Buckinghamshire

Map of the Buckinghamshire Area

Buckinghamshire is a non-metropolitan county in the South East of the UK. It is bordered by Greater London, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Berkshire. The shire county is divided into the four districts of Chiltern, South Bucks, Aylesbury and Wycombe.

The name of Buckinghamshire comes from its Anglo Saxon origins and was originally so-called in the 12th century. The geography of the county is largely influenced by its Anglo-Saxons heritage but also from the Celtic and Raman periods. They also impacted upon the coat of arms which contains a white swan as during that period swans were bred for the kings that ruled the county.

The Chiltern Hills and the Vale of Aylesbury make up the geography of the county and the two highest points in the county are on Coombe Hill and Haddington Hill at 267 metres above sea level. The population of Berkshire is 712,100 (source: link) and the total area is 1874 km squared. The economy is modern and service based and is part of the NUTS-2 region (Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire) which was named as the seventh richest sub region in the EU (source: Office of National Statistics (pp.240-253)). However, along with the service industry the county also boasts rich agricultural lands and many landed estates including those of the Rothschild family properties.

Buckinghamshire is also a place of historic interest as Anne Boleyn owned property within the county and it is said Aylesbury is the county town over Buckingham because King Henry VII favoured the hometown of Anne's family. Literary writers such as Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton lived in Berkshire and several politicians and world leaders sought exile in the county during the WWII due to its proximity to London.

The main industry that the county is involved in is agriculture. The land in some areas, especially in the Vale of Aylesbury, is very fertile. The proportion of land which is cultivated is almost 83% (source: link) of all the land in Buckinghamshire. A large part of this land is in permanent pasture and cattle and sheep are raised for the London markets. The two principle crops that are grown in the county are wheat and oats. Although lace-making and straw plaiting is among the economic activities there is no general manufacturing industry in Buckinghamshire.