Buckingham; Saturday, 10 June, 2023

I had a bit of a lie in and a quick breakfast before heading out of the hotel to actually visit the sites of the town.

I started by wandering up to the Church to have a look around, but that had a service going on so I decided not to go inside and disturb them, instead I headed back towards the centre and stopped off at the Chantry Chapel.

The Chapel is now the oldest building in the town and was originally built in the 1100s as a hospital before becoming the Grammar School and eventually passing to the National Trust in the early 20th century. Today it’s a café and bookshop, but you can still make out the structure of the building – which includes some 19th century renovations carried out by local lad, George Gilbert Scott (more famously known for St Pancras station in London – he also carried out renovations on the Parish Church and additions to the Old Gaol in Buckingham).

Having looked round the Chantry Chapel I wandered down into the centre of town and stopped for a late morning coffee before heading over to the Old Gaol.

The building served as the town’s prison up until the Victorian era after which it served several purposes before being converted into the towns museum in the latter part of the 20th century. The museum inside tells the history of the town and surrounding region from the pre-historic to the early 20th century as well as telling some of the history and characters associated with the building itself.

From the Gaol I wandered back up the high street to the pub that I was staying in for lunch as it offered a discount for hotel guests.

By now I’d pretty much exhausted all of the sites in the centre of Buckingham, so I just spent the afternoon having a wander around the town and following the riverside circular walk that runs around the edge of the town centre before it was time to head back to the hotel to freshen up and grab dinner.

I ended up having a pretty early night given how little there was to do in town.