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d ir ec to r y

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B U C K IN G H A M SH IR E

A YLESBU R Y.

2.5

Letters arrive th rou gh Tham e about 9 a.m . & 1 p.m .
nearest m oney order k telegraph office, ab ou t i m ile
Wall Box, Manor House, cleared at 9.15 a.m . & 1.10 k
distan t
5.50 p.m . ; sundays, 9.15 a.m . H addenham is th e I
C arter Rev. Charles Sydney M .A. B elgrove Richard, farm er, overseer &( land tax, Pasture farm (letters are
(rector), T h e Rectory
i assessor k collector of incom e &
received throu gh Princes RisboroQ
Stevenson M aj.P h ilip Leake,M anor he
¡W aters Alan, farm er, Black B arn frm
A S T W O O D is a village and small parish on the borders
of Bedfordshire and on the road from Newport P agn ell to
Bedford, 7 m iles south-w est from Bedford, 5J north-east
from Newport Pagnell term inal station of a branch of the
London and N orth W estern railw ay, and 7§ south-east
from Olney station, on the Bedford and Northam pton
branch of the Midland railw ay, in the Northern division
of the county, hundred, union, p etty sessional division and
county court d istrict of N ew port Pagnell, and in the
rural deanery of N ew port Pagnell, archdeaconry of B uck ­
ingham and diocese of Oxford. Th e ch urch of S t. Peter
is an ancient b uilding of 9tone, consisting of chancel,
nave of four bays, w ith clerestory, south aisle, modern
south porch and an em battled western tower of the
Decorated period, containing 3 bells and a clock, opposite
the porch is the base of an ancient stone c ro s s ; the
piers and arches of the nave are also Decorated, b ut
the clerestory and roof P e rp en d icu la r; the font, an
Early E nglish work has a plain octagonal bowl supported
on a square pedestal having four circular shafts with
moulded ca p s : in the church there1 are three fine brasses,
with effigies, to Thom as Chibnale and E m m a and A lice
his wives, dated 1534: there are th ree m arble m ural
tablets to the Lowndes fam ily, and one to Sam uel
Crar.mer, 1640 ; within the chancel rails are four black

m arble slabs, three to th e Lowndes fam ily and one to
Thom as Layton esq. 1723 ; th e church was restored in
1893 and a new organ ad d ed : there are 120 sittin gs.
The reg ister dates from the yea r 1666. The livin g is a
vicarage, n et yearly value £140, including 12 acres of
glebe, w ith residence, in th e g ift of the Lord Chancellor,
and held since 1911 by th e Rev. John M artin, of E din ­
b urgh University.
H ere is a C ongregational chapel,
b u ilt in 1847 and holding 120 persons. Lowndes’ charity
of £ 4 10s. is for distribution yearly in m oney, on E aster
M onday. John Irvin e B oswell esq. M .D ., J .P . who is
lord of the m anor, and M r. Benjam in Howkins are the
p rin cipal landow ners. Th e soil is stron g c la y ; subsoil,
clay. Th e chief crops are w h eat, beans, b arley and
oats. Th e area is 1,281 a c re s; assessable value, £ 7 1 3 ;
the population in 1911 was 140.
Parish C lerk, Charles Flute.
Post Office.— John H iggins, sub - postm aster.
Letters
th rou gh N ew port P agn ell, 8.10 a.m . B ox cleared at
5.40 p .m . ; no delivery on sundays. Cranfield, 4^ m iles
distant, is the nearest m oney order & telegrap h office
E lem en tary School (m ixed), b uilt in 1853, for 80 ch il­
dren ; Mrs. A rth u r W rig h t, m istress
C arriers to B edford.— Roberts & Jam es (from N orth
C raw ley), sats

Martin Rev. John (vicar), V icarage

H iggin s John, b lacksm ith , Post office W ooding Jam es & John Lew is, farm rs
Howkins Benj. farm er, Astwood Bury W ooding John k Jam es, a g ricu ltu ral
V illage In stitu te (W m . W ooding, sec)
m achine owners
Franklin A rthur, farm er, G reenvalley W ildin g C harles, farm er
W ooding John L ew is, Swan inn
farm
W ilding H arry, baker
COMMERCIAL.

AYLESBURY
A Y L E SB U R Y is a m arket and union town, parish, head
of a p etty sessional division and cou n ty cou rt district,
in the Mid division of the county, in a hundred to
which it gives name, rural deanery of A ylesb ury, arch ­
deaconry of B uckingham and diocese of O x fo r d ; and
stands on an elevated site form ed of Portland rock, and
at its highest point is about 300 feet above the level
of the sea; it is near the centre of the county, 40 m iles
from London through Wendover, Am ersham and U x­
bridge, 38 through T rin g , B erkham sted and W atford,
and 35 m iles direct from B aker S treet station 011 the
Metropolitan Extension railw ay, with which is now incor­
porated the old A ylesb ury and Buckingham line and by
the London and North W estern railway, to its term inal
station in the town, on a branch diverging from
the main line at Cheddington. T he G reat C entral rail­
way company’s extension from N ottin gh am to London
also serves A ylesb ury, being now am algam ated with the
Metropolitan as far as Harrow. Th e town is 42 m iles
from London by the G reat W estern railw ay, via Beacons­
field and H igh W ycom be, 30 m iles north-north-w est
from W indsor, 16 north from H igh W ycom be, 17
south-ea-st from B uckingham and B icester, 10 east-northeast from Tham e and 10 west-south-w est from Leighton
Buzzard, in Bedfordshire. I t stands on a branch of the
Grand Junction canal and gives its name to the large
and fru itfu l Vale of A ylesbury, long celebrated for
verdure and fertility, which, extending from the foot of
the Chiltern H ills and the western border of H ertford­
shire towards the north to W ingrave and O ving, is
skirted by the hills of Pitchco tt and Quainton, and
stretches westward alm ost to the verge of Oxfordshire,
losing its appellation in th e tract of woodland form erly
known as “ Birnwood,” or “ Bernwode ” F orest .
During the civil war A ylesb ury was garrisoned for
the Parliam ent in 1644-5, under Col. B u lstro d e: Prince
Rupert appeared before the town, 20th M arch, 1643,
b ut no engagem ent then took p la c e : the skirm ish known
as “ the Battle of A y le s b u r y ” occurred at Holman’s
Bridge, near the town, on Nov. 1, 1642. T he town
was incorporated and m ade a parliam en tary borough by
a charter from Queen M ary in 1553-4, the rig h t of
«lection being originally vested in the corporation alone,
afterwards in the pot-wallopers, and in 1804 was ex­
tended to the three hundreds of A ylesbury, which con­
tinued to return two m em bers to Parliam ent un til the
passing of the “ R edistribution of Seats A ct, 18 85” (48
& 4 9 Viet. c. 23), b v which the representation was
merged into that of the county.

The town having, by neglect, lost its charter, was
governed by a Local Board of H ealth, b ut it is now
under th e control of an Urban D istrict C oun cil of 18
m em bers, form ed under th e provisions of th e “ L ocal
Governm ent A ct, 1894” (56 and 57 V ie t. c. 7 3 ): th e
d istrict is divided into two wards, E astern and W estern.
B y L ocal G overnm ent Board O rder, No. 35,052, w hich
cam e into operation October 1st, 1896, th e area w ithin
the A ylesb ury R ural D istrict, w hich p rior to th e opera­
tion of th e Local Governm ent A c t, 1894, form ed part
of the civil parish of A ylesbury, was transferred to the
civil parish and Urban D istrict of A ylesbury, and the
area w ithin the A ylesb ury Urban D istrict, which, prior
to the operation of the sam e A ct, form ed p art of the
civil parish of Bierton w as, w ith B roughton, tran sferred
to the c iv il parish of Bierton w ith Broughton and to the
R u ral D istrict of A ylesbury.
T h e ecclesiastical h istory of A ylesb u ry derives its
ch ief interest from the connection w hich existed b e­
tween this church and th e cathedral of Lincoln. A t
an early period a bishop of th a t see, in com pliance w ith
a Papal requisition, presented a foreign er, who was
a relative of his own, to th e rectory, and he appro­
priated it in the usual form to the deanery of Lincoln,
so th at i t becam e annexed to i t ; subsequently, this
arrangem ent was reversed, and the rectory attached
to a prebendal stall, and, u n til the abolition, d u rin g
1837-45, of peculiar jurisdictions, once nearly 300 in
num ber, the church of A ylesb u ry was exem p t from
ordinary episcopal visitation, as a p eculiar of the dean
and chapter of Lincoln.
The town, w ith W alton, is abundantly supplied with
water from the C h iltern H ills b y a public company,
established in the year 1867, which also supplies the
villages of Aston Clinton, together w ith St. Leonard's
B uckland, Drayton Beaucham p, E ythrope, Halton, H a rt­
well, Stone, U pper Winchendon, Waddesdon, W endover,
W estcott, Weedon, Hastoe and W igginton, and th e town
of T rin g in H ertfordshire. The reservoirs are at Dan­
cers End, B uckland and N ew Ground, near G reat B erk ­
ham sted.
The town is ligh ted w ith gas, supplied by a com pany
form ed in 1861, and by electricity from works erected in
1915 in E xchan ge street.
A com plete system of sewerage has been applied to
the town at an expense of upw ards of £25,000; th e
whole of the sew age is conducted by m ain conduits to
one outfall about a mile from the town, where works