Buckingham
| Buckingham | |
|---|---|
 Buckingham High Street in 2009 |
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 Buckingham
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| Buckingham shown within Buckinghamshire | |
| Population | 12,043 {2011 Census} |
| OS grid reference | SP695335 |
| • London | 55 miles (89 km) SE |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BUCKINGHAM |
| Postcode district | MK18 |
| Dialling code | 01280 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Buckinghamshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Buckingham Town Council |
Buckingham is a town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,043 at the 2011 Census. It is a civil parish with a town council.
Buckingham was the county town of Buckinghamshire from the 10th century, when it was made the capital of the newly-formed shire of Buckingham, until Aylesbury took over this role early in the 18th century.
Buckingham has a variety of restaurants and pubs, typical of a small market town. It has a number of local shops, both national and independent. Market days are Tuesday and Saturday which take over Market Hill and the High Street cattle pens. Buckingham is twinned with Mouvaux, France.
Buckingham and the surrounding area has been settled for some time with evidence of Roman settlement found in several sites close the River Great Ouse, including a temple south of the A421 at Bourton Grounds which was excavated in the 1960s and dated to the 3rd century AD. A possible Roman building was identified at Castle Fields in the 19th century. Pottery, kiln furniture and areas of burning found at Buckingham industrial estate suggest the site of some early Roman pottery kilns here.
In the 7th century, Buckingham, literally "meadow of Bucca's people" is said to have been founded by Bucca, the leader of the first Anglo Saxon settlers. The first settlement was located around the top of a loop in the River Great Ouse, presently the Hunter Street campus of the University of Buckingham. Between the 7th century and the 11th century, the town of Buckingham regularly changed hands between the Saxons and the Danes, in particular, in 914 King Edward the Elder and a Saxon army encamped in Buckingham for four weeks forcing local Danish Viking leaders to surrender. Subsequently a fort was constructed at the location of the present Buckingham parish church. Buckingham is mentioned in the Burghal Hidage, a document commonly ascribed to the early tenth century, but more probably of the period 878-9, which describes a system of forts set up by King Alfred (d.899) over the whole of the West Saxon kingdom. When King Edward encamped at Buckingham with his army in 914, he was therefore restoring a fort which had already existed for more than a generation. This tactical move was part of a putsch against the Danish vikings who controlled what had been southern Mercia, and which involved the taking of control of viking centres at Bedford, Northampton, Cambridge and eventually the whole of East Anglia by the end of 917.
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