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Most of the oldest buildings in Aylesbury are to be found in the
streets surrounding Market Square, St Mary’s Square, Kingsbury,
Temple Street and Church Street. In appearance  partly
Georgian, with Tudor and Jacobean enclaves, the Old Town is home
to the King’s Head Coaching Inn, the County Museum (with the
Roald Dahl Children’s Gallery), and 18th century Prebendal
House, once the residence of firebrand MP John Wilkes.
The Market Square has lost most of its historic buildings but still
has paved footpaths and stone setts. It also has at its centre the
Clock Tower, completed in 1877 and thought to stand on or close
to the site of the original guildhall of Aylesbury. The rich and
fertile loam of the Vale of Aylesbury was perfect for farming and
husbandry and so from 1204 until the end of the 20th century there
was a twice-weekly sheep, pig and cattle market in the square. The
many ponds and waterways in the Vale supported the development of
the then local speciality, the Aylesbury Duck. The duck, pure white,
with a flesh coloured beak and bright orange legs and feet, was
valued by chefs and bon-viveurs for the richness of its flavour.
Old established family shops surrounded Market Square in the 18th
and 19th centuries. For example Augustus Lines, the grocery and
tea emporium, offered “Teas, genuine as imported by the Honourable
East India Company” and other commodities such as vinegar,
hops, local bacon, spices and fruits. Chandlery, haberdashery, drapery
and saddlery could also be purchased in the Square.
At the bottom of the Market Square stand the Crown Courts. ‘Hanging’
Judge Jeffries adjudicated here in his heyday. Malefactors (and
possibly also the innocent) sentenced to be hanged were publicly
executed here. The gallows was mounted on a first floor balcony
on the front of the Court House, the better to allow the mob to
witness justice being done. Spectators paid top prices for a place
on the parlour-roof of the Green Man Inn, to get the best view.
The Market Square is home to a number of statues and sculptures.
The recumbent lions in front of the Courts were given by Baron Ferdinand
de Rothschild of Waddesdon Manor in 1888. Close by is a statue of
Charles Cavendish, 3rd Baron Chesham, Lord of the Bedchamber to
the Prince of Wales (later George V) 1901-1907. John Hampden, hero
of the Civil War, is commemorated in bronze at the top of the Square,
together with Lord Beaconsfield (Sir Benjamin Disraeli).
At the top of Market Square and through a linking thoroughfare is
Kingsbury. Many Kingsbury properties have interesting histories.
For example no. 27, now Café Kingsbury, was formerly home
to Ivatts Boot & Shoemakers. Seven generations of this family
traded here over a period of 225 years. A member of the Ivatts family
features in the painting ‘The Jury’ by John Morgan.
Morgan used Aylesbury burghers as models for his jury. The picture
has recently been purchased by the County Museum, to ensure that
it returned to Aylesbury, and now has pride of place in the Museum’s
Art Gallery.
A very modern feature of Kingsbury is the water-clock, installed
by the Council in 2004 with a grant from the Office of the Deputy
Prime Minister. Sparkling in the Summer sunshine, and with children
playing in it, this new fountain is a positive asset to the town.
The area has become host to café society where visitors can
wine and dine, or just have coffee and cake, al fresco.
The King’s Head
 Of
great interest to visitors is the 14th century King’s Head,
set back from the Market Square and reached via a narrow, cobbled
passageway. The building, originally the guesthouse of a monastery
(thought to have been extant in 13th Century) has been an inn since
the 15th Century. The archway, wide enough for coaches to pass through,
leads to a picturesque cobbled stable yard. A section of wall in
the inn has been exposed to demonstrate its ‘wattle and daub’
construction.
An outstanding feature of this ancient inn is its great Tudor window,
with 20 lights. The large, wooden framed window with mullions and
transoms contains fragments of 15th century glass. The ancient glass
is illustrated with heraldic devices such as angels carrying shields,
on which are emblazoned the coats of arms of Prince Edward, killed
at the battle of Tewkesbury, and scenes commemorating the marriage
of Henry VI and his Queen, Margaret of Anjou in 1445. The King and
his bride  are
believed to have stayed at the King’s Head during their honeymoon.
Other famous historic guests at the inn include Henry VIII, and
‘Hanging’ Judge Jeffries. The Lord Protector, Oliver
Cromwell stayed at the inn after the battle of Worcester in 1651.
There is a chair, said to have been used by Cromwell, which can
still be seen at the inn.
The bar of the inn was once the great hall of the medieval manor
house of Aylesbury, which occupied the North side of the Market
Square.
Now the property of the National Trust, visitors can enjoy a pint
of real ale, browse in the second-hand bookshop or simply soak up
the sun in the medieval courtyard.
St Mary’s Parish Church
From the King’s Head it is a short walk to Church Street,
and the Parish Church of St Mary’s.
There is believed to have been a church on this site since the 12th
century. It is thought that extensive rebuilding in the 13th century
gave rise to the cruciform shape of the present edifice. Regular
extensions were added through the 14th and 15th century and most
of the building was re-roofed.
Relics of the early structure still exist. These include the 12th
century font, which has been widely copied and its style is now
known as the ‘Aylesbury Font’, and the 15th century
perpendicular West Window. This window depicts colourful characters
and places from the Old Testament. Additionally there is an effigy
of a knight in armour with a lion couchant, and a memorial to Lady
Lee, wife of Sir Henry Lee QC, the personal Champion of Queen Elizabeth
I.
By the 19th century, however, the foundations of St Mary’s
were failing and the whole structure was in a dangerous condition.
It was completely restored in 1850 by Sir Gilbert Scott, who created
the current rough-coursed construction with ashlar enhancements.
The modern church houses a very generously proportioned nave which
was extensively renovated through the efforts of the Bucks Battalion
of the County Regiment, as a memorial to the fallen of the two World
Wars.
Outside the Church, at the corner of Church Street and the narrow
stone passage to Pebble Lane, stand the former St Mary’s Church
Halls. Once part of Aylesbury Grammar School, they and the adjoining
buildings of Ceely House were for a time private dwellings but now
accommodate the County Museum and Art Gallery. The old Coach House
at the rear of Ceely House contains the famous and perennially popular
Roald Dahl Children’s Gallery. The Museum is open Monday to
Saturday 10.00am to 5.00pm and Sunday 2.00pm - 5.00pm. Entrance
to the Museum and Art Gallery is free but there is a charge for
entry to the Roald Dahl annexe. For more information telephone 01296
331441, email museum@buckscc.gov.uk or visit their website at www.buckscc.gov.uk/museum
The third arm of the junction formed by Church Street and Pebble
Lane is Parson’s Fee, a charming thoroughfare of timber-framed
cottages. Just beyond the Parish Church in Parson’s Fee is
Prebendal House which was the home of John Wilkes for a number of
years from about 1746. The Radical became MP for Aylesbury in 1757
and involved himself in many local worthy and charitable causes.
He was also associated, however, with Sir Francis Dashwood of West
Wycombe and the infamous Medmenham Monks of the Hell Fire Club.
Wilkes was a man with a wicked sense of humour. It is said that
during one bacchanalian orgy Wilkes introduced a large baboon dressed
as Beelzebub, and frightened the ‘monks’, who were enacting
a satanic ritual calling up the devil, half to death.
Wilkes founded a weekly pamphlet called the ‘North Briton’.
A number of its issues attacked King George III and prominent members
of his administration. In 1763, after a particularly inflammatory
issue, Wilkes was thrown into the Tower of London, before being
released on grounds of Parliamentary privilege. Another arrest in
1768 brought 15,000 people out onto the streets of London and precipitated
the famous “Wilkes and Liberty” riots. He is remembered
today as a defender of freedom of speech and personal liberty.
Next to Prebendal House in Parson’s Fee stands St Osyths,
a charming timber framed building named after the Saxon saint who
is reputed to have performed miracles in Aylesbury.
Hartwell House, between Aylesbury and Stone, once harboured the
exiled King Louis XVIII of France, and this fact is commemorated
in the name of ‘Bourbon Street’ which is at the edge
of the old town.
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