Pictures of Aylesbury

About Aylesbury

Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire, taking over the mantle from the town of Buckingham during the 16th century.

Aylesbury is a very busy vibrant town, situated at the foot of the chiltern hills and has a rich and interesting history, playing a major part in the English Civil War, and is particularly famous for a certain rare breed of duck.

The Aylesbury Duck is a rare breed of duck which was developed around the early 18th century and became a cottage industry. The ducks were walked from Aylesbury to the London markets some forty miles away, stopping at night at inns on the way, then having their feet tarred and coated with sawdust to protect them for the rest of the journey, and they would march on to the London Markets. The ducks lives were made easier by 1839 when they could be transported by rail.
By about 1850 the number of establishments breeding the ducks in Aylesbury began to decline, and today the duck is mainly bred as an exhibition bird.

If you want to see the duck, you can see it at Oak Farm Rare Breeds Park, Broughton near Aylesbury. At Oak Farm you can buy pairs of the birds.

Or you could try the large duck pond in front of St Mary's Church in the village of Haddenham, if you just wanted a look at them.

There are some interesting old buildings in Aylesbury including The Kings Head - an old coaching inn, The county Museum, and Chiltern Brewery which is Buckinghamshire's oldest working brewery. The county hall in St Mary's square, was built in 1720.