Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Aylesbury

A busy market town in the English county of Buckinghamshire, Aylesbury has a population of just under 70,000, representing a 100% increase on what it was during the 1960’s, due mostly to it receiving a significant London overspill. The name which was taken from the Old English was originally ‘Aegel’s Burg’, and probably developed from a Iron Age hillfort, first established in around 650 BC. Just a small Anglo Saxon village for many centuries, Aylesbury was listed in 1086, as a ‘royal manor’ in the Domesday Book. Aylesbury became the county town of Buckinghamshire in 1529, and was afforded the title by non-other than King Henry VIII, no doubt to impress the father of Anne Boleyn who owned Aylesbury Manor at this time. Aylesbury saw some action during the English Civil War (1642-51), with the town siding with Parliament, the Battle of Aylesbury, which took place at Holman’s Bridge, saw the royalists defeated. One of Aylesbury’s old heroes was John Hampden who became notorious for refusing to pay ‘ship money’, his statue stands proudly in the market square to this day (another statue of John Hampden also stands in the Palace of Westminster). Aylesbury expanded somewhat after the arrival of the railway in 1863, with a line to High Wycombe being constructed, this followed the opening of the Aylesbury arm of the Grand Union Canal, which had been completed in 1814, connecting Aylesbury with Marsworth. Aylesbury is perhaps most famous for its unique breed of duck – the Aylesbury Duck, a result of selective breeding during the early 18th century. Much favoured by the restaurants of London, the Aylesbury ducks were walked to London on foot, stopping off at various inns along the way, where special pens were provided for overnight stays. The Aylesbury duck business had virtually dies out by the beginning of the Second World War. The population of Aylesbury had topped 20,000 by 1951, and it was at about this time that the town began to provide housing for the ‘overspill’ of London, this resulted in large population growth and many changes for the town. Most of old Aylesbury has now gone, flattened to make way for modern shopping developments, though you can still find some charming little cobbled lanes and old cottages in the areas around St Mary’s Church. Much of Aylesbury’s light industry which brought jobs and wealth to the town, has now disappeared, such well known local names as ‘Hazel’s’ (Hazel, Watson and Viney printers), ‘Nestles’ (NestlĂ© food manufacturers) and ‘Rivet’s (the Bifurcated and Tubular Rivet Company), gone forever and replaced with housing. The majority of Aylesbury jobs and careers revolve around the service industries and small business. Aylesbury Map

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