44 



BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 



quantities of fine beech trees are produced in the 

 8ou thern part of the county ; and nearly the sixth 

 part of the ground between the Thames and the 

 road to Oxford is covered with that wood. Nume- 

 rous plantations of Scotch firs are thriving on Wav- 

 endon heath, which is now the property of the 

 Duke of Bedford, and which was inclosed in 1778. 

 In the coppices of Whaddon-chase there are many 

 fine oak and ash trees. 



The principal manufactures of Buckinghamshire 

 are lace and paper. Almost all the lower classes 

 of females in the county are employed in lace-ma- 

 king ; and there is scarcely a house in which there is 

 not a lace-pillow, parchments, bobbins, gimps, pins, 

 thread, and other requisites for that manufacture. It 

 is said, that more lace is manufactured in the town 

 and neighbourhood of Newport Pagnell than in all 

 the rest of England. A market is held every Wed- 

 nesday for the purpose of selling this article ; and 

 great quantities of it are disposed at the fairs, of 

 which no fewer than six are held annually. The 

 manufacture of paper is carried on to as great an ex- 

 tent in the neighbourhood of Wycombe, as in any 

 other part of England. There are no fewer than 

 fifteen corn and paper mills on the part of the small 

 river Wycombe which passes through the parish. 

 At Amersham^ there is a cotton manufactory, esta- 

 blished abeut twenty- two years ago, which employs 

 above 100 persons, though a considerable part of the 

 business is performed by machinery. Wooden ar- 

 ticles, in the respective branches of round, hollow, 

 aud Tunbridge-ware, are manufactured at Chesham. 



The antiquities of the county are not very nume- 

 rous. Stony Stratford, or its immediate vicinity, has 

 been regarded by several antiquaries as the Lftctodo- 

 rum of the Itinerary : Considering that the etymo- 

 logy of Lactodorum, in the British language, per- 

 fectly agrees with its present English name. * Cam- 

 den supposes the particular spot occupied by the 

 Roman station to have been at this town, though Dr 

 Stukely places it at Old Stratford, and Dr Salmon 

 at Calverton. The ancient church of Stewkely is of 

 Saxon workmanship, and is mentioned by Dr Stuke- 

 ly as the oldest and most entire he ever saw. The 

 date of 1106 is said to have been observed on a stone 

 by some workmen who were repairing the roof of 

 the chancel. The cross, built upon the side of a 

 high, steep, and chalky hill, near the hamlet of 

 Whiteleaf, is supposed by Mr Wise to have been 

 rrected in the reign of Edward the Elder, in comme- 

 moration of a battle fought against the Danes. It is 

 about 100 feet high, and 50 broad, tapering to 20. 



In the neighbourhood of Wycombe, in a meadow 

 on the grounds at Loakes, there was found, in 1724, 

 a tesselated pavement, about nine feet square, with 

 the figure, of a wild beast in the centre. The bor- 

 ders are curiously ornamented with small square stones 

 of different colours. The coins discovered along with 

 it were those of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aure- 

 liu.s. A Roman vessel was found on digging in the 

 High Street of Wycombe ;. and several Roman 

 coins have been found in the neighbourhood. 



The chief rivers of Buckinghamshire are the Thames Buckig> 

 and the Ouse. The Thames rises in the county of 

 Hertford, near the borders of Buckinghamshire ; and 

 after flowing, from east to west, through the vale of 

 Aylesbury, it is enlarged by the waters of several 

 tributary streams, and enters the county of Oxford 

 near the town of Thame. The Ouse enters Buck- 

 inghamshire on the western side, and, after passing 

 Water Stratford, and Buckingham, it winds to the 

 north through a rich tract of meadow land, and pur- 

 sues its course to Stony Stratford, Newport Pagnell, 

 and Olney. After turning suddenly to the east, it 

 leaves the county near Brayfield. 



The trade of this county has been greatly facilita- 

 ted by the Grand Junction Canal, which enters it 

 near Woolverton, and, after running eastward within a 

 mile of Newport Pagnell, it flows to the south, and 

 passes Fenny Stratford, Stoke Hammond, Linslade, 

 and Ivinghoe, and enters Hertfordshire near Bui- 

 bourne. A cut, called the Navigable Feeder, has bee 

 made from the canal at Bulbourne to Wendower, 

 and another from Old Stratford to Buckingham. 



The county of Buckingham is about 45 miles 

 long, 18 broad, and 138 in circumference. It con~ 

 tains about 518,400 acres of land, of which 352,000 

 are stated to be arable, and about 170,000 acres pas- 

 turage, with about 5000 acres of waste ground fit for 

 cultivation. The number of houses is 20,443, and 

 the population 107,444% The number of males is 

 52,094, and the number of females 55,350 ; of whom 

 25,083 were returned as employed in agriculture, and 

 20,138 as engaged in trade, manufactures, and handi. 

 crafts. 



There are 185 parishes in Buckinghamshire, and 

 15 market towns, viz. Buckingham and Aylesbury, 

 the county towns, Amersham, Beaconsfield, Ches- 

 ham, Colnebrook, Ivinghoe, Newport Pagnell, Ol- 

 ney, Risborough, Stony Stratford, Wendover, Wy- 

 combe, Winslow, and Great Marlow. It is divided 

 into eight hundreds, viz. Ashenden, Aylesbury, 

 Buckingham, Burnham, Cottesloe, Desborough, 

 Newport, and Stoke. It sends fourteen members to 

 parliament : two from the county, two from Buck- 

 ingham, two from Aylesbury, two from High Wy- 

 combe, two from Amersham, two from Wendover, 

 and two from Great Marlow. With the exception 

 of six parishes belonging to the see of Canterbury, 

 and four in the diocese of London, the whole of the 

 county is in the diocese of Lincoln. It is in the 

 Norfolk circuit, and pays twelve parts of the land- 

 tax, and furnishes the militia with 560 men. The 

 poor's rates have been augmented to 22s. in the 

 pound. 



The magnificent mansion and grounds of Stowe, 

 the seat of the Marquis of Buckingham, form the prin- 

 cipal ornament of the county. When viewed from 

 a distance, they appear like a vast grove, interspersed 

 with columns, obelisks, and towers, which seem to 

 emerge from a luxuriant mass of foliage. The plea- 

 sure grounds occupy 400 acres ; and the mansion 

 contains a collection of the finest paintings, and a 

 very choice and spacious library, f The other prin- 



* Both of these are derived from the stones and fords across the rivers. 



+ For a full account of these, see the Desertion uftlte House and Garden of Stove, 8vo, 1797; andBryley and Britton'a 

 Renvties of England and ffal-.'s, vol. i. p. 283, 



