Kellys_Berks_Bucks&Oxon_1915_0501.jpg

d ir e c to r y

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BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.

BUCKINGHAM .

.13

Thomas Duncombe esq. '1655, with four sons and three 1716, am ounts to about ¿4 5 yearly, w hich sum is
daughters: there are also m em orials to the fam ily of equally divided for educational purposes, church repairs
C hester: on the north side is a stained window to W . and for the general use of the poor. L ieu t.-C o l. A rth u r
R idgw ay: on the south side a modern window to t h e 1 W illiam H ervey Good J.P. is lord of the m anor. The
m emory of Mrs. Irv in g, the wife of a form er r e c to r : soil is m ixed ; subsoil, gravel and clay. The chief crops
in the church, attached to two old desks, are chained I are wheat, barley, oats and roots. The area is 937
copies of Jew el’s “ Defence of the A pology of the C hurch ac re s; assessable value, ¿ 6 7 2 ; the population in 1911
of England,” 1567, and E rasm us’ s “ Paraphrase of the was 937.
New Testam ent,” placed in the church in 1666: the
Parish Clerk, Thom as Watson.
church was thoroughly restored in 1880-1, at a cost of
¿1,225, and affords 112 sittings. In the churchyard is W all L etter Box cleared at 7.15 a.m . & 5.30 p.m . week
days & 7.15 a.m . on Sundays. Letters th rou gh N ew ­
an ancient coped stone coffin-lid. Th e reg ister dates
port Pagnell arrive at 8 a.m . M ilton K eynes is the
from the year 1720: and there is a list of rectors from
nearest m oney order office & N ew port Pagnell the
1294, in which year Benet de F erib y held the rectory.
nearest telegraph office, about 3 m iles distant
The living is a rectory, net yearly value ¿ 15 0 , w'ith 11
-acres of glebe and residence, in the g ift of L ieut.-C ol. The school, b u ilt in 1864 by the late W. B. Tyrin gh am
A. W. H. Good J.P. and held since 1910 by the Rev.
esq. has been closed by the Education D epartm ent, &
Edward Jam es H arper M.A. of Pem broke College, O x­
the children have to attend the school at Milton
ford. The charity of Francis Duncom be esq. le ft in
Keynes, i j m iles distan t
p r iv a t e r e s id e n t s .
Harper Rev. E dw ard Jam es M .A. 1B ulm er John, farm er
C larke W illiam Thom as
(recto r), Th e R ecto ry
’ Butcher Charles, shopkeeper
Good Lieu t.-C o l. A rth u r W illia m ;
c o m m e r c ia l .
G obby Joseph, shopkeeper
Hervey J.P. B roughton house ; & Adams Percy M ilgate, farm er, Manor Hedges John, farm er, Brook farm
Junior Carlton club, London S W
farm
Teagle W alter, cowkeeper

B UCK I NGHAM
BUCKINGH AM is a m unicipal borough, m arket and prior to the Conquest, parts of the foundations of which
union town, head of a p etty sessional division and county are occasionally uncovered and constitute its only
court district and includes in the parish th e chapelry of vestiges. T h e old church, a cruciform edifice, had a
Gawcott, the ham lets of Bourton and Bourtonhold, and lofty spire, 163 feet in heigh t from the ground, which
■the precincts of P R E B E N D END, in the Northern d iv i­ collapsed on th e 7th Feb. 1699 >
’ th e b uildin g remained
sion of the county, hundred of B uckingham and in the for a series of years in a dilapidated state, u n til on the
rural deanery of Buckingham , archdeaconry of B ucking­ 26th M arch, 1776, the tow er fell, and the whole stru ctu re
ham , and diocese of Oxford, on the London road to was thereupon rem oved and the present ch urch erected
Birmingham, and has a station on the line of the B uck ­ on a new site. A large and ancient well, substantially
inghamshire railw ay, w hich runs from V erney Junction lined w ith stone, was discovered near th e church several
•on the London and N orth W estern line to B an bury, 57 years since by some workm en, and in 1877 some good
miles from London by road and 6o£ b y rail, 17 n orth ­ m asonry was revealed under the bank on the south-east
west from A ylesb ury, 24 north-north-east from Oxford side of the hill. Th e church, begun in 1777. was com pleted
and 8 east-by-south from Brackley.
in four years at an expense of ¿7,000, the greater part
Buckingham is a place of very considerable antiquity, of which was contributed or raised by Richard, E arl
and once had a castle. A branch of the Roman Akem an Tem ple K .G . ; it is constructed of stone, and consists of
Street from Chesterton, in Oxfordshire, crosses p art of chancel w ith aisle, nave of 6 bays, aisles, south porch
the hundred and parish of Buckingham , and m any and a battlem ented w estern tower w ith pinnacles and a
Roman coins have a t different tim es been d u g up in the light tapering spire, which rises to the height of 150 feet
vicinity. A t the tim e of th e Dom esday survey B uck ­ from the ground, and containing 8 bells and c lo c k : the
ingham was included w ith the ham let of Bourton.
interior was originally designed in the G assic style, with
The seigniory of B uckingham was for a long period columns and arched ceiling, richly ornamented : th e altar
held by the Staffords, Earls and Dukes of Buckingham , piece, presented by a form er M arquess of Buckingham ,
from whose crest the borough derives its arm s, v i z . : being a copy of Raphael’s “ T ra n sfig u ra tio n :” b ut from
“ per pale gules and sable, a swan, wings endorsed, 1862 extensive repairs and alterations w ere m ade from
argent.”
plans b y the la te S ir G . G . S cott R .A . who was a native
On 15th March, 1725, a dreadful conflagration broke of G aw cott, a ham let of this parish, and these have been
out which consumed 138 houses, or m ore than a third continued under th e direction of his son, John Oldrid S cott
part of the town as then existing, and no uniform ity was esq. : the nave has been com pletely reconstructed, with
subsequently observed either in the seating out of the new windows, buttresses and parapets of the E a rly D e­
streets or the reb uilding of the h o u se s; the town is corated s t y le ; a noble chancel was added at the cost of
pleasantly situated on the river Ouse, w hich environs the last D uke of B uckingham and Chandos K .G . (d. 1889),
it on every side except the north, and is crossed by and a spacious chancel aisle, the g ift of th e late Lord
three substantial b rid g e s ; it is paved, and is ligh ted Addington, erected to serve as an organ cham ber and
with gas by the United D istric t G as Co. ; a num ber of v e stry ; the total cost, including th e chancel, amounted
shops and some of the streets have since 1895 been to about ¿15,0 0 0 : m any stained windows have been
furnished w ith electric lig h t supplied b y the local erected as memorials, and include one to the Rev. H.
Electric L ig h t and Power Supply Co. ; the w ater supply Roundell, late vicar, who died on S t. Stephen’s Day, 1863;
¿9 derived from w ells. The G rand Junction C anal has another to a former curate, who died at Zanzibar, and
a branch to this town.
the stained east window, presented in 1890, at a cost of
In the reign of Edward III. B uckingham was governed over ¿400, by th e B uckin gh am Needle and Thread
by a mayor and two bailiffs, and in that of H enry V III. Society: in 1883 the h igh pews w ere rem oved and the
by a bailiff and burgesses, b ut was not regu larly incor­ side galleries taken dow n: in 1888 the organ was en­
porated till the reign of Queen M ary, whose charter, larged by private subscription and in 1890 the chancel
dated 27th Jan. 1 5 5 3 * was renewed by Charles II. in floor was laid with black and w h ite m arble at a cost of
£084. By the M unicipal Corporations A ct, 1835 (5 & 6 ¿ 1 1 0 : th e total cost of th e various restorations from 1873
william IV. c. 76), the governm ent was vested in a to 1890 am ounted to ¿ 6 ,3 8 3 : since th at date the floor of
tnayor, four aldermen and tw elve councillors, the cor- the sanctuary has been repaved w ith m arble, a chim ing
being styled M ayor, Alderm en and Burgesses apparatus fixed in the tower, and th e whole of the carving
of the borough and parish of Buckingham , in the county in the chancel completed at a cost of ¿4,200 : attached to
0 Buckingham. The Borough has a Commission of the the church is an endowment of ¿ 1 8 18s. yearly; given byreace.
Mr. Box for th e repair and m aintenance of the organ,
The borough sent two representatives to Parliam ent which has since been considerably enlarged at the cost of
mm 36 Henry V III. (1544-5)^ until the passing of the an anonym ous donor; a reredos of in terestin g ch aracter
representation of the People A ct, 1867,” (30 & 31 Viet. was given *b y the Needle and Th read Society in 1904;
“ t)1
reduced the num ber to one, and b y the the design
is the N a tiv ity of our L o r d ; on the scroll
Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885,” (48 & 49 V iet. c. are the words “ Peace on earth, good w ill towards
, rePresentation of the borough was m erged in m en.” There are 960 sittin g s. The reg ister of baptism s
that of the county.
and burials dates from the year 156 1; m arriages, 1559.
The m ost conspicuous b uilding in B uckingham is the The livin g
is a vicarage, n et yearly value ¿300, w ith
mrch of S S . Peter and Paul, erected in 1777-81 on a residence,
in the g ift of the Bishop of O xford, and
i at,Ura' rock, supposed to be th e site of an ancient held since 1911 by the Rev. Jam es B arb er K irb y M .A.
e b uilt by one of the G iffards, E arls of Buckingham , of Selwyn College, C am b ridge, who is also rural dean of