Aylesbury Old Town

Some History of Aylesbury, not all is covered in my video but interesting none the less
The town name is of Old English origin. Its first recorded name Æglesburgh is thought to mean "Fort of Ægel", It is also possible that Ægeles-burh, the settlement's Saxon name, means "church-burgh", from the Welsh word eglwys meaning "a church"

Excavations in the town centre in 1985 found an Iron Age hill fort dating from the early 4th century BC.

Aylesbury was one of the strongholds of the ancient Britons, from whom it was taken in the year 571 by Cutwulph, brother of Ceawlin, King of the West Saxons; and had a fortress or castle "of some importance, from which circumstance probably it derives its Saxon appellation"

Aylesbury was a major market town in Anglo-Saxon times, the burial place of Saint Osgyth, whose shrine attracted pilgrims. The Early English parish church of St. Mary (which has many later additions) has a crypt beneath. Once thought to be Anglo-Saxon, it is now recognised as being of the same period as the medieval chapel above. At the Norman conquest, the king took the manor of Aylesbury for himself, and it is listed as a royal manor in the Domesday Book, 1086. Some lands here were granted by William the Conqueror to citizens upon the tenure that the owners should provide straw for the monarch's bed, sweet herbs for his chamber and two green geese and three eels for his table, whenever he should visit Aylesbury.



In 1450, a religious institution called the Guild of St Mary was founded in Aylesbury by John Kemp, Known popularly as the Guild of Our Lady it became a meeting place for local dignitaries and a hotbed of political intrigue. The guild was influential in the outcome of the Wars of the Roses. Its premises at the Chantry in Church Street, Aylesbury, are still there, though today the site is now Almshouses.

Aylesbury was declared the new county town of Buckinghamshire in 1529 by King Henry VIII: The Manor of Aylesbury was inherited by Thomas Boleyn, the father of Anne Boleyn, and it is rumoured that the change was made by the King to curry favour with the family.

The plague decimated the population in 1603/4.


The town played a large part in the English Civil War when it became a stronghold for the Parliamentarian forces, in 1642 the Battle of Aylesbury was fought and won by the Parliamentarians. Its proximity to Great Hampden, home of John Hampden has made of Hampden a local hero: his silhouette was used on the emblem of Aylesbury Vale District Council and his statue stands prominently in the town centre. Aylesbury-born composer, Rutland Boughton (1878–1960), possibly inspired by the statue of John Hampden, created a symphony based on Oliver Cromwell.

On 18 March 1664, Robert Bruce, 2nd Earl of Elgin in the Peerage of Scotland was created 1st Earl of Ailesbury

The Jacobean mansion of Hartwell adjoining the southwest of the town was the residence of Louis XVIII during his exile (1810–1814).


Aylebury's heraldic crest displays the Aylesbury duck, which has been bred here since the birth of the Industrial Revolution, only one breeder of true Aylesbury ducks, Richard Waller, remains today.


The King's Head is one of the oldest public houses with a coaching yard in the south of England. It is a Grade II Listed Building.

The oldest part of the current structure of the building is of 15th-century design; the cellars are much older, dating back to the 13th century, and may have been part of the local friary.

The history of The King's Head starts in 1455, ‘Kyngeshede', The Great Hall is the oldest standing structure on site, dating back to the 1470s, and was built as a guest house by the Verney family (of nearby Clayton house)
King Henry VI possibly stayed at the inn with his new wife Margaret of Anjou.
in the 15th C. Later, a stained glass panel, previously in the nearby grey friars monastery, was inserted in the front window of the inn showing the king and queen's coat of arms. The other coats of arms are of Cardinal Henry Beaufort, Willian de la Pole and the local Botlier family. That window is still there, though it is heavily protected.

From the mid 17th century, The King's Head thrived as a coaching inn.


At the time of the Civil War, Aylesbury was very much in support of the Parliamentarians against Charles I. Parliamentarian troops would have visited The King's Head. It is thought that Oliver Cromwell was in Aylesbury around 1650, possibly staying at The King's Head.

It is claimed that the inn is linked to other churches and establishments in the town via a system of underground tunnels in use during the Civil War as escape routes should the town be taken by Royalist troops. However, there is no evidence of this and it is more likely that these 'tunnels' are simply cellars.

Following the English Civil War coinswere in short supply. Inns like The King's Head took to minting trade tokens on this site when William Dawney was innkeeper in 1657. They could be used as currency.