Buckinghamshire, Ceremonial county in South East England, GB
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial county in South East England that spreads between Greater London and neighboring counties across a countryside of rolling hills, woodlands, and small settlements. The landscape shifts between farmland in the north, the wooded slopes of the Chiltern Hills in the south, and the more suburban zones near the capital.
The territory was created around 585 as part of a division of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, with the name likely stemming from an early settler called Bucca. Over the centuries it served as a rural hinterland to London and housed numerous country estates and manor houses belonging to wealthy families.
Market towns across the south of the county such as Marlow and Amersham draw visitors into their small independent shops and cafés, while rural villages host fairs where homemade produce and local crafts take center stage. Horse riders use the trails across the Chiltern Hills, and families spend weekends picking up fresh food directly from working farms.
Main roads connect the larger towns to each other, while minor routes wind through the hills and smaller villages and can become narrow and twisting at times. Regional trains run between London and several settlements within the county, making it easier to explore towns and markets.
Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath produced many internationally known films, including numerous entries in the James Bond series. Bletchley Park in the north of the county was the center of British codebreaking work during the Second World War, where Allied teams deciphered Axis communications.
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