Places to Visit and Days out in Buckinghamshire
Ascott House
This
a half-timbered Jacobean hunting lodge, built in 1876.
Once owned by Leopold de Rothschild. Contains a Dutch
and English picture collection, plus much French and
English furniture and Chinese porcelain.
Run by National Trust*
Opening times: Mar~Sept:
Tue to Sunday (not Monday), 14:00 to 18:00
Admission
Charge*
Location: Near Wing on the A418 - Tel: 01296 688242
Website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Bletchley Park
Home
of the WWII secret operations group that tirelessly
worked to decipher encoded German military communications
during the war. Guided tours tell the fascinating
story of the German Enigma Machine and Alan Turing's
hand built 'bombes' computer, developed to finally
crack the code. Other exhibits include the war time
use of homing pigeons, military vehicles and a Churchill
collection.
The National Museum of Computing is also located in the grounds of the Bletchley Park estate.
Opening times: daily
9.30 to 5.30pm, Weekends 10.30 to 5pm (Closed Xmas)
Admission Charge
Location: The Mansion, Bletchley Park MK3 6EB - Tel:
Website: www.bletchleypark.org.uk
Bolebec Castle Mound
The earthworks and moat of a castle, built in 1147 by Hugh de Bolebec and pulled down after the Civil War.
Location: On Market Hill at Whitchurch on the A413
Image Credit: Philip Jeffrey (CC2)
Burnham Beeches
Over
500 acres of ancient beech woodlands, pasture, ponds,
streams, grassland and heath land - ideal for ramblers
and walkers. The area was acquired by the City of London
in 1880 to prevent residential development. There has
been woodland on the site since the retreat of the
last ice age and the area has been inhabited as early
as the Iron Age, indicated by several Scheduled Ancient
Monuments on the site.
Location: Lord Mayors
Drive (off Beeches Road), Slough SL2 3PS (Parking available)
Tel: 01753
647358
Image Credit: Kathryn19
Bekonscot Model Village
The
oldest model village in the world, first opened to
the public in 1929. A wonderful picture of 30s rural
England, with miniature houses, churches, castles,
shops, a fire station, race course, farms,
zoo, a working model railway and a harbour. Covered
picnic area and children's play area.
Opening times: daily
from 10am - Admission
Charge
Location: Warwick Road, Beaconsfield,
Bucks HP9 2PL
Tel: 01494 672919
Website: bekonscot.co.uk/
Image Credit: stgeorgemr
Chenies Manor
Brick-built manor house owned by the Russell family,
from the early 16th century until 1955. The Russells
rose under
the patronage of Henry VIII, and a whole wing was
created to accommodate the king and his court when
he came to stay. The house provides a dramatic backdrop
for some very impressive gardens, noted for its clipped
topiary and roses.
Opening times: April
to October - Admission Charge
Location: Chenies, Rickmansworth WD3 6ER
Tel: 01494 762888
Website: cheniesmanorhouse.co.uk/
Image Credit:
Chiltern Hills
This chalk escarpment stretches from Oxfordshire in the Thames Valley, through Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire to Hitchin in Hertfordshire. A large area of the hills was designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1965. The highest point is 267m at Haddington Hill near Wendover, where a stone monument marks the summit. The nearby Ivinghoe Beacon is a more distinctive hill and a popular spot for walkers and model aircraft enthusiasts, who use the lift generated by the wind blowing up the hill to launch their models. Read more about the Chilterns ...
Claydon House
An
16th-18th-c manor house owned by the Verney family,
where Florence Nightingale often came to stay from
1859-1890. The internal decor is spectacular. Its ceilings,
cornices, walls and overmantels are
adorned with delicate carvings by Luke Lightfoot.
The Chinese room is particularly fine.
Opening times: April
to October - Admission
Charge
Location: Middle Claydon,
Buckinghamshire MK18 2EY
Tel: +441296730349 - run by National
Trust
Website: nationaltrust.org.uk
Image Credit: Nigel Cox (CC2)
Cliveden
The
country home of Lord Astor in the 1930s and a famous
political centre. The house has fabulous gardens that
provide magnificent views over the River Thames.
Opening times: all
year (exc. Xmas) - Admission
Charge
Location: Cliveden Rd, Taplow SL1
8NS
Tel: 01628 605069 - Run by National Trust
Website: nationaltrust.org.uk
Image Credit: © National Trust Images/Clive
Nichols
Dorney Court
A beautiful pink brick,
timbered and gabled, Tudor manor house built around
1440. Lived in by several
generations of Palmers. Its magnificent Great Hall
is lined with old masters. In particular a portrait
by
Lely of the gallant Countess of Castlemaine. A
large carved stone pineapple commemorates the
first pineapple to be successfully grown here in England.
Opening times: special
public days only - see website for detais - Admission
Charge
Location: Dorney Lane, Dorney, Windsor
SL4 6QP
Tel: 01628 604638
Website: dorneycourt.co.uk
Image Credit: Michael Garlick (CC2)
Hughenden Manor
Home
of Benjamin Disraeli from 1848 until his death in 1881.
With the help of the architect E.B. Lamb, he restyled
the red brick Victorian mansion in a Gothic and Jacobean-style
with extensive formal and informal gardens. The interior
survives today much as it did in Disraeli's time. His
study remains untouched, containing many of his personal
items, including letters from Queen Victoria, manuscripts
of his novels and family portraits. The house is surrounded
by beautiful parkland and sweeping lawns, with formal
gardens and a terraced Italianate garden near the house.
Opening times: March
to December - Admission
Charge
Location: Valley Rd, High Wycombe
HP14 4LA
Tel: 01494 755573 - run by National Trust
Website: nationaltrust.org.uk/hughenden
Image Credit: Hannah Brownlie
Milton's Cottage
The sole surviving home of poet John Milton, who came here
with his wife and child in 1665 to escape the Great Plague of London. Although
he only stayed here for two years, it contains a substantial
collection of portraits, busts and
relics, as well as many rare books. Including
a first edition of Paradise Lost, the epic
poem he penned whilst staying here. The cottage's
lovely garden is filled with flowers in summer.
Opening times: Mar-Oct,
Tue-Sat - Admission
Charge
Location: 21 Deanway, Chalfont Saint
Giles HP8 4JH
Tel: 01494 872313
Website: miltonscottage.org
Image Credit: Alan (CC2)
Stowe
A
mansion house and landscaped park created and developed
in the 17th and 18th centuries for the Dukes of Buckinghamshire.
Three great landscape designers, Charles Bridgeman,
William Kent and Capability Brown, were brought in
to achieve the site's natural look and feel. There
is a sweeping lake, pavilions, monuments, arches,
bridges and 32 classical temples in the
grounds.
Opening times: all
year (exc. Xmas) - Admission
Charge
Location: Buckinghamshire, MK18 5EQ
Tel: 01280 817156 - Run by National
Trust
Website: nationaltrust.org.uk
Image Credit: © National
Trust Images/Andrew Butler
Waddesdon Manor
A
19th-century French style mansion built for Baron de
Rothschild, housing a magnificent collection of
Sévres porcelain, 18th-c furniture and paintings
by Gainsborough and Reynolds. The house is surrounded
by one of the finest Victorian gardens in England,
with magnificent trees, lawns, terraces and a Rococo
style aviary.
Opening times: March
to November - Admission
Charge
Location: Waddesdon, Aylesbury HP18
0JH
Tel: 01296 820414
Website: waddesdon.org.uk
West Wycombe Park
A
Palladian style mansion, built in the 15th-c
by Sir Francis Dashwood, founder of the notorious Hell-Fire
Club (known as the knights of St Francis of Wycombe).
The house has many superbly
decorated rooms with fine ceilings, painted
by the Italian Borgnis family. Of particular interest
is the tapestry room, hung with Flemish arras, the
red drawing room and the saloon. Within the park is
a hilltop church and mausoleum (see image), and
a landscaped lake.
In caves, to the north of the park below church hill, is where The Hell Fire Club is said to have conducted its secret revels.
Opening times: April
to August - Admission
Charge
Location: Park, Village and Hill,
High Wycombe HP14 3AJ
Tel: 01494 755571
Website: nationaltrust.org.uk
Image Credit: ©National Trust Images/Martin
Hailey
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Please note that the above information was accurate at the time this page was last updated. This information is subject to change at any time (opening times in particular), therefore if you plan on visiting any of the above attractions, please check the owner's website first or phone them for the latest details.