Facts and places of interest in Aylesbury

Interesting Facts about Aylesbury 

• The Romans were in the Aylesbury area when they built Akeman Street (now A41). Apart from the Saxon mercenaries they left to guard Akeman Street , there is little sign that they did anything else in the area.

• The Celtic Britons had the Aylesbury area almost to themselves until an Anglo-Saxon army lead by Cuthwulf forced them out in 571. Aylesbury probably took its name at this time from the Anglo-Saxon word "Aigle's Burgh" meaning HILL TOWN or FORT

• The Danes were in this area in 921 but were ousted by Edward the Confessor. There was then no real stability until the Norman Conquest in 1066.

• Aylesbury as a settlement in Saxon times was a small market town.

• Aylesbury has been the county town of Buckinghamshire since the reign of Henry VIII.. Queen Anne Boleyn's father William, through marriage, took over Lordship of Aylesbury in 1515.

• Aylesbury received borough status in 1554 as a reward for supporting Mary Tudor's accession.

• Aylesbury remained mostly like a small market town until the town centre was redeveloped in the early 1960's. The population of Aylesbury in 1811 was 3,447 by 1995 was nearly 60,000; the population having nearly double since the 1960's. The town centre was redeveloped again in the 1990's.

• The Aylesbury Branch of The Grand Union Canal was opened in 1814

• In 1839 Aylesbury was the very first place in the world to get its own railway branch line. This was part of the main London to Birmingham Railway.

• The Metropolitan Railway arrived in 1892.

• It is believed that Aylesbury was a staging post before its abolition in the Slave Trade in England , with slaves being brought to Aylesbury by train from Liverpool via Manchester before being shipped to London on The Grand Union Canal.

Did you know …

Did you know that the TV series "Midsomer Murders" is shot in and around Aylesbury?

Did you know that another one of Aylesbury's claims to fame (or shame!) took place in the 1960's with the Great Train Robbery. Aylesbury was the base for the police enquires, where the Train Robbers and their Trials were held. Where the robbery took place and the robber's hideout are not far from Aylesbury.

Did you know that Aylesbury is referred to in ‘Blackadder's Christmas Carol'?

Places of Interest in Aylesbury

The Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

A working steam museum set in a 25-acre site, the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre was established in 1968 and boasts one of the largest collections of preserved steam and diesel locomotives in the country, including items from South Africa , the USA and Egypt as well as from Britain . Visitors can ride behind full-sized stream locomotives and on the extensive miniature railway. The Railway Centre is also home to the beautifully restored Rewley Road Station, which dates from 1851 and was moved here from Oxford , and is now the main visitor centre.

Aylesbury Town

Most of the older buildings in Aylesbury are contained in the areas around Market Square , Kingsbury Square , Church Street . One of the oldest is the 14 th century Kings Head, a coaching hostelry with stained-glass windows commemorating the marriage of King Henry VI to Margaret of Anjou in 1445, the couple are said to have stayed at The Kings Head on their honeymoon. Another famous person from British History who stayed at The Kings Head was Oliver Cromwell who stayed their after the battle of Worcester in 1651. The chair he used can still be seen but not used.

St Mary's Church in Aylesbury

The Parish Church , St Mary's, dates back from the 13 th Century, the central tower being Norman , the Stained glass windows Victorian.