Buckinghamshire

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County of southeast central England.

Area
1,565 sq km/604 sq mi

Towns
Aylesbury (administrative headquarters), Beaconsfield, Buckingham, High Wycombe, Olney

Physical
Chiltern Hills; Vale of Aylesbury

Features
Chequers (country seat of the prime minister); Burnham Beeches (ancient woods); the church of the poet Thomas Gray's ‘Elegy’ at Stoke Poges; Cliveden, a country house designed by architect Charles Barry (now a hotel; it was once the home of Nancy, Lady Astor); Bletchley Park, home of World War II code-breaking activities, formerly used as a training post for GCHQ (Britain's electronic surveillance centre), now a heritage site and museum; homes of the poets William Cowper at Olney and John Milton at Chalfont St Giles, and of the Tory prime minister Disraeli at Hughenden Valley; grave of William Penn, Quaker founder of Pennsylvania, at Jordans near Chalfont St Giles; Stowe landscape Gardens; Buckinghamshire County Museum, some of the museum buildings date from the 15th century.

Industries
engineering; furniture (chiefly beech); paper; printing; railway workshops; motor vehicles

Agriculture
about 75% of the land is under cultivation, fertile soil; cereals (barley, wheat, oats); cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep

Population
(2001) 479,000

Famous people
John Hampden (MP), William Herschel (astronomer), Ben Nicholson (painter), George Gilbert Scott (architect), Edmund Waller (poet)

Green represents the Catholic people. Orange stands for the Protestant people. White is a symbol of peace. Effective date: 29 December 1937. >>