Aylesbury ( or ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Waterside Theatre. There is also one of the largest independent Arts Centre in the UK, the Queens Park Arts Centre which recently received the King's Award for Voluntary Service. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milton Keynes.
In 2011 its urban area had a population of 94,238 The housing target for the town is set to grow with 16,000 homes set to be built by 2033. Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle portrays Aylesbury as being captured from the Britons by one Cuthwulf following the Battle of Bedcanford; the historicity of this event is doubtful, but the portrayal at least indicates that in the early Middle Ages the settlement was thought to be of some strategic importance. During the early medieval period, Aylesbury became a major market town, the burial place of Saint Osgyth, whose shrine attracted . Aylesbury was a royal manor with eight attached hundreds in 1086, and some historians have supposed that it was already a royal manor before the Norman conquest.. Some lands here were granted by William the Conqueror to citizens upon the tenure that the owners should provide straw for the monarch's bed, sweet herbs for his chamber and two green geese and three eels for his table, whenever he should visit Aylesbury.
The town includes an Early English parish church, St. Mary the Virgin's (which has many later additions).
In 1450, a religious institution called the Guild of St Mary was founded in Aylesbury by John Kemp, Archbishop of York. Known popularly as the Guild of Our Lady it became a meeting place for local dignitaries and a hotbed of political intrigue. The guild was influential in the outcome of the Wars of the Roses. Its premises at the Chantry in Church Street, Aylesbury, are still there, though today the site is used mainly for retail.
Aylesbury was declared the new county town of Buckinghamshire in 1529 by King Henry VIII: Aylesbury Manor was among the many properties belonging to Thomas Boleyn, the father of Anne Boleyn, and it is rumoured that the change was made by the King to curry favour with the family. The plague decimated the population in 1603/4.
The town played a large part in the English Civil War when it became a stronghold for the Roundhead forces, like many market towns a nursing-ground of Puritan sentiment and in 1642 the Battle of Aylesbury was fought and won by the Parliamentarians. Its proximity to Great Hampden, home of John Hampden has made of Hampden a local hero: his silhouette was used on the emblem of Aylesbury Vale District Council and his statue stands prominently in the town centre. Aylesbury-born composer, Rutland Boughton (1878–1960), possibly inspired by the statue of John Hampden, created a symphony based on Oliver Cromwell.
On 18 March 1664, Robert Bruce, 2nd Earl of Elgin in the Peerage of Scotland was created 1st Earl of Ailesbury.
The grade II* listed building Jacobean mansion of Hartwell adjoining the southwest of the town was the residence of French king Louis XVIII during his exile (1810–1814). Bourbon Street in Aylesbury is named after the king. Louis's wife, Marie Joséphine of Savoy died at Hartwell in 1810 and is the only French queen to have died on English soil. After her death, her body was carried first to Westminster Abbey, and one year later to Sardinia, where the Savoy King of Sardinia had withdrawn during Napoleonic occupation of Turin and Piedmont; she is buried in the Cathedral of Cagliari.
Aylesbury's heraldry cresthttp://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/thames_valley_chilterns.html#aylesbury%20tc Civic Heraldry of England and Wales: Aylesbury. CREST: On a Wreath Argent and Gules issuant from a Wreath of plaited Straw a Mount thereon an Aylesbury Duck all proper. displays the Aylesbury duck, which has been bred here since the birth of the Industrial Revolution, although only one breeder of true Aylesbury ducks, Richard Waller, remains today.
The town also received international publicity in 1963 when the culprits responsible for the Great Train Robbery (1963) were tried at Aylesbury Rural District Council Offices in Walton Street and sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court. The robbery took place at Bridego Bridge, a railway bridge at Ledburn, about from the town.
A notable institution is Aylesbury Grammar School which was founded in 1598. The original building is now part of the County Museum buildings in Church Street and has grade II* architecture; other grammar schools now include Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School and Aylesbury High School. Other notable buildings are the King's Head Inn, (which, with the Fleece Inn at Bretforton, is one of the few in the country owned by the National Trust and still run as a public house) and the Queens Park Centre.
James Henry Govier, the British painter and etcher, lived at Aylesbury and produced a number of works relating to the town including the church, canal, Walton, Aylesbury Gaol, the King's Head Inn and views of the town during the 1940s and 1950s, examples of which can be seen in the Buckinghamshire County Museum in Aylesbury.
The town is the birthplace of the Paralympic Games. During the 1948 Olympics in London, German-British neurologist Sir Ludwig Guttmann, set up a small sporting event for World War II veterans known as the World Wheelchair and Amputee Games (WWAG) at Stoke Mandeville Hospital Rehabilitation Facility in Aylesbury. This eventually led to the growth of the phenomenon of the modern Paralympic Games that has been held immediately after every Summer Olympic Games since 1988, and the WWAG was held most years at Stoke Mandeville until 1997, when it has been held in other countries and cities ever since. During the 2012 Paralympics, the official mascot was called 'Mandeville' after Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
The Rothschild Family acquired many large country estates and stately homes around and near the town, including Waddesdon Manor in nearby Waddesdon Village, Halton House near Wendover and Tring Park in Tring across the border in Hertfordshire, although today most of these properties belong to the National Trust. They have brought in increased tourism to the town and the surrounding areas.
Aylesbury's population in the ten-year period since 2001 has grown by two thousand primarily related to the development of new housing estates which will eventually cater for eight thousand people on the north side, between the A41 (Akeman Street) and the A413 and the expansion of Fairford Leys estate.
According to the 2011 Census, the religious groupings in Aylesbury were: Christianity (55.7%), no religion (26.9%), Islam (8.3%), Hinduism (1.4%), other (0.4%). 6.7% of respondents did not state their religion.
Distinct whole areas that have a notably high property price in the town are Bedgrove, the conservation area around St. Mary's Church and Queens Park, particularly facing onto the canal.
The town centre's higher terrain is accurately described by Samuel Lewis in 1848 as a "gentle eminence".
The county's oldest rocks of Jurassic era cover the whole of the northern half of Buckinghamshire, succeeded continuously by younger rocks to the south of the Chilterns.
The local newspaper is the Bucks Herald, which started publishing in January 1832.
Local radio stations was named Mix 96, which first broadcast in April 1994, and eventually ceased operations in September 2020, being replaced by Greatest Hits Radio.
One of the more prominent buildings in Aylesbury is the "Blue Leanie" office block, home to Lloyds Bank. When first built it was thought to be a potential hazard to passing motorists, due to the sun reflecting off its large mirrored surface. As a result, a line of mature trees was planted alongside the main road to prevent dazzling.
BBC local radio station that broadcast to the town is BBC Three Counties Radio on 94.7 FM.
Local news and television programmes is provided by BBC South and ITV Meridian. Television signals are received from the Oxford transmitting station.
Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, a £42 million theatre, Aylesbury's £42 Million New Theatre Opens with 1,200-seat auditorium, opened in October 2010.Waterside Theatre Opens (BBC) http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/threecounties/hi/people_and_places/newsid_9083000/9083183.stm In addition to this, the surrounding area has been redeveloped a £100 million project known as the 'Waterside project'.Aylesbury's Economic Growth When this is completed, there will be of new retail floor space and 1,100 new jobs created, although when this will be completed now is unclear. Also, a new campus of the Bucks opened on the Waterside site next to the Waterside Theatre.
The Bourg Walk Bridge (also called the Southcourt Bridge or the Roberts Bridge after a local councillor) opened in March 2009 connecting Southcourt to Aylesbury town centre. The focus of the footbridge is a central concrete pillar with four suspension cables supporting the structure. This bridge forms a central part of the Aylesbury Hub project. Bourg Walk was nominated and won the Engineering Excellence Award 2009 awarded by the Institution of Civil Engineers – South East England branch.
Aylesbury Town Council is the parish council for the town. As at May 2021 it comprises 25 councillors, 20 of whom are Liberal Democrats and 5 Conservative. The council represents only the constituents of Aylesbury town itself. Surrounding villages and some recent developments on the outskirts of Aylesbury like Fairford Leys & Watermead have their own parish council. In 2010 the district council decided that the new developments of Berryfields and Weedon Hill, both to the north of Aylesbury, should also join to form a new parish as of May 2011.
The town council also elects the town mayor from the serving town councillors every year. The process culminates in a formal "Mayor Making" ceremony where the new mayor takes over from the preceding mayor. The role of mayor is mainly a ceremonial role representing the town at various events and acting as an ambassador for the town.
In 1849 a local board of health was established to govern the town. This board was replaced by Aylesbury Urban District Council in 1894, which was subsequently given municipal borough status on 1 January 1917, becoming Aylesbury Borough Council. The borough council was awarded a coat of arms in 1964.
In 1974 Aylesbury Borough Council merged with several neighbouring districts to become Aylesbury Vale. No successor parish was initially created for Aylesbury, and it became an unparished area, directly administered by Aylesbury Vale District Council. The civil parish of Aylesbury was re-established in 2001, with its parish council taking the name Aylesbury Town Council. From 2001 to 2020 there were therefore three tiers of local government covering the town, at parish, district, and county level.
Aylesbury Vale District Council was abolished in 2020, merging with Buckinghamshire County Council and other district councils to become a unitary authority called Buckinghamshire Council. Since 1 April 2020, when Buckinghamshire Council came into being, it has been responsible for almost all statutory local government functions across the county.
There are also the following :
The Aylesbury Vale Secondary Support Centre is a Pupil referral unit (PRU), which caters for permanently excluded pupils.
Aylesbury Music Centre is a large educational establishment, which has its own premises adjoining Aylesbury High School and rivals the Royal College of Music, having produced members of national orchestras.
Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital is a private hospital specialising in spinal cord injury.
Aylesbury has provisions for mental health therapy and treatments at the Tindal Centre on Bierton Road. The Tindal Centre closed in early 2014 and Mental Health therapy and treatments along with Adult and Older Adult Mental Health Team's moved across the road to the new purpose-built hospital the Whiteleaf Centre. The former site of Tindal Centre has been transformed into a new housing development Bierton Place which has maintained the architecture of the original building and enhanced its beauty
In 1764 Euclid Neale opened his clockmaking workshop in Aylesbury. In the 18th century, he was one of the best clock makers in the country.
By the late 20th century, the printers and bookbinders, Hazell, Watson and Viney and the Nestlé dairy were the two main employers in the town, employing more than half the total population. These factories have long since been demolished and replaced by a Tesco supermarket which opened in 1994, and a housing development, respectively.
A £150 million Arla Foods 'megadairy' opened just off the A41 road in nearby Aston Clinton in November 2013, roughly from the town centre and is a major employer in the area. Traffic improvement measures were paid for by Arla in order to reduce the impact of congestion and pollution.
Aylesbury's recent sporting success comes in Gymnastics with Jessica Gadirova and Jennifer Gadirova, of Lynx Gymnastics Aylesbury, both winning bronze medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games for Great Britain.
[4] Aylesbury Parkrun
Railways came to Aylesbury early, in 1839 when the Aylesbury Railway opened from Cheddington on Robert Stephenson's London and Birmingham Railway. The Wycombe Railway (later Great Western Railway) arrived via Princes Risborough on 1 October 1863, and on 23 September 1868 the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway (later Metropolitan Railway) was opened from to almost connect a loop with the Wycombe Railway. The Metropolitan Railway (MetR) from Baker Street arrived via Amersham in 1892. The Great Central Railway (GCR) connected from Nottingham Victoria to London Marylebone via the MetR in 1899. Between 1899 and 1953, Aylesbury had railway links to four London termini: Marylebone, Baker Street, Paddington and Euston. The Aylesbury Railway closed in 1953, the MetR, which later became the Metropolitan line of the London Underground withdrew north of Aylesbury in 1936 and withdrew from the town in 1961. The GCR was dismantled north of Aylesbury in 1966. As a result, there were no regular passenger services north of Aylesbury until the opening of Aylesbury Vale Parkway railway station in December 2008. Now only the GCR south of Aylesbury Vale Parkway to Marylebone is used for regular London services.
A rail scheme to extend passenger services northwestwards to a new station, Aylesbury Vale Parkway, was completed in December 2008. This is sited on the formerly goods-only line towards Quainton at the point where the line crosses the A41 near Berryfields Farm on the north-west outskirts of the town, some north of the main Aylesbury station. This area is to be known as Berryfields, a major development area and will include park and ride facilities for Aylesbury.
A further expansion of rail services to a new Winslow railway station, , Bedford and Oxford via the Claydon LNE Junction (see East West Rail) is due to be opened by 2030. Transport Secretary officially launches East West Railway Company at Bletchley Park East West Rail, 22 November 2017
Until then connections are available to Oxford and Birmingham by changing at Princes Risborough.
The town is served by Buckinghamshire's first 'Rainbow Routes' network of bus services. The colour-coded routes were set up by Buckinghamshire County Council, and bus operators.
Cycle Aylesbury, the team created to undertake the Cycling Demonstration town work, recently opened the first of their Gemstone Cycleways, which are a network of routes running from Aylesbury town centre to various locations around the town, including Stone, Bierton, Wendover and Watermead. A second brochure/magazine was published to accompany the routes, along with a redesigned website, CycleAylesbury.co.uk.
The rock band Marillion have a close association with Aylesbury. They originally formed there, with the band's first single, 1982's "Market Square Heroes", taking its title inspiration from Aylesbury's Market Square. The band continue to be based in the area, with their Racket Records studio still close to Aylesbury, and in 2007 the band performed together with their original lead singer, Fish, for the first time in 19 years at Aylesbury.
Aylesbury Methodist Church holds an annual organ recital, which attracts prominent national organists. The Roald Dahl Children's Gallery in Church Street, Aylesbury, is a children's museum in honour of novelist Roald Dahl that opened on 23 November 1996.Sharron L. McElmeel (1999) 100 most popular children's authors: biographical sketches and bibliographies Libraries Unlimited, 1999 Aylesbury hosts the Roald Dahl Festival, a procession of giant puppets based on his characters, on 2 July.
Comedian and actor Ronnie Barker (1929–2005) began his acting career in the town in the late 1940s and in September 2010, almost five years after his death, a bronze statue of him was unveiled by actor David Jason and Barker's one time co-star Ronnie Corbett (the other half of the Two Ronnies) on a new public place in Exchange Street.
The County Court building and Aylesbury Market Square regularly feature in the BBC Television series Judge John Deed.
References
The Aylesbury duck
Demography
Geography
Neighbourhoods
Farms and hamlets
Future developments
Elevations, soil and geology
Culture and community
Governance
Administrative history
Education
Health
Trade and industry
15th century
17th century – lace making
19th century – canals
20th century – motor manufacture
21st century
Sport and leisure
Transport
Rail
Roads
Buses
Cycling demonstration town
Notable people
Sport
Popular culture
Shown in productions
Twin town
Closest cities, towns and villages
Freedom of the Town
Individuals
See also
Notes and references
External links
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