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d ir e c to r y

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

pathway on each side by short stone pillars supporting
an arched ro o f: the building was purchased by the
town in July, 1901, and is used also as a Corn E x ­
change and P u b lic Offices. The M eat M arket, b u ilt in
i863, abuts on the E xchange. Th e M arket Com pany's
undertaking, including the Town H all, M eat M arket,
C attle M arket and M arket Spaces, was purchased in
1900 by the Urban D istrict Council, for ,£9,500, the
original cost having been £27,000.
In the centre of the town is a large and commodious
Market square, to which all the roads and principal
streets converge as to a com m on centre.
In the M arket square is a statu e, erected in 19x0 as
a m em orial to M ajor-G en. S ir Charles Com pton W illiam ,
3rd Baron C hesham , ob. 1907, and one to Jobn H am p­
den, given by M r. Jam es G riffin, of T rin g , and unveiled
in July, 1912.
The M arket, held every W ednesday and Saturd ay, is
abundantly supplied w ith m eat, grain , cattle, pigs,
poultry and other a gricu ltu ral produce, and is well
attended. Sales of fa t stock are held on W ednesdays.
The fairs are now held as fo llo w s: 3rd S aturd ay in
January; Saturd ay next before P alm S u n d a y; 2nd
Saturday in M a y ; 3rd Saturd ay in J u n e; 4th Saturday
in Septem ber, and 2nd Saturd ay in October. The Wool
Fair is held on the 2nd W ednesday in J u ly ; the F at
Cattle F air on the 2nd W ednesday in Decem ber.
The clock tower, erected in the M a .k et place in
1876-7 at a cost of about £750, raised by subscriptions,
is a structure of blue stone w ith B ath stone dressings,
from designs b y D avid Brandon esq. architect, of
London, and is 70 feet in height. Th e illum inated
clock, presented to the town in 1857 hy Acton Tindal
esq. when he purchased the m anor, was originally placed
in the M arket House erected by th e M arquess of B u ck ­
ingham in 1806, on the site of an earlier edifice b uilt b y S ir
John Baldwin, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas,
in 1530, for which H enry Y H I. gave the tim b e r; the
foundation stone of th e tower was laid b y M rs. Acton
Tindal, J u ly 11, 1876, and the b uilding en trusted to
the Board of H ealth, June 25, 1877. Tem ple street
and square are said to derive th eir names from the
Temple fam ily of Stowe, and Bourbon street from Louis
XVH L who during the usurpation of Napoleon I. r e ­
sided at the m ansion of H artwell, about 2 m iles from
Aylesbury.
There are four banks in the to w n : th e B ucks A rchitural and Archaeological Society has its head quarters
here. The L ite ra ry
In stitute, in Tem ple street,
previously, and from 1840, th e M echanics’ In stitu te,
built entirely at the expense of Lord Rothschild, from
whom it is held at a peppercorn ren t, w as opened in
1880, and has about 250 m e m b e rs ; it contains a
reading room and a lib ra ry of 2,500 volum es, fitted
with oak and glass bookcases, the g ift of L a d y R o th ­
schild. In 1903 a club was b u ilt w ith caretaker’s
quarters attached, and is now conducted as a separate
institution.
Two w eekly newspapers are published
here. The V icto ria C lu b for W o rkin g M en, in stituted
by th e late Baron Ferdinand J. Rothschild M .P. and
erected at a cost of £4,000 as a m em orial of th e Jubilee
of Her late M ajesty Queen V icto ria, was opened on
W hit M onday, 1887; it contains a Teading room , with
a reference lib ra ry of about 400 volum es, b illiard and
committee room s, le ctu re hall, coffee b ar and stew ard’s
apartm ents; there are now (1915) about 300 m em bers.
On. the south-east of the M arket square is th e County
Hall, a large and im posing structure of red b rick, with
stone dressings, erected from designs by S ir John
Vanbrugh, and containing the offices of th e clerk of the
peace and C ounty Council, the cou n ty surveyor, the
county inspector of w eights and m easures, th e county
accountant, the education secretary and other county
officials, and th e cou nty record office in addition to the
respective courts of ju stice and ju d g es’ lodgings. The
assizes, quarter sessions, cou nty council m eetin gs and
some divisional p etty sessions are held here and the
general county business is also transacted here. The
offices of the chief constable of th e C oun ty Police adjoin
the Hall.
J
His M ajesty’s Prison and B orstal In stitu tion , b u ilt in
1845 on risin g ground m idw ay between A ylesb u ry and
Bierton, was in 1895 converted into a fem ale convict
prison, and w ill hold 270 p riso n ers; there are at
present about 150.
A reform atory for 80 inebriates was added in 1903.
The Masonic H all, in Ripon street, was erected in
1882 on the site of the old F ives C o u rt; the upper
portion of the b u ild in g is used for m asonic purposes
and the lower for entertainm ents &c. ; the concert hall
will seat 200. T h e m eetings of the B uckingham Lodge,
5 9 1 > the B uckingham
C hap ter, No. 5 9 1; the

AYLESBURY.

27

Ferdinand Rothschild Lodge, No. 2,420 and the M ark
Lodge are all held here.
Th e Public S w im m ing and Slipper baths w ere erected
in 1895, from plans by Mr. G uest L u ck ett F .I.A .S . of
Aylesbury, at a cost of nearly £3,000, £2,0.00 of which
was given by the late Ferdinand J. Rothschild M .P. The
swim m ing bath is 62 by 21 feet, and there are 19 dressing
boxes and 8 slipper baths.
T h e A ylesb ury and D istrict Sports C lub, w ith grounds
on the W endover road, laid out in 1894, com prises 28
acres, w ith facilities for football, tennis and bowls.
Th e m akin g of pillow lace, here called “ bone lace,” for
which the county was form erly fam ous, has, like several
other handicrafts, la rg ely succum bed to th e influence of
m achinery ; it is, however, still carried on in a num ber
of villag es, b u t only to a v ery lim ited e x te n t; straw
plaiting, m ore recen tly adopted here, seems in m any
places
to have superseded lace m a k in g ; b ut this
in du stry, like m an y others, has suffered from foreign
com petition.
The printing works of M essrs. Hazell,
W atson and V in ey L im ited , in the T rin g road, opened
h ere in 1867, em ploy over 600 hands, and connected
with these is an in stitute in S ilver street and a g irls’
club (Th e W averley, 122 H igh s tre e t); about ix acres
of land opposite to the works have been la id out as
a recreation ground and allotm ent gardens for use
of th e staff, th e allotm ents being cu ltivated b y over
80 m em bers. C ottages have also been provided. Th e
cottagers in the n eighbouring villages are ch iefly em ­
ployed in raisin g early ducks for the London m ark et,
and this business is now extensive. H ere are the w orks
of th e B ifurcated and T u b u lar R ivet Co. L im ited , the
Isis C ars L im ited and the Dom inion D airy Co. L im ited .
The N estlé and A n glo-Sw iss Condensed M ilk C om ­
pany have branch works erected here in 1870, and
considerably enlarged in 1899; m any of th e farm ers in
th e adjacent d istricts supply th is com pany w ith m ilk
daily. Th e com pany, origin ally establish ed in 1866,
has its head offices at C ham and V evey, in S w itzerlan d :
the London office is at 6 and 8 E astcheap.
Th e R oyal B uckingh am sh ire H ospital, founded in
1833, and carried on u n til 1862 in prem ises originally
p rivate, now occupies a noble ran g e of b uildings at the
west end of the town, th e foundation stone of w hich
was laid in 1861 by th e late L a d y V ern ev, d. 1890,
sister of Miss Florence N igh tin gale. These are of red
brick w ith stone facings, in th e Italian style, the p rin ­
cipal front being about 220 feet in len gth , w ith a
pillared portico, and three storeys in h eig h t, w ith a
basem ent containing kitchens, store rooms and a ser­
v an ts’ hall, and on the ground floor is th e entrance hall
and surgeon’s and m atron’s apartm ents ; on the first
floor are sm all p rivate and other w ards for special
cases, and above are probationers’ and servan ts’ bed­
rooms : the entire east w in g is occupied b y the
“ V ern ey ” w ard, for m en, and below it receivin g and
w aitin g room s and a dispensary ; th e w est w in g con­
tains the “ Lee ” ward, and is now (19x5) b ein g used
exclusively for soldiers, below whioh are d in in g rooms
and a board room ; th e north w in g, a la ter addition,
contains th e operating th eatre, X -ra y room s, electrical
bath-room s &c. and sm all w ards ; th ere is also a large
w ard for children ; above th e new north w in g is a suite
of dorm itories for sisters and nurses. In the grounds,
which are spacious and w ell kept, is a fully-equipped
laun dry, and a detached m ortu ary. Th e hospital p ro­
vides for 80 .in-patients. The R othschild w ard, on the
ground floor, is now being used as th e wom en’ s ward.
In the entrance hall is a b u st of M iss F lorence N ig h tin ­
gale, and in the, board room are p o rtra its of the la te
R igh t Hon. S ir H arry V erney b art. P .C ., D .L ., J .P . (d.
12 Feb. 18941, Robert Ceeley esq. F .R .C .S . and Dr. L ee
L L .D . The in stitution is m anaged by a body of gover­
nors, and is m aintained chiefly b y annual subscriptions
and collections.
T h e governors are represented for
business purposes by a board of m anagem ent and housev isitors. A m otor am bulance has been presented to th e
hospital by Lord Ham bleden. M rs. N apier H iggin s was
elected as president in 1915.
C h arities.— John Bedford, in th e year 1619, gave a real
estate, now (1915) yieldin g about £650 yea rly, to th e
poor and for the repairs of th e highw ays of this parish ;
the m anagem ent is now vested in trustees, incorporated
by A c t of Parliam ent under th e name of “ The Incor­
porated Surveyors of the H ighw ays of A y le sb u ry ” : Thos.
H ickm an, gent, gave by will, in 1695, a real estate in
this parish, now worth about £150 a year, besides alm s­
houses for the habitation of poor people, to be disposed
of by th e trustees, churchwardens and overseers of the
town of A ylesbury for the tim e being, to such poor people
as do not receive parish relief; there are also doles dis­
trib uted by th is ch arity to th e extent of about £50-