban Chicago a few years after her birth
*
Emmerson Boyce,
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
footballer, was born in
Aylesbury
*
Nick Bracegirdle aka Chicane, was born in
Chalfont St Giles
Chalfont St Giles is a village and civil parish in southeast Buckinghamshire, England. It is in a group of villages called The Chalfonts, which also includes Chalfont St Peter and Little Chalfont.
It lies on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, we ...
*
Den Brotheridge
Lieutenant Herbert Denham Brotheridge (8 December 1915 – 6 June 1944) was a British Army officer who served with the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (the 52nd) during the Second World War. He is often considered to ...
,
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
Officer who died taking
Pegasus Bridge
Pegasus Bridge, originally called the Bénouville Bridge after the neighbouring village, is a road crossing over the Caen Canal, between Caen and Ouistreham in Normandy. The original bridge, built in 1934, is now a war memorial and is the cent ...
in France was from
Aylesbury
*
Charles Butler, pastor, grammarian, and pioneering beekeeper was born in the county
*
Giles Cooper, entertainment producer, best known for
Royal Variety Performance was born in
Amersham, brought up in
High Wycombe
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...
*
James Corden, actor, grew up in
Hazlemere
Hazlemere is a large village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northeast of High Wycombe on the A404 leading to Amersham, which intersects with the B474 at Hazlemere. To the north of the village is the hamlet of Holmer Green, whic ...
*
John Crowder (1756–1830), alderman of the ward of Farringdon Within, and Lord Mayor of London
*
Lucinda Dryzek, actress, born in
High Wycombe
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...
*
Emma Ferreira English contemporary artist, sculptor, photographer, entrepreneur and philanthropist
*
Martin Grech
Martin Grech (born 14 November 1982) is an English singer, songwriter and musician from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
Career
Grech released his debut album ''Open Heart Zoo'', produced by Andy Ross, in June 2002. He achieved critical acclaim ...
, musician, is from
Aylesbury
*
Julian Haviland
Julian Arthur Charles Haviland (born 8 June 1930) is a British print and broadcasting journalist of over sixty years' standing. He was a lobby correspondent at Westminster for over twenty years, and is the former Political Editor of Independent ...
, former Political Editor of both
ITN and ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' newspaper, was born and brought up in Iver Heath in
Iver
Iver is a large civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park.
Geography, transport and economy
Part of the 43-square- ...
*
Howard Jones, musician, is from
High Wycombe
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...
*
Prince Michael of Kent
Prince Michael of Kent, (Michael George Charles Franklin; born 4 July 1942) is a member of the British royal family, who is 51st in the line of succession to the British throne as of September 2022. Queen Elizabeth II and Michael were firs ...
, member of the
British Royal Family, born in
Iver
Iver is a large civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park.
Geography, transport and economy
Part of the 43-square- ...
in south Bucks*
Arthur Lasenby Liberty
Sir Arthur Lasenby Liberty (13 August 1843 – 11 May 1917) was a London-based merchant, and the founder of Liberty & Co.
Early life
Arthur Liberty was born on 13 August 1843 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England, the son of a draper. He b ...
, merchant, was from
Chesham
Chesham (, , or ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, south-east of the county town of Aylesbury, north-west of central London, and part of the London commuter belt. It is in the Chess Valley, surrounded by farmla ...
*
Richard Lee, footballer, attended
Aylesbury Grammar School
Aylesbury Grammar School is a grammar school in Aylesbury situated in the English county of Buckinghamshire, which educates approximately 1300 students.
Founded in 1598 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire by Sir Henry Lee, Champion of Queen Elizabet ...
*
Jonathon Lewis, England test cricketer, was born in
Aylesbury
*
Al Murray
Alastair James Hay Murray (born 10 May 1968) is an English comedian, actor, musician and writer from Hammersmith. In 2003, he was listed in ''The Observer'' as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy, and in 2007 he was voted the 16th gre ...
, television/radio presenter also known as The Pub Landlord originates from
Stewkley
Stewkley is a village and civil parish in the Buckinghamshire district of the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is about east of Winslow and about west of Leighton Buzzard. The civil parish includes the hamlets of No ...
*
John Otway
John Otway (born 2 October 1952) is an English singer-songwriter who has built a cult audience through extensive touring.
Biography 1970s and 1980s
Otway was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Although his first single, "Gypsy"/"Misty Mounta ...
, musician, is from
Aylesbury
*
Leigh-Anne Pinnock
Leigh-Anne Pinnock (born 4 October 1991) is an English singer, actress and songwriter. She rose to prominence in the 2010s as a member of the girl group Little Mix, one of the world's best-selling girl groups ever. With Little Mix, she release ...
, singer and member of 2011 X-Factor winning girl group Little Mix, born in High Wycombe
*
Matt Phillips
Matthew Phillips (born 13 March 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Championship club West Bromwich Albion and the Scotland national team.
Born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire to British born father of Barbadian desc ...
, footballer playing for
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
, was born in
Aylesbury
*
Dominic Raab
Dominic Rennie Raab (; born 25 February 1974) is a British politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Secretary of State for Justice, and Lord Chancellor since October 2022, having previously served from 2021 to ...
, politician,
Conservative Party Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) and current
Foreign Secretary, grew up in
Gerrards Cross
Gerrards Cross is a town and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England, separated from the London Borough of Hillingdon at Harefield by Denham, south of Chalfont St Peter and north bordering villages of Fulmer, Hedgerley, Iver Heath and ...
and attended
Dr Challoner's Grammar School in
Amersham
*
Steve Redgrave, five-time Olympic gold medallist
rower
Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...
is from
Marlow Bottom
*
George Gilbert Scott, architect famous for his numerous
Gothic revival buildings, born in
Gawcott
Gawcott is a village about south-west of Buckingham in the Buckinghamshire (district), Buckinghamshire district in the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is in the civil parishes in England, civil parish of Gawcott with L ...
*
Simon Standage
Simon Andrew Thomas Standage (born 8 November 1941 in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire) is an English violinist and conductor best known for playing and conducting music of the baroque and classical eras on original instruments.
Biography and ...
, Baroque violinist, is from
High Wycombe
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...
*
Justin Sullivan
Justin Edward Sullivan (born 8 April 1956) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is also the lead vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter of English rock band New Model Army, which he formed in 1980 together with drummer Robert ...
, musician with
New Model Army
*
Michael York
Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Ro ...
, actor, born in
Fulmer
Fulmer is a village and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England. The village has along most of its northern border a narrow green buffer from Gerrards Cross and is heavily wooded adjoining neighbouring villages of Iver Heath and Wexham. ...
in south Bucks
*
Jack Garratt, singer-songwriter, is from
Little Chalfont
Little Chalfont is a village and civil parish in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is one of a group of villages known collectively as The Chalfonts, which also comprises Chalfont St Giles and Chalfont St Peter. Little Chalfont is located ...
Notable celebrities living in Buckinghamshire include:
*
Cilla Black, television presenter, lived in
Denham
*
Fern Britton
Fern Britton (born 17 July 1957) is an English author and television presenter. She co-presented '' Breakfast Time'' in the 1980s, coming to mainstream national attention when hosting cookery game show ''Ready Steady Cook'' between 1994 and 200 ...
, television presenter, lives in
Holmer Green
Holmer Green is a village in the civil parish of Little Missenden, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is next to Hazlemere, about south of Great Missenden.
History
Holmer Green is named after the manor of Holmer that covered a significant part ...
*
Melanie Brown
Melanie Janine Brown (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Melanie B or Mel B, is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sc ...
, musician, lived in
Little Marlow
Little Marlow is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England.
History
The Church of England parish church of Saint John the Baptist lies at the heart of the village, not far from the river and next to the Manor House. The origina ...
*
Roy Castle
Roy Castle (31 August 1932 – 2 September 1994) was an English dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician. In addition to being an accomplished jazz trumpet player, he could play many other instruments. Following a vers ...
, dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician lived in
Gerrards Cross
Gerrards Cross is a town and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England, separated from the London Borough of Hillingdon at Harefield by Denham, south of Chalfont St Peter and north bordering villages of Fulmer, Hedgerley, Iver Heath and ...
*
John Craven
John Raymond Craven, (born 16 August 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, best known for presenting the BBC programmes '' Newsround'', ''Countryfile'' and '' Beat the Brain''.
Early life
Craven was born in Leeds, West Rid ...
, television presenter, lives in
Princes Risborough
*
Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. Born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, she rose to fame in late 2002 upon winning a place in Girls Aloud, a girl group created through ITV's '' Popstar ...
, Singer, dancer, lives in
Chalfont St. Peter
*
Tess Daly
Helen Elizabeth "Tess" Daly (born 29 March 1969) is an English model and television presenter who co-presented the BBC One celebrity dancing show ''Strictly Come Dancing'' from 2004 to 2013; she has been the show's main presenter since 2014.
...
has a house in
Fulmer
Fulmer is a village and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England. The village has along most of its northern border a narrow green buffer from Gerrards Cross and is heavily wooded adjoining neighbouring villages of Iver Heath and Wexham. ...
*
Iain Duncan Smith
Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born George Ian Duncan Smith; 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was ...
, politician, lives in
Swanbourne
*
Ian Dury
Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was a British singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Ian Dury and the Blockheads ...
, musician, lived in
Wingrave
Wingrave is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, about four miles north east of Aylesbury and three miles south west of Wing.
The civil parish is called Wingrave with Rowsham within Buckinghamshire district and incorporates the hamlet of R ...
*
Noel Edmonds
Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presente ...
, television presenter, once lived in
Weston Turville
Weston Turville is a historic village and civil parish in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. The village is at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, 3 miles (4.9 km) from the market town of Wendover and 3.5 miles (5.7 km) f ...
*
Andrew Fletcher, musician with
Depeche Mode, has a home in
Marlow
*
Barry Gibb
Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He rose to worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popula ...
, musician from
Bee Gees, lives in
Beaconsfield
*
Sir John Gielgud, actor, was living in
Wotton Underwood
Wotton Underwood is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, north of Thame, Oxfordshire.
The toponym is derived from the Old English for "farm near a wood". It is recorded in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' of AD 848 as ''Wudotu ...
when he died
*
Polly Ho-Yen, author
*
Sir David Jason
Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally by his stage name David Jason, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector J ...
, actor, lives in
Ellesborough
Ellesborough is a village and civil parish in the south of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is at the foot of the Chiltern Hills just to the south of the Vale of Aylesbury, from Wendover and from Aylesbury. It lies between Wendover and t ...
*
Peter Jones, businessman, lives in
Beaconsfield
*
Jason "Jay" Kay, musician and frontman of
Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai () are an English funk and acid jazz band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in th ...
, lives in
Horsenden
Horsenden is a hamlet in Wycombe district, Buckinghamshire, England and is in the civil parish of Longwick-cum-Ilmer. It is approximately one mile West of Princes Risborough, seven miles south of Aylesbury and three miles south-west of Chinnor ...
*
Vernon Kay
Vernon Charles Kay (born 28 April 1974) is an English television and radio presenter, and former model. He presented Channel 4's ''T4'' (2000–2005) and has presented various television shows for ITV, including '' All Star Family Fortunes'' ...
has a house in
Fulmer
Fulmer is a village and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England. The village has along most of its northern border a narrow green buffer from Gerrards Cross and is heavily wooded adjoining neighbouring villages of Iver Heath and Wexham. ...
*
John Laurie
John Paton Laurie (25 March 1897 – 23 June 1980) was a Scottish actor. In the course of his career, Laurie performed on the stage and in films as well as television. He is perhaps best remembered for his role in the sitcom '' Dad's Army'' (19 ...
, actor, lived in
Chalfont St Peter
*
Fern Britton
Fern Britton (born 17 July 1957) is an English author and television presenter. She co-presented '' Breakfast Time'' in the 1980s, coming to mainstream national attention when hosting cookery game show ''Ready Steady Cook'' between 1994 and 200 ...
, television presenter, lives in
Holmer Green
Holmer Green is a village in the civil parish of Little Missenden, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is next to Hazlemere, about south of Great Missenden.
History
Holmer Green is named after the manor of Holmer that covered a significant part ...
*
Hayley Mills and
Roy Boulting
John Edward Boulting (21 December 1913 – 17 June 1985) and Roy Alfred Clarence Boulting (21 December 1913 – 5 November 2001), known collectively as the Boulting brothers, were English filmmakers and identical twins who became known for thei ...
lived in
Ibstone
Ibstone (previously Ipstone) is a village and civil parish within Wycombe district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the Chiltern Hills on the border with Oxfordshire, about south of Stokenchurch.
The village name is Anglo Saxon in ori ...
*
John Mills
Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portra ...
, actor, lived in
Denham
*
Mike Oldfield
Mike may refer to:
Animals
* Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum
* Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off
* Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...
, musician, once lived in
Little Chalfont
Little Chalfont is a village and civil parish in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is one of a group of villages known collectively as The Chalfonts, which also comprises Chalfont St Giles and Chalfont St Peter. Little Chalfont is located ...
*
Nduka Onwuegbute, playwright, lives in
Aylesbury
*
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...
, musician, has a home in
Jordans
*
Liam Payne
Liam James Payne (born 29 August 1993) is an English singer. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Payne made his debut as a singer in 2008 when he auditioned for the British television series ''The X Factor''. After being ...
, musician, One Direction member, has a rented home in
Chalfont St. Peter
*
Pauline Quirke
Pauline Perpetua Sheen ( Quirke; born 8 July 1959) is an English actress who has played Sharon Theodopolopodous in the long-running comedy series '' Birds of a Feather'' (1988–1999, 2014–2017). For this role, she won the 1990 British Comed ...
, actress, lives in
Penn
*
Joan G. Robinson, author and illustrator
*
Steve Rothery
Steven Rothery (born 25 November 1959) is an English musician. He is the original guitarist and the longest continuous member of the British rock band Marillion. Outside Marillion, Rothery has recorded two albums as part of the duo the Wishing ...
, musician with
Marillion, lives in
Whitchurch
*
Rothschild family, bankers, had houses in
Ascott,
Aston Clinton
Aston Clinton is a historic village and civil parish in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. The village lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, between the Wendover and Aylesbury arms of the Grand Union Canal. Surrounding towns i ...
,
Eythrope
Eythrope (previously Ethorp) is a hamlet and country house in the parish of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located to the south east of the main village of Waddesdon. It was bought in the 1870s by a branch of the Rothschild fa ...
,
Halton,
Mentmore
Mentmore is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about three miles east of Wingrave, three miles south east of Wing.
The village toponym is derived from the Old English for "Menta's moor ...
and
Waddesdon
Waddesdon is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, west-north-west of Aylesbury on the A41 road. The village also includes the hamlets of Eythrope and Wormstone, Waddesdon was an agricultural settlement with milling, silk weaving and lace mak ...
*
Tiny Rowland
Roland Walter "Tiny" Rowland (; 27 November 1917 – 25 July 1998) was a British businessman, corporate raider and the chief executive of the Lonrho conglomerate from 1962 to 1993. He gained fame from a number of high-profile takeover bids, in ...
, businessman, lived in
Hedsor
*
Chris Standring, jazz guitarist and musician
*
Jackie Stewart
Sir John Young Stewart (born 11 June 1939), known as Jackie Stewart, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland. Nicknamed the "Flying Scot", he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Cha ...
, three-time
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
world championship winner, lives in
Ellesborough
Ellesborough is a village and civil parish in the south of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is at the foot of the Chiltern Hills just to the south of the Vale of Aylesbury, from Wendover and from Aylesbury. It lies between Wendover and t ...
*
Andrew Strauss
Sir Andrew John Strauss (born 2 March 1977) is an English cricket administrator and former player, formerly the Director of Cricket for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). He played county cricket for Middlesex, and captained the Englan ...
, England cricket captain, lives in
Marlow
*
Dave Vitty, former
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
DJ, lives in
Fulmer
Fulmer is a village and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England. The village has along most of its northern border a narrow green buffer from Gerrards Cross and is heavily wooded adjoining neighbouring villages of Iver Heath and Wexham. ...
*
Mark Webber, former Formula 1 racing driver, lives in
Aston Clinton
Aston Clinton is a historic village and civil parish in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. The village lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, between the Wendover and Aylesbury arms of the Grand Union Canal. Surrounding towns i ...
*
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 week ...
, radio and television broadcaster, lived in
Taplow
Taplow is a village and civil parish in the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It sits on the left bank of the River Thames, facing Maidenhead in the neighbouring county of Berkshire, with Cippenham and Burnham to the east. It is the ...
See also
*
Architecture of Aylesbury
*
Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...
*
Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies
Buckinghamshire Archives (prior to 2020 the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies) is the county record office for Buckinghamshire, England. It houses the former Buckinghamshire Record Office and the former Buckinghamshire Local Studies Library. It ...
—Archives, Record Office, Local History and Family History
*
Duke of Buckingham
Duke of Buckingham held with Duke of Chandos, referring to Buckingham, is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been earls and marquesses of Buckingham.
...
*
Safety Centre
*
Wendover Woods
Notes
References
*
*
External links
Buckinghamshire County CouncilBuckinghamshire County Museum and Roald Dahl Children's GalleryBuckinghamshire LibrariesBuckinghamshire Tourist GuideBucks County and District Councils PortalPhotographic Archive of BuckinghamshireImages of Buckinghamshireat the
English Heritage Archive
The Historic England Archive is the public archive of Historic England, located in The Engine House on Fire Fly Avenue in Swindon, formerly part of the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway.
It is a public archive of architectural and arch ...
{{Authority control
Non-metropolitan counties
South East England
Home counties
Counties of England established in antiquity