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54

BUCKINGH AM,

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.

B uckingham , chaplain to B uckingham union, and su rro ­
gate. Before 1445 B uckingham was a chapelrv attached
to the n eighbou rin g church of K in g 's S utton, b ut was at
th at date m ade a separate v ic a r a g e ; the great tithes,
together w ith the m anor of G aw cott, w ere appropriated
to a prebendal stall in Lincoln cathedral, called the
prebend of Sutton -cu m -B uckin gh am , once held b y the
illustrious W illiam of W ykeham , b ut surrendered to the
Crown in 1547.
Th e V icarage house is an ancient
b uildin g, supposed to have been b u ilt in th e reign of
C h arles II. ; it stands on a site originally given to the
benefice when it was first con stituted a vicarage in the
year 1445, and the present v icarage garden, sloping
down to the riv er Ouse, appears to be precisely the
ancient “ Field of W aln u ts,” of th a t early d a te ; in the
la rge din in g room of th e house is a b eau tifu l and
m assive ch im n ey piece, finely designed and carved out
of slabs of rude m arble, discovered in the parish and
presented by the M arquess of B uckin gham to the
V icarage. A school chapel of stone in th e E a rly E n glish
style, a fter a design by th e late G . E . S treet esq. R .A .
was erected in 1865 to serve the join t purpose of a
day school and a m ission chapel for the w orking people
of that portion of the town, b u t is now used solely as
a m ission chapel, and w ill seat 60 persons. A t the
north end of th e parish is another m ission chapel of
iron and wood, b u ilt in 1872, and seating 80 persons.
A C ath olic ch u rch was erected in 1911 in th e London
road, from designs by M essrs. P ugin and Pow ell, at a
cost of ¿1,50 0 .
T h e C ongregational chapel was first founded in
1700; the present stru ctu re, b u ilt in 1857 at a cost of
¿ 1,9 9 5 ,
an edifice w ith a gabled front of Cosgrove
stone and B ath stone dressings in the E a rly English
style, and consists of nave and an aisle separated by an
arcade of four Pointed arches restin g on circular pillars
and has an open arcaded p o rc h : there are 460 sittings.
In 1876 S un day schools w ere erected at a cost of about
¿ 1,3 0 0 ; and class room s in 1879 at a cost of ¿ 3 8 0 ; they
w ill hold 250 children.
T h e W esleyan chapel, b uilt in 1834, will hold 350
p e rs o n s ; the E van gelistic M ission hall, form erly a
P rim itive M ethodist chapel, b u ilt in 1840, has sittings
for 250.
The C em etery, established in 1856 b y th e parish,
ac tin g th rou gh a b urial board, is about a q u arter of a
mile from th e town, on the Brackley road, and now con­
sists of 4J acres of land, an additional
acres having
been added in 1897, planted w ith shrubs and sur­
rounded by a brick w all, surm ounted by a lig h t iron
railin g; the m ortu ary chapels are of red and white brick,
with quoins of Bath stone, in the Decorated and E arly
English sty le s ; the sexton’s house form s a lodge at the
e n tra n ce : it is under the charge of a b urial board of
nine m em bers.
The chapel of S t. John’s R oyal Latin school, now in­
corporated w ith an English school, under the m anage­
m ent of trustees, was founded b y Edward V I. who en­
dowed it w ith the revenue of a dissolved chantry
belonging to the guild of the H oly T rin ity, and ap­
propriated to its u s e ; the chapel was founded in 1260
by M atthew Stratton, archdeacon of B uckingham , and
dedicated to S. John the B ap tist and S. Thom as a
Becket, probably in the m em ory of th at prelate’ s visit
to Buckingham as chancellor in 1160: in 1470 it was
p artly reb uilt by John Ruding, archdeacon of Lincoln
and p rebendary of B uckingham ; in the year 1776 a new
roof, constructed p rin cipally from the tim bers of the old
church, was .placed by Earl Tem ple, and the chapel was
used for divine service d u rin g the erection of the present
church on C astle h i l l : there was a house for the m aster,
b u ilt in 1690 b y Alexander Denton e s q .: th e original
Norm an doorway still rem ains and is deeply recessed and
profusely adorned w ith th e ch aracteristic zig -zag orna­
m ent, the arch being supported on niche shafts, with
cushioned capitals. In 1875 a thorough restoration of
the school room was commenced from designs furnished
by the late S ir G . G ilb ert S cott R .A . when a new stone
bell-cot was erected, the large window in th e south­
eastern gable filled w ith suitable m ullions and tracery
and two new windows inserted in the south wall. The
cost was defrayed b y a gran t from the trustees of ¿30 ,
public subscriptions am ounting to ¿ 14 0 , and a sum of
¿ 3 0 , the proceeds of concerts and entertainm ents given
by the m asters and pupils.
N ew school prem ises,
situated in 2 acres of garden and p layin g grounds, were
erected in Chandos road in 1907, for 100 boys and girls,
at a cost of ¿6,200, in clu d in g the s it e ; the buildings,
w hich are of dark red brick, comprise a central hall,
class room s, lecture rooms, laboratory &c. New b u ild ­
ings for woodwork, cookery, la u n d ry and first aid are
now (1915) in course of erection. Th e old m aster’s

[ k e l l y ’s

house has been sold, and the old C han try C hapel has
been purchased by the N ational T ru s t for the Preserva­
tion of Ancient M onuments.
The Town H all, nearly in the centre of the town, is a
plain b ut spacious and lofty b uilding of red brick sur­
mounted by a clock and b ell-tu rret of wood covered with
lead, on the top of which, standing w ith wings expanded
on a golden ball, is a large carved and gilded swan of
copper, chained, and adopted as the device of the borough
from the Stafford c r e s t ; the ground floor contains offices
for the borough and county m agistrates and a private
council c h am b er; a large and handsome oak staircase
conducts to th e first floor, on which is a large room
used at elections and on other public occasions, and a
court room in which the p etty sessions and county
court business is tra n sa c te d : the hall w ill hold about
600. T he m un icipal insignia in clude a m ace, m ayor’s
chain and badge and s e a ls : the m ace, of silver gilt,
is historically of m uch in terest, having been m ade or
converted in the Com m onw ealth period, and re-con­
verted at the resto ra tio n ; it is 3 ft. 4 in. long and
has a plain sh aft w ith three knops and a spreading
b a s e : three brackets support th e head, the surface of
which is divided into three com partm ents displaying:
1. A swan w ith wings expanded, and gorged w ith a
coronet and chained, am id foliage. 2. A harp. 3. A
rose. S urm ou n tin g the head is an elaborate cresting
of open w ork, from w hich rise three g ilt feathers
curved inw ards and m eetin g at th eir extrem ities, and
on these rests a square cushion carryin g a c ro w n : on
the raised flat top are the royal S tu art arm s between
the letters C. R . : at the base of the m ace is an in­
scription and the d a te 1660. T h e chain and badge,
of silver g ilt, w ere presented in 1884 by S ir E . H.
Verney 3rd bart. (d. 1910) and L a d y V ern ey, of Claydon
H ou se: it consists of 81 quatre-foil lin ks, each enclosing
a Tudor rose, and united by sm aller lin k s : th e circular
badge displays th e borough arm s w ith in a w reath of
laurel. Of the two seals, the older, of silver, bears the
arm s of th e borough as confirm ed by W illiam Harvey
C larenceux, in 1565: the modern brass seal is sim ilar.
The building form erly used as the borough gaol and
afterw ards as the borough and county lock-up, stands at
the bottom of M arket square, facing the town hall, and
was erected by Lord Cobham in 1748 at his own ex­
pense ; before th e year 1839 th e principal front of the
building was on the north side, b u t in that yea r the
south side was reb uilt in a castellated style w ith square
towers and battlem ents at a cost of ¿1,50 0 , and on the
outside is a tab let recording the restoration of th e sum­
m er assizes to this town in 1748 ; th ey continued to be
held here from 1748 to the month of J uly, 1848, when
they w ere rem oved to A y le s b u r y : the b uilding contains
9 cells and a police office, not now in use. The police
station, in Moreton road, erected in 1892, is an edifice ol
red brick w ith Bath stone dressings, and com prises the
usual offices, together with 4 cells, a residence for the
superintendent and a room for a single con stab le; the
force for the division consists of a superintendent (at­
tached to the north-w estern division of the county
police), one inspector, three sergeants, 18 constables
and three p rivate constables.
Th e Masonic H all, in H igh street, was opened in 1890
for t-he G ren ville Lodge, No. 1787, b ut m eetings are
now held in the Y eom an ry H all, H un ter street
T h ere is a Reading Room in the Town H all supplied
w ith daily and weekly papers and books of reference and
containing a library of about 1,000 b ook s; billiards,
chess and draughts &c. are also p ro v id ed ; it is sup­
ported bv m em bers and honorary subscribers.
The m arket is held on Saturd ay for live and dead
farm in g stock and also for corn, and on M onday a calf
m arket is held at the Woolpack yard.
On the 3rd
S atu rd ay in June a fair is held for wool only, on the
1st S atu rd ay in Septem ber a sheep fair, and a statute
pleasure fair on the S aturd ay after Old Michaelmas
day and a run aw ay fair (for h irin g of farm servants) on
the following Saturd ay. Foal show and sale last Mon­
day in Septem ber, and d a iry show and sale second
M onday in October. There are auction sales of farm­
in g stock in th e m arket every S atu rd ay, and a large
fat stock fair S atu rd ay nearest 13th Decem ber.
A m ansion in this town, called “ Fowlers and Lambard’s,” was anciently the residence of John Barton,
founder of the hospital already m entioned; here in 1514»
Edward Fowler entertained Catherine of A rra g o n ; and
in 1644, being then in the occupation of S ir Edward
Richardson, who was knighted at W elbeck, 10th Aug.
1619, it was for some days the residence of Charles I.
A t th e north end of the town is a N ursing Home and
D istrict N u rsin g Institution, originally established in
r868 in connection w ith th e parish church, b ut since May,

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