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Most of the older buildings in Aylesbury are
to be found in the streets surrounding Market Square, St Mary’s
Square, Kingsbury and Church Street. Predominantly Georgian in character,
with some small Tudor and Jacobean enclaves, the Old Town is home
to the Kings 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, of whom more later.
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 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 the 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, fruits etc. It was also possible to purchase
chandlery, haberdashery, drapery and saddlery in the market place.
The Crown Courts stand at the bottom of the Market Square. Malefactors
(and possibly also  the
innocent) sentenced to be hanged were once publicly executed from
a balcony on the front of the Court House. Spectators used to pay
for a place on the balcony of the Green Man Inn (now The Square)
to get the best view.
The recumbent lions in front of the Courts were given by Baron Ferdinand
de Rothschild of Waddesdon Manor in 1888.
At the top of Market Square and through a linking thoroughfare is
Kingsbury. Many Kingsbury properties have interesting histories.
For example no. 27, now Johnstones Cafe 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 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 real asset to the town. The
area has become home to a café society where visitors can
wine and dine or just have a coffee alfresco.
The Kings Head
Of great interest to visitors is the 14th Century Kings Head, set
back from the Market Square and reached via a narrow, cobbled passageway.
The building, originally the guesthouse of a monastery, 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 it’s 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 Kings 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.
The chair used by Cromwell 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 Mediaeval courtyard.
St Mary’s Parish Church
From the Kings Head it is but a stone’s throw 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 knave which
was extensively renovated through the efforts of the Bucks Battalion
of the County Regiment as a memorial to the fallen of World Wars
One and Two.
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. Entrance to the Museum and
Art Gallery is free but there is a charge for entry to the Roald
Dahl annex. For more information telephone 01296 331441, send an
email to museum@buckscc.gov.uk or go on-line at www.buckscc.gov.uk/museum
The third arm of the junction formed by Church Street and Pebble
Lane is Parsons Fee, a charming thoroughfare of timber-framed cottages.
Just beyond the Parish Church in Parson’s Fee is Prebendal
House. Prebendal House was the home of John Wilkes for a number
of years from about 1746. He became MP for Aylesbury in 1757 and
involved himself in many local worthy and charitable causes. However,
he was also associated 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
extremely bacchanalian orgy Wilkes introduced a large baboon dressed
as Beelzebub, and frightened the ‘monks’, who were enacting
a satanic ritual, half to death.
Wilkes founded a weekly pamphlet called the ‘North Briton’
and 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 Parliamentary privilege. Another arrest in 1768 brought 15,000
people out onto the streets of London and precipitated the famous
“Wilkes and Liberty” marches. 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 on the edge of the old town.
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Welcome to Aylesbury
