part of the county is the south, which is occupied by part of the Chiltern system, the general direction of which is from south-west to north-east. The crest-line of these hills crosses the county at its narrowest point, along a line, above the towns of Prince’s Risborough and Wendover, not exceeding 11 m. in length. This line divides the county into two parts of quite different physical character; for to the south almost the whole land is hilly (the longer slope of the Chiltern system lying in this direction), well wooded, and pleasantly diversified with narrow vales. The chief of these are watered by the Wye, Misbourne and Chess streams. The beech tree is predominant in the woods, in so much that William Camden, writing c. 1585, supposed the county to take name from this feature (A.S. boc, beech). In the south a remnant of ancient forest is preserved as public ground under the name of Burnham Beeches. The Chilterns reach a height of nearly 900 ft. within the county.
Geology.—The northern half of the county is occupied by Jurassic strata, in the southern half Cretaceous rocks predominate except in the south-eastern corner, where they are covered by Tertiary beds. Thus the oldest rocks are in the north, succeeded continuously by younger strata to the south; the general dip of all the rocks is south-easterly. A few patches of Upper Lias Clay appear near the northern boundary near Grafton Regis and Castle Thorpe, and again in the valley of the Ouse near Stoke Goldington and Weston Underwood. The Oolitic series is represented by the Great Oolite, with limestones in the upper part, much quarried for building stones at Westbury, Thornborough, Brock, Whittlewood Forest, &c.; the lower portions are more argillaceous. The Forest Marble is seen about Thornton as a thin bed of clay with an oyster-bearing limestone at the base. Next above is the Cornbrash, a series of rubbly and occasionally hard limestones and thin clays. The outcrop runs by Tingwick, Buckingham, Berehampton and Newport Pagnell, it is quarried at Wolverton and elsewhere for road metal. Inliers of these rocks occur at Marsh Gibbon and Stan Hill. The Oxford Clay and Kimmeridge Clay, with the Gault, lie in the vale of Aylesbury. The clay is covered by numerous outliers of Portland, Purbeck and Lower Greensand beds. The Portland beds are sandy below, calcareous above; the outcrop follows the normal direction in the county, from south-west to north-east, from Thame through Aylesbury; they are quarried at several places for building stone and fossils are abundant. The Hartwell Clay is in the Lower Portland. Freshwater Purbeck beds lie below the Portland and Lower Greensand beds; they cap the ridge between Oving and Whitchurch. Glass-making sands have been worked from the Lower Greensand at Hartwell, and phosphatic nodules from the same beds at Brickhill as well as from the Gault at Towersey. A broad band of Gault, a bluish clay, extends from Towersey across the county in a north-easterly direction. Resting upon the Gault is the Upper Greensand; at the junction of the two formations numerous springs arise, a circumstance which has no doubt determined the site of several villages. The Chalk rises abruptly from the low lying argillaceous plain to form the Chiltern Hills. The form of the whole of the hilly district round Chesham, High Wycombe and the Chalfonts is determined by the Chalk. Reading beds, mottled clays and sands, repose upon the Chalk at Woburn, Barnham, Fulmer and Denham, and these are in turn covered by the London Clay, which is exposed on the slopes about Stoke Common and Iver. Between the Tertiary-capped Chalk plateau and the Thames, a gentler slope, covered with alluvial gravel and brick earth, reaches down to the river. Thick deposits of plateau gravel cover most of the high ground in the southern corner of the county, while much of the northern part is obscured by glacial clays and gravels.
Industries.—The agricultural capacities of the soil vary greatly in different localities. On the lower lands, especially in the Vale of Aylesbury, about the headwaters of the Thame, it is extremely fertile; while on the hills it is usually poor and thin. The proportion of cultivated land is high, being about 83% of the whole. Of this a large and growing portion is in permanent pasture; cattle and sheep being reared in great numbers for the London markets, to which also are sent quantities of ducks, for which the district round Aylesbury is famous. Wheat and oats are the principal grain crops, though both decrease in importance. Turnips and swedes for the cattle are the chief green crops; and dairy-farming is largely practised. There is no general manufacturing industry, but a considerable amount of lace-making and straw-plaiting is carried on locally; and at High Wycombe and in its neighbourhood there is a thriving trade in various articles of turnery, such as chairs and bowls, from beech and other hard woods. The introduction of lace-making in this and neighbouring counties is attributed to Flemish, and later to French immigrants, but also to Catharine of Aragon during her residence (c. 1532) at Ampthill. Down to the later part of the 19th century a general holiday celebrated by lace-makers on the 25th of November was known as “Cattarn’s Day.”
Communications.—The main line of the London & North-Western railway crosses the north-east part of the county. Bletchley is an important junction on this system, branches diverging east to Fenny Stratford, Bedford and Cambridge, and west to Oxford and Banbury, Buckingham being served by the western branch. There is also a branch from Cheddington to Aylesbury. The Metropolitan-Great Central joint line serves Amersham, Chesham (by a branch), and Aylesbury, joining the North-Western Oxford branch at Verney Junction; this line is used by the Great Central railway, the main line of which continues north-westward from Quainton Road. A light railway connects this station with the large village of Brill to the south-west. The Great Central and the Great Western companies jointly own a line passing through Beaconsfield, High Wycombe, and Prince’s Risborough, which is connected northward with the Great Central system. Before the opening of this line in 1906 the Great Western branch from Maidenhead to Oxford was the only line serving High Wycombe and Prince’s Risborough, from which there are branches to Watlington and Aylesbury. The main line of this company crosses the extreme south of the county by Slough and Taplow. The Grand Junction Canal, reaching the valley of the Ouse by way of the Ouzel valley from the south, has branches to Aylesbury and to Buckingham. Except the Thames none of the rivers in the county is continuously navigable.
Bletchley is an important junction on this system, branches diverging east to Fenny Stratford, Bedford and Cambridge, and west to Oxford and Banbury, Buckingham being served by the western branch. There is also a branch from Cheddington to Aylesbury. The Metropolitan-Great Central joint line serves Amersham, Chesham (by a branch), and Aylesbury, joining the North-Western Oxford branch at Verney Junction; this line is used by the Great Central railway, the main line of which continues north-westward from Quainton Road. A light railway connects this station with the large village of Brill to the south-west. The Great Central and the Great Western companies jointly own a line passing through Beaconsfield, High Wycombe. and Prince’s Risborough, which is connected northward with the Great Central system. Before the opening of this line in 1906 the Great Western branch from Maidenhead to Oxford was the only line serving High Wycombe and Prince’s Risborough, from which there are branches to Watlington and Aylesbury. The main line of this company crosses the extreme south of the county by Slough and Taplow. The Grand Junction Canal, reaching the valley of the Ouse by way of the Ouzel valley from the south, has branches to Aylesbury and to Buckingham. Except the Thames none of the rivers in the county is continuously navigable.
Population and Administration.—The area of the ancient county is 475,682 acres, with a population in 1891 of 185,284, and in 1901 of 195,764. The area of the administrative county is 479,358 acres. The county contains eight hundreds, of which three, namely Stoke, Burnham and Desborough, form the “Chiltern Hundreds” (q.v.). The hundred of Aylesbury retains its ancient designation of the “three hundreds of Aylesbury.” The municipal boroughs are Buckingham, the county town (pop. 3152), and Wycombe, officially Chepping Wycombe, also Chipping or High Wycombe (15,542). The other urban districts are Aylesbury (9243), Beaconsfield (1570), Chesham (7245), Eton (3301), Fenny Stratford (4799), Linslade, on the Ouzel opposite to Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire (2157), Marlow (4526), Newport Pagnell (4028), Slough (11,453). Among the lesser market towns may be mentioned Amersham (2674), Ivinghoe (808), Olney (2684), Prince’s Risborough (2189), Stony Stratford (2353), Wendover (2009) and Winslow (1703). At Wolverton (5323) are the carriage works of the London & North-Western railway. Several of the villages on and near the banks of the Thames have become centres of residence, such as Taplow, Cookham and Bourne End, Burnham and Wooburn. Buckinghamshire is in the midland circuit, and assizes are held at Aylesbury. It has one court of quarter sessions, and is divided into thirteen petty sessional divisions. The boroughs of Buckingham and Wycombe have separate commissions of the peace. The administrative county contains 230 civil parishes. Buckinghamshire is almost entirely within the diocese of Oxford, and 215 ecclesiastical parishes are situated wholly or in part within it. There are three parliamentary divisions, Northern or Buckingham, Mid or Aylesbury, and Southern or Wycombe, each returning one member; and the county contains a small part of the parliamentary borough of Windsor (chiefly in Berkshire). The most notable institution within the county is Eton College, the famous public school founded by Henry VI.
History.—The district which was to become Buckinghamshire was reached by the West Saxons in 571, as by a series of victories they pushed their way north along the Thames valley. With the grouping of the settlements into kingdoms and the consolidation of Mercia under Offa, Buckinghamshire was included in Mercia until, with the submission of that kingdom to the Northmen, it became part of the Danelaw. In the 10th century Buckinghamshire suffered frequently from the ravages of the Danes, and numerous barrows and earthworks mark the scenes
