Buckinghamshire (bŭk`ĭng-əmshĭr), Buckingham, or Bucks, county (1991 pop. 619,500), 727 sq mi (1,883 sq km), central England. The county seat is Aylesbury Aylesbury (ālz`bərē), city (1991 pop. 51,999), Buckinghamshire, central England.
..... Click the link for more information. . The Thames River forms the southern boundary of the county. In S Buckinghamshire are the chalky Chiltern Hills with their beech forests; furniture made from beechwood is one of the county's most notable manufactures. The area is largely agricultural; barley, wheat, oats, and beans are the chief crops of the fertile Vale of Aylesbury in N Buckinghamshire. Cattle, pigs, sheep, and poultry are raised farther south. Industries have developed in Aylesbury, High Wycombe, and Wolverton.

In ancient times Icknield Street Icknield Street (ĭk`nēld)
..... Click the link for more information. and Watling Street Watling Street (wŏt`lĭng), important ancient road in England, built by the Romans in the course of their military occupation.
..... Click the link for more information. crossed the county, which has extensive Roman and pre-Roman remains. Thomas Gray Gray, Thomas, 1716–71, English poet. He was educated at Eton and Peterhouse, Cambridge. In 1739 he began a grand tour of the Continent with Horace Walpole . They quarreled in Italy, and Gray returned to England in 1741.
..... Click the link for more information. is buried at Stoke Poges, in the country churchyard that inspired his "Elegy." John Milton Milton, John, 1608–74, English poet, b. London, one of the greatest poets of the English language.

Early Life and Works

The son of a wealthy scrivener, Milton was educated at St. Paul's School and Christ's College, Cambridge.
..... Click the link for more information. had a cottage for a time at Chalfont St. Giles, and the poet William Cowper Cowper, William (k

`pər, kou`–), 1731–1800, English poet.
..... Click the link for more information. spent many years at Olney. Also in Buckinghamshire are Hughenden Manor, home of the statesman Benjamin Disraeli Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st earl of Beaconsfield (dĭzrā`lē)
..... Click the link for more information. ; Checquers, a historic Tudor mansion and residence of British prime ministers since 1921; and Eton College, England's most famous public school.

Buckinghamshire

Administrative (pop., 2001: 479,028), geographic, and historic county, southern England. It is bordered by the River Thames, London, and the River Ouse valley in the north; its county seat is at Aylesbury. It was affected by each phase of English settlement, from the Neolithic to the Saxon. Under Saxon rule, as part of the kingdom of Mercia, it resisted Danish invasion and became prosperous. Before the 20th century it was a rural area, but the modern growth of London and the expansion of transportation links with it have brought population growth.