Aylesbury pub history index , 1863 gentry & 1863 Traders A- K , L - Y
Directory of Pubs in the UK, historical public houses, Taverns, Inns, Beer Houses and Hotels in Buckinghamshire. The Buckinghamshire listing uses information from census, Trade Directories and History to add licensees, bar staff, Lodgers and Visitors.
The following entries are in this format:
Year/Publican or other Resident/Relationship to Head and or Occupation/Age/Where Born/Source.
AYLESBURY is a parish, borough, and the most important market town in the
county of Bucks, giving name to the union and hundreds of which it is the
seat It is situate in the rich tract of land called the Vale of Aylesbury,
40 miles N.N.W. from London, through Wendover, Amersham, and Uxbridge; 38
N.W. through Tring, Berkhampstead, and Watford, and 42 1/2 by the London and
North Westan Railway, which has a branch line, 7 miles in length, from its
main at Cheddington; 10 E.N.E. from Thame; 10 S.S.E. from Winslow; and 18
from Buckingham and Bicester. The town is seated on an eminence, and forms a
conspicuous object from a considerable distance, especially when viewed from
the Wendover Road. It was one of the most strongly fortified places of the
ancient Britons, and by the Saxons was called Aeglesburge. It maintained its
independence till the year 571, when it was captured by Cuthwolf, brother of
Ceawlin, King of the West Saxons. In the early ages of Christianity the town
was much celebrated on account of the sanctity of Saints Eaditha and Eadburg,
two holy virgins, daughters of Frewald lord of the county. These Saxon
Saints are stated to have been born at Quarrendon, and the town was allotted
as a marriage portion to Eaditha, by her father, but she, becoming strongly
imbued with religious belief, was induced to renounce the world and pass her
life in pious seclusion, and became much renowned for the miracles she
worked. The two sisters were first buried at Aylesbury, but Eadburg was
afterwards removed to Edburgton, in Suffolk; this Saint is supposed to have
given her name to Adderbury, Ellesborough, and the Burg, afterwards named
Burghfield. The two holy maidens have sometimes been confounded with Saint
Osyth, their more celebrated niece, who was also born at Quarrendon. She is
said to have been espoused to one of the East Anglian kings, but on the day
of her marriage to have obtain his consent to live always a virgin; and the
manor of Chich, in Essex, being presented to her, she retired from the
world, and there founded a convent, which she ruled with much prudence and
sanctity. She was beheaded in the year 600, in an incursion of Inguar and
Hubba, two Danish pirates, but her remains were removed, and buried in the
church at Aylesbury. Her relics are aaid to have workes many miracles, and a
religious house was erected to her memory, on the site of the present
parsonage. In the Middle Ages she was much revered, and familiarly called
St. Sythe. Aubrey remarks, "In those days when they went to bed, they did
rake up the fire, and make a cross in the ashes, and pray to God and St.
Sythe to deliver them from fire, and from water, and from all misadventure."
It is probable that the possession of the town of Aylesbury became alienated
from the successors of St. Eaditha, by an arbitrary act of William the
Norman, as, at the conquest, it became a royal manor, portions of which were
held by the tyrant's followers, on the tenure of providing straw for his bed
three times a year, and three geese in the summer, and three eels in the
winter, if he passed as often that way.
In the reign of Henry VIII. the manor came into the hands of Sir John
Baldwin, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, who procured the removal of the
Assizes from Buckingham to this place. During the years 1644 and 1645 the
town was an important garrison of the Parliament. It became incorporated in
the reign of Mary, 1553-4, and by its charter was empowered to send
burgesses to Parliament, a privilege which it still enjoys in returning two
members, who are elected by voters residing in the three hundreds of
Aylesbury. It is the place of nomination in county elections, and in
conjunction with Amersham, Bletchley, Brill, Buckingham, Newport Pagnell,
Slough, and High Wycombe is also a place of polling. One or two parishes
have been removed from these hundreds, but are still within the
Parliamentary Borough. Under reserved rights, certain voters are resident
within a distance of 7 miles of the Borough. The market is the most
important in the county, and is held on "Wednesday and Saturday; the Corn
Market held on Saturdays is a pitched market, and is well supplied with corn
and other agricultural produce from the rich and fertile country around; it
is much celebrated for its poultry and particularly for the breed of ducks
known as "Aylesbury ducks," large quantities of which are supplied to the
London markets. There is a large and commodious rectangular shaped Market
Place, towards which the principal streets converge as to a common centre;
the space is enclosed by the principal inns and the old-fashioned but
substantial looking shops of the tradesmen. Here is the Market House, a neat
and ancient structure said to have been built on the model of the temple of
AEolus. The County Hall, in which are held the Quarter Sessions, Lent and
Summer Assizes, and in which the general business of the county is
transacted, occupies a considerable portion of the south side of the Market
place; it is a large handsome building, of red brick with stone dressings;
the spacious interior contains the respective courts of justice, the Record
Office, and the office of the Clerk of the Peace. The entrance is by a
handsome flight of steps, and the whole length of the building is fronted by
iron palisades. The fairs are held on an open triangular space, called
Kingsbury, a little to the north of the Market Place; many of the country
carriers stay at the numerous taverns with which its sides are studded.
Fairs are holden on the Friday after January 18, Palm Saturday, May 8, June
14, September 25, October 12, and the 2nd Monday in December; the first four
are chiefly for cattle, the September and October fairs are statute, or
servants' hiring fairs.
The Parish Church is a fine, early English, cruciform structure, built about
the year 1250, and dedicated to St. Mary; the edifice at different periods
has undergone numerous alterations, and affords examples of various styles
down to the latest perpendicular, of which the large western window, lately
filled with stained glass, by Mr. O'Connor of London, the gift of the family
of the late Thomas Tindal, Esq., is a good specimen. The fine doorway
leading into the south transept, dates from the time of Henry II. The church
consists of a nave, north and south aisles (to which chapels have been added
at a later period), galleries, and a spacious chancel beautifully restored
and filled with stained glass, after designs by Williment and Oliphant; at
the intersection of the nave and chancel rises a low embattled tower,
surmounted by a campanile, or clock tower of the time of Charles II., and
terminating with a short wooden spire, covered with lead, sustaining a cross
nine feet six inches high. The tower contains a peal of eight bells, which
were recast in 1773. Upon the old tenor bell was the.inscription " non sono
animabus mortuorum sed nassentium."
Among the interesting monuments are two canopied decorated tombs in the
south chapel. In the north transept is a much defaced white marble statue of
a man in a surcoat of mail; the hands are broken off, and the features
wholly obliterated; the head reposes on a helmet, and the feet, partly
broken, rest on a lion; this statue was dug out of the ruins of the Grey
Friars' Monastery, and is supposed a represent a descendant of the Botelers,
founders of that religious institution. The sacristy is very curious and
interesting, and is entered by a door which fastens with a peculiar bar
lock, turned by a winch-key from without. It is lighted by two small lancet
windows, and fitted up with an old oak quadrant wardrobe of the 15th
century. There is a swinging horse for the vestments; also a cupboard,
apparently intended as a receptacle for the sacred vessels. The organ is
handsome and fine toned, and was the gift of Mrs. Mary Pitches, in 1782,
since which period it has been much improved by the addition of an octave
and half of 16 feet pedal pipes. The church is described by Leland as "one
of the most ancientest in all these quarters." It is an object of much
interest and beauty, and being considered insecure was restored by Scott, in
1849, for which purpose £3,000 was voted by the parish, and other sums were
raised by subscription; there is a very ancient Norman font placed in the
south chapel, and used for Baptisms. Tne living is a vicarage, value £366
per annum, to which a prebendal stall in Lincoln Cathedral is annexed; the
Ven. Archdeacon Edward Bickersteth is the present vicar. At Walton, a suburb
and continuation of Aylesbury on the London Road, via Wendover, is a small
church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity; the living is a perpetual curacy, in
the incumbency of the Rev Frederick Young. The Wesleyans, Baptists,
Independents, Methodists, and Primitive Methodists have each chapels in the
town.
The Free Grammar School, situate on the south side of the churchyard, was
founded and endowed with £8 per annum, by Sir Henry Lee, of Ditchley, bat in
1714 Henry Phillips, Esq., augmented the endowment by the munificent bequest
of £5,000. The present income of the school is about £600 per annum; there
are 120 boys on the foundation and 20 not on the foundation. Some of the
scholars receive instruction in the classics and mathematics; the pupils are
admitted at the age of six, and the vacancies are filled up according to
priority, from a list kept by the head-master, under the direction of
Trustees, who are principally chosen from tbe neighbouring gentry. There is
a National School connected with the parish church in Oxford Street, a
school in Cambridge Street, called St. John's, and also one adjoining the
Holy Trinity Church, at Walton. The Independents have a Sunday School in
Castle Street.
The principal Municipal Institutions are as follows: - A new County
Infirmary was built in 1862, at a cost of £10,000, from designs by David
Brandon, Esq., in the Italian style of architecture; it has accommodation
for 64 inmates, and is situate at the junction of the two roads from
Buckingham and Bicester. The County Gaol is an imposing structure, erected
on Bierton Hill, entered by a noble archway, on each side of which are the
respective residences of the governor and chaplain; a courtyard measuring 60
feet by 80 feet, with the places of confinement for debtors and female
prisoners ranged on each side, forms the approach to the main building. At
the entrance to the latter are the reception cells, visiting room, and rooms
for tls magistrates, governor, and head turnkey; beyond are the cells of the
male prisoners, forming the three lower limbs of the cross, measuring 303
feet by 140 feet. The common cells are 220 in number, and measure 13 feet by
7; the prison is conducted on the system pursued in the model prisons in
London; the walls enclose an area of 5 acres. Opposite to the County Gaol is
the Workhouse for the Union, opened is 1844: it is a red brick structure, in
a mixture of the Tudor and Elizabethan styles, with garden, master's house,
and porter's lodge in front, presenting a very neat appearance; this
institution is conducted on an admirable system of cleanliness, order, and
regularity. The union is very extensive, comprising about 115 square miles,
and 40 parishes. There is a Mechanics' Institution and Reading Boom in
Kingsbury.
The parish of Aylesbury is bounded on the east by Aston Clinton and Weston
Turville, on the west by Quarrendon and Hartwell, on the north by Bierton
and a part of Weedon in Hardwick, and on the south by Stoke Mandeville; it
comprises n area of 3200 acres, with a population in 1861 of 6168. The Grand
Junction Canal has access by a branch to the town. Lace making was formerly
carried on, but of late years it has entirely declined, and at the present
the support of the place is principally dependent on the rich agricultural
country by which it is surrounded, a silk manufactory gives employment to
upwards of 100 persons, chiefly females. The town is now in the jurisdiction
of the County Magistrates; it was formerly governed by a Corporation, who
held their office under a charter of Mary, dated 554, but from neglect and
non-exercise of their privileges the charter was forfeited at the reign of
Elizabeth. Courts Lect and Baron are held as required, at the George Hotel:
Acton Tindal, Esq., is lord of the manor.
The principal charities are a real estate devised by John Bedford in the
year 619, said to be then worth £30 per annum, but now realising about £140
yearly. This charity was incorporated by Act of Parliament, under the name
of the "Bedford charity;" it is managed by trustees for the use of the
parish. John Hickman, gentleman, bequeathed property to this parish of £40
per year and upwards, for the habitation of the poor; this is named
"Hickman's Charity," and is disposed of by the churchwardens and overseers
of the town for the time being. The vicinity of Aylesbury abounds with
important residences and objects of interest. Hartwell House, on the Thames
road, distant 2 miles S.W. from the town, is the seat of John Lee, Esq.,
L.L.d., and is interesting as the abode, during the French Revolution and
the period that elapsed to the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty, of Louis
XVIII. md the Duchess d' Angouleme. The ruins of Quarrendon Chapel, now
reduced to a few roofless arches, and the remains of a beautiful decorated
east window are on the right hand side of the Bicester road, and are worthy
the attention of the antiquary. The chapel contained the fine monuments of
the Lee family, including that of Sir Henry and his mistress Ann Vavasour,
whose remains were disentombed by order of the Bishop of the Diocese.
Chequers Court, one of the most beautiful places in the county, was formerly
the residence of Oliver Cromwell, and is supposed to have derived its name
from having been the Exchequer in the reign of John; it is the seat of Lady
Frankland Russell. Near, is the picturesque and romantic spot sailed the
Velvet Lawn, and on an adjoining hill is a monument of very remote
antiquity, called the White Leaf Cross, supposed to be a memorial of the
final battle of the Britons with Hengist and Horsa, which was fought over
the extensive plain of Bisborough and Saunderton, and in which the former
were victorious.