Anglo Saxon in origin meaning The district (scire) of Bucca's home (referring to Buckingham in the north of the county) the name has only been recorded since about the 12th century. The historic county itself has been in existence since it was a subdivision of the kingdom of Wessex in the 10th century. It was formed out of about 200 communities that could between them fund a castle in Buckingham, to defend against invading Danes
Some of the places in Buckinghamshire date back much further than the Anglo-Saxon period. Aylesbury, for example, is known from
Kimbles
).
Settlement began in the area that was to become
Early Iron Age
, about 700BCE. Other excavations in this Blue Bridge/Bancroft hill-side uncovered a further seven substantial settlement sites, dating from then until 100 BCE.
Roman Britain
The Roman influence on Buckinghamshire is most widely felt in the
Roman roads that cross the county. Watling Street and Akeman Street both cross the county from east to west though there is circumspection that these are based on older roads. The Romans also made use of the much older Icknield Way. The first two were important trade routes linking London
with other parts of Roman Britain, and the latter was used by the Romans as a line of defence.
Anglo-Saxons
The single group of people who probably had the greatest influence on Buckinghamshire's history, however, are the Anglo-Saxons. Not only did they give most of the places within the county their names, but the modern layout of the county is largely as it was in the Anglo-Saxon period. One of the great battles worthy of mention in the
Saint Edith) and in the late Anglo-Saxon period a royal palace was established at Brill. The sheer wealth in the county was worthy of note when the Domesday Survey
was taken in 1086.
Norman Conquest
Plantagenets
continued to take advantage of the wealth of the county.
Henry VIII: Buckingham gives way to Aylesbury
Another flush of annexations of local manors to the Crown accompanied the
King Henry VIII. Henry VIII was also responsible for making Aylesbury the official county town over Buckingham, which he is alleged to have done in order to curry favour with Thomas Boleyn so that he could marry his daughter Anne.[citation needed] Another of Henry's wives, Catherine Parr, also had a sphere of influence within the county at Beachampton
In the English Civil War (1642–1649) Buckinghamshire was mostly Parliamentarian, although some pockets of Royalism did exist. The Parliamentarian John Hampden was from Buckinghamshire, known particularly for his significant and successful battle tactics at Aylesbury in 1642. Some villages to the west of the county (Brill and Boarstall for example) were under constant conflict for the duration of the war, given their equidistance between Parliamentarian Aylesbury and Royalist Oxford. Many of these places were effectively wiped off the map in the conflict, but were later rebuilt. In the north of the county, Stony Stratford was Royalist and Newport Pagnell was Parliamentarian: the line of control between the sides echoed the Danegeld 700 years earlier.
Industrial revolution
The
Queen Victoria was once quoted as preferring "Bucks lace" for her pillows. Buckinghamshire still has good rail links to London, Birmingham and Manchester
and furniture is still a major industry in parts of south Bucks.
In the early to mid
wealth of magnificent houses
in the county.
20th Century urbanisation
Mass
new town of Milton Keynes being formed and Slough becoming heavily urbanised. This was a natural extension of the industrialisation of the landscape, and also provided employment for many local people. Both of these towns have (together with their surrounding areas) become unitary authorities in their own right and are administratively distinct from the area controlled by Buckinghamshire Council. Milton Keynes remains within the boundaries of the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, but Slough was transferred in 1974 to Berkshire
.
Today, Buckinghamshire is considered by many to be the idyllic rural landscape of
commuters for London, which in turn has led to an increase in the general cost of living for local people. However, pockets of poverty still remain in the county, particularly in the large towns of Aylesbury and High Wycombe
