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Buckinghamshire ( or ; abbreviated Bucks) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England

. The county town is Aylesbury

and the largest town in ceremonial Buckinghamshire is Milton Keynes

.

The area under the control of Buckinghamshire County Council, or shire county, is divided into four districts—Aylesbury Vale

, Chiltern

, South Bucks

and Wycombe

. The Borough of Milton Keynes

is a unitary authority and forms part of the county for various functions such as Lord Lieutenant but does not come under county council control. The ceremonial county, the area including Milton Keynes borough, borders Greater London

, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire

, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire

.

History

Map of Bucks (1904)

The name Buckinghamshire is Anglo-Saxon in origin and means The district (scire) of Bucca's home. Bucca's home refers to Buckingham

in the north of the county, and is named after an Anglo-Saxon landowner. The county has been so named since about the 12th century; however, the county itself has existed since it was a subdivision of the kingdom of Mercia

(585–919).

The history of the area, though, predates the Anglo-Saxon period and the county has a rich history starting from the Celtic and Roman 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 was reputedly started by John Hampden in mid-Bucks.

Historically, the biggest change to the county came in the 19th century, when a combination of cholera and famine hit the rural county, forcing many to migrate to larger towns to find work. Not only did this alter the local economical picture, it meant a lot of land was going cheap at a time when the rich were more mobile and leafy Bucks became a popular rural idyll: an image it still has today. Buckinghamshire is a popular home for London commuters, leading to greater local affluence; however some pockets of relative deprivation remain.

Geography

The county can be split into two sections geographically. The south leads from the River Thames up the gentle slopes of the Chiltern Hills

to the more abrupt slopes on the northern side leading to the Vale of Aylesbury

, a large flat expanse of land, which includes the path of the River Great Ouse

.

Waterways

Rivers

The county includes two of the three longest rivers in England

. The River Thames forms the southern boundary with Berkshire, which has crept over the border at Eton

and Slough

meaning the river is no longer the sole boundary between the two counties. The River Great Ouse begins just outside the county in Northamptonshire

and flows east through Buckingham

, Milton Keynes

and Olney

.

Canals

The main branch of the Grand Union Canal

flows through the county as do its arms to Slough

, Aylesbury

, Wendover

(disused) and Buckingham

(disused). The canal has been incorporated into Milton Keynes

.

Landscape

The two highest points in Buckinghamshire, both 267 m (876 ft) above sea level, are Haddington Hill in Wendover Woods (a stone marks its summit) and Coombe Hill

near Wendover

.

Ceremonial county

The ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire consists of the area administered by Milton Keynes Borough Council as well as that administered by Buckinhamshire County Council. The ceremonial county has a Lord Lieutenant and a High Sheriff. Currently the Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire is Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher and the High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire is Amanda Nicholson. The Custos rotulorum has been combined with the duties of Lord Lieutenant since 1702.

Buckinghamshire Districts
District	Main Towns	Population (2006 estimate)	Population (2007 estimate)	Area	Population Density (2007)	Population Estimate 2026
Aylesbury Vale	Aylesbury , Buckingham	172,000	174,100	902.75 km²	193/km²	213,000
Wycombe	High Wycombe , Marlow	161,300	161,400	324.57 km²	497/km²	165,000
Chiltern	Amersham , Chesham	90,300	90,800	196.35 km²	462/km²	89,000
South Bucks	Beaconsfield , Burnham	63,700	64,300	141.28 km²	455/km²	63,800
TOTAL Non-Metropolitan	N/A	487,300	490,600	1565 km²	313/km²	530,800
Milton Keynes	Milton Keynes , Newport Pagnell	224,800	228,400	308.63 km²	740/km²	323,146
TOTAL Ceremonial	N/A	712,100	719,000	1874 km²	384/km²	853,946

Population figures for 2006 from the Office for National Statistics as are figures for 2007 estimatesSee List of English districts by population for a full list of every English district.

As can be seen from the table, the Vale of Aylesbury

and borough of Milton Keynes

have been identified as growth areas, with a population surge of almost 50,000 people in Aylesbury Vale between 2006 and 2026 and 100,000 people in Milton Keynes within twenty years. The population of Milton Keynes is expected to reach almost 350,000 by 2031.

Politics

At present, the county has two top-level administrations: Buckinghamshire County Council, which administers about four fifths of the county (see map above) and the Borough of Milton Keynes

, a unitary authority, which administers the remaining fifth. There are four district councils that are subsidiary to the county council: Aylesbury Vale

, Chiltern

, South Bucks

and Wycombe

.

Buckinghamshire County Council

The county council was founded in 1889 with its base in new municipal buildings in Walton Street, Aylesbury

(which are still there). In Buckinghamshire, local administration is run on a two-tier system where public services are split between the county council and a series of district councils.

In the 1960s the council moved into new premises: a 15-storey tower block in the centre of Aylesbury (pictured) designed by architect Thomas Pooley. Said to be one of the most unpopular and disliked buildings in Buckinghamshire, it is now a Grade II listed building.

In 1997 the northernmost part of Buckinghamshire in Milton Keynes Borough

separated to form a unitary authority; however for ceremonial and some other purposes Milton Keynes is still considered to be part of Buckinghamshire .

Buckinghamshire County Council is a large employer within the County and provides a great variety of services, including education (schools, adult education and youth services), social services, highways, libraries, County Archives and Record Office, County Museum

and Roald Dahl Children's Gallery

in Aylesbury, consumer services and some aspects of waste disposal and planning.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of 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.

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 says Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum. This is Latin and means 'no stepping back'.

The flag of Buckinghamshire, which flies outside County Hall in Aylesbury, comprises red and black halves with a white swan. The flag takes the county emblem which is on the county shield.

Demographics

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. Aylesbury has a sizeable Italian population, and Amersham has a large Polish community dating from World War II . Amersham is twinned with Krynica in Poland

. High Wycombe is the most ethnically diverse town in the county, with large Asian and Afro-Caribbean populations. There is also a Polish

and Eastern European community.

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 in 2002 The southern part of the county is a prosperous section of the London commuter belt. The county has fertile agricultural lands, with many landed estates, especially those of the Rothschild banking family of England in the 19th century (see Rothschild properties in Buckinghamshire). Manufacturing industries include furniture-making (traditionally centred at High Wycombe

), pharmaceuticals and agricultural processing.

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Buckinghamshire at current basic prices published by the Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling (except GVA index).

Year	Regional Gross Value Added	Agriculture	Industry	Services	GVA index per person
1995	6,008	60	1,746	4,201	118
2000	8,389	45	1,863	6,481	125
2003	9,171	50	1,793	7,328	118

In a recent nationwide survey, Buckinghamshire had the highest quality of life in the country, having the highest life expectancy and best education results.

Places of interest

The county is also home to the world famous Pinewood Studios

.

Transport

Roads

Buckinghamshire (including Milton Keynes) is served by four motorways, although two are on its borders:

M40 motorway: cuts through the south of the county serving towns such as High Wycombe and Beaconsfield
M1 motorway: serves Milton Keynes in the north
M25 motorway : passes into Bucks but has only one junction (J16-interchange for the M40)
M4 motorway: passes through the very south of the county with only J7 in Bucks

Four important A roads also enter the county (from north to south):

A5: serves Milton Keynes
A41: cuts through the centre of the county, serving Aylesbury
A40: parallels M40 through south Bucks and continues to central London
A4 : serves Taplow in the very south

Road travel east–west is good in the county because of the commuter routes leaving London for the rest of the country. There are no major roads that run directly between the south and north of the county (e.g. between High Wycombe and Milton Keynes).

Rail

Buckinghamshire has four main lines running through it:

West Coast Main Line : in the north, with stations serving Milton Keynes
Great Central Main Line: now the London to Aylesbury Line, it serves Aylesbury and other settlements along the A413 towards London
Chiltern Main Line: serves the towns along the M40 motorway including High Wycombe 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 and Iver both having stations in Buckinghamshire.

There are the following additional lines:

Princes Risborough to Aylesbury Line: a single track branch, it connects the Chiltern Main Line to the Aylesbury Line.
Marston Vale Line : between Bletchley and Bedford
Marlow Branch Line : between Marlow , Bourne End and Maidenhead .

The county once had a whole network of Metropolitan Railway services, from the current Amersham

terminus right into central Bucks at Verney Junction

. That station is now closed but may one day re-open as part of the Varsity Line

scheme for trains between Oxford

and Bedford.

The main train operating companies are Chiltern Railways, Virgin Trains and London Midland, First Great Western and London Underground. From 2017, Iver

will have Crossrail services.

Settlements

Largest Towns in Ceremonial Buckinghamshire (2001 census)
Town	Population	District	Notes
Milton Keynes	184,506	Milton Keynes	Unitary Authority since 1997. Population includes Newport Pagnell
High Wycombe	92,300	Wycombe	Includes suburbs of Downley and Hazlemere . The High Wycombe Urban Area population is 118,229
Aylesbury	56,392	Aylesbury Vale	County town of Buckinghamshire. Population of Aylesbury Urban Area (including Stoke Mandeville and Bierton ) is 69,021
Amersham	21,470	Chiltern
Chesham	20,357	Chiltern

Marlow	17,522	Wycombe
Buckingham	12,512	Aylesbury Vale	Historically the county town of Buckinghamshire
Beaconsfield	12,292	South Bucks
Princes Risborough	8,121	Wycombe
Wendover	7,385	Aylesbury Vale
Olney	6,032	Milton Keynes	Governed by Milton Keynes, not Bucks County Council
Winslow	4,519	Aylesbury Vale

For the full list of towns, villages and hamlets in Buckinghamshire, see List of places in Buckinghamshire. Throughout history, there have been a number of changes to the Buckinghamshire boundary.

Education

See List of schools in Buckinghamshire and List of schools in Milton Keynes

Education in Buckinghamshire is governed by two Local Education Authorities. Buckinghamshire County Council has a completely selective education system where pupils transfer to either a grammar school or secondary modern school depending on how they perform in the 11 plus test and on their preferences. Pupils who do not take the test can only be allocated places at secondary modern schools. There are 9 independent schools and 34 maintained (state) secondary schools, not including sixth form colleges in the county council area. The unitary authority of Milton Keynes

operates a comprehensive education system. There are 8 maintained (state) secondary schools, in the borough council area. Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes are also home to the University of Buckingham

, Buckinghamshire New University

and the Open University

.

Notable people

Buckinghamshire has been the birth place and/or final resting place of several notable individuals. Saint Osyth 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

. From the medieval period Roger of Wendover was, as the name suggests, from Wendover

and Anne Boleyn also owned property in the same town. It is said that King Henry VIII made Aylesbury

the county town over 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

and John Wycliffe who lived in Ludgershall

.

From a slightly later period Buckinghamshire became home to some notable literary characters. Edmund Waller was brought up in Beaconsfield

and served as Member of Parliament for both Amersham and Wycombe

. Percy Bysshe Shelley and his wife Mary spent some time living in Marlow

, attracted to the town by their friend Thomas Love Peacock who also lived there. John Milton lived in Chalfont St Giles

and his cottage can still be visited there and John Wilkes served as Member of Parliament for Aylesbury

. Much later literary characters include Jerome K. Jerome who lived at Marlow, T. S. Eliot who also lived at Marlow, Roald Dahl who lived in Great Missenden

, Enid Blyton who lived in Beaconsfield

and Edgar Wallace who lived in Bourne End

and is buried in Little Marlow

. Modern-day writers from Bucks include Terry Pratchett who was born in Beaconsfield, Tim Rice who is from Amersham and Andy Riley who is from Aylesbury.

During the Second World War a number of politicians and world leaders from Europe came to England to seek exile. Due to its proximity to London

various locations in Buckinghamshire were selected to house dignitaries. President Edvard Beneš of Czechoslovakia

lived at Aston Abbotts

with his family while some of his officials were stationed at nearby Addington

and Wingrave

. Meanwhile Władysław Sikorski, military leader of Poland

, lived at Iver

and King Zog of Albania lived at Frieth

. Bucks is also notable for another exile, although this one much earlier: King Louis XVIII of France lived in exile at Hartwell House from 1809 to 1814.

Also on the local political stage Buckinghamshire has been home to Nancy Astor who lived in Cliveden

, Frederick, Prince of Wales who also lived in Cliveden, Baron Carrington who lives in Bledlow

, Benjamin Disraeli who lived at Hughenden Manor

and was made Earl of Beaconsfield, John Hampden who was from Great Hampden

and is revered in Aylesbury to this day and Prime Minister Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery who lived at Mentmore

. Also worthy of note are William Penn 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, who has an official residence at Chequers

. Finally John Archdale colonial governor of North Carolina

and South Carolina

, although more notably American, was born in Buckinghamshire.

Other natives of Buckinghamshire who have become notable in their own right include:

Errol Barnett, news reporter, was born in Milton Keynes
Nick Beggs, musician, is from Winslow
Lynda Bellingham, actress, is from Aylesbury
Emily Bergl, actress, born in Buckinghamshire, though her family moved to suburban Chicago a few years after her birth
Emmerson Boyce, Wigan Athletic footballer, was born in Aylesbury
Nick Bracegirdle aka Chicane, was born in Chalfont St Giles
Den Brotheridge, British Army Officer who died taking Pegasus Bridge in France was from Aylesbury
James Corden, actor, grew up in Hazlemere
Lucinda Dryzek, actress, born in High Wycombe in South Bucks
Martin Grech, musician, is from Aylesbury
Howard Jones, musician, is from High Wycombe
Arthur Lasenby Liberty, merchant, was from Chesham
Richard Lee, footballer, attended Aylesbury Grammar School
Jonathon Lewis, England test cricketer, was born in Aylesbury
Al Murray, television / radio presenter also known as The Pub Landlord originates from Stewkley
John Otway, musician, is from Aylesbury
Steve Redgrave, five-time Olympic gold medallist rower is from Marlow Bottom
Simon Standage, baroque violinist, is from High Wycombe
Michael York, actor, born in Fulmer in South Bucks

Today Buckinghamshire is a very picturesque landscape and is home to numerous celebrities and has attracted its fair share in the past. These include: