Buckinghamshire (abbreviated Bucks)
is a county in south central England. It has an area of 1883 sq km, and its
county town is Aylesbury. It has a population of 590,000.
Modern Buckinghamshire is divided into four districts: Aylesbury
Vale, Chiltern, South Bucks and Wycombe. It borders onto Oxfordshire,
Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire, Luton, Hertfordshire, and
Berkshire. In 1974 Buckinghamshire lost Slough and Eton to Berkshire; these
areas have been administered under the unitary authorities of Slough and Windsor
and Maidenhead since 1998.
It is an agricultural county, covering part of the Chiltern Hills to the
South and the Vale of Aylesbury to the north. It has fertile agricultural lands,
with many landed estates, especially those of the de Rothschild family in the
19th century.
Industry:
Agricultural, furniture, pharmaceuticals, service and distribution industries.
To the South there is much excellent grazing land. The fertile "Vale of
Aylesbury" lies in the centre of the county, verdant with rich meadows and
pasturage. Further North the heavy arable land is now being brought under steam
cultivation, and excellent crops of wheat, beans are produced. Farms are
generally of small size, and are leased on a yearly tenure. Pigs and calves are
largely reared on the numerous dairy-farms, and great numbers of ducks are sent
yearly to the metropolis from the neighbourhood of Aylesbury. The quantity of
butter, besides cream and cheese send annually to market averages between
4,000,000 and 5,000,000 lbs.
The making of wooden spades, brush-handles, bowls from beech is a
considerable industry. Numbers of the female population are employed in the
manufacture of thread-lace and straw plaiting.