Buckinghamshire Archives
@bucksarchives.bsky.social
Your favourite archive's favourite archive.
We're the archives and local studies library for the historic county of Buckinghamshire, and the home of Buckinghamshire History Festival.
Website: buckinghamshire.gov.uk/culture-and-tourism/archives/
We're the archives and local studies library for the historic county of Buckinghamshire, and the home of Buckinghamshire History Festival.
Website: buckinghamshire.gov.uk/culture-and-tourism/archives/
For #MKMonday we're sharing this great photo of the local Channel 40 crew setting up for some filming at Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre! This was taken in the 1970s.
November 10, 2025 at 8:30 AM
For #MKMonday we're sharing this great photo of the local Channel 40 crew setting up for some filming at Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre! This was taken in the 1970s.
Today is the Lord Mayor's Day over in London! We've found this great cartoon we think from the London Illustrated News in around 1870. It shows a much more low-key event than the celebration of today.
November 8, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Today is the Lord Mayor's Day over in London! We've found this great cartoon we think from the London Illustrated News in around 1870. It shows a much more low-key event than the celebration of today.
Let's play Bucks Name or Name Name
November 7, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Let's play Bucks Name or Name Name
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
November 5, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
We've still got a few spaces left for tomorrow's tour! Book your free space by emailing us at [email protected]
For even more events, head to histfestbucks.co.uk
For even more events, head to histfestbucks.co.uk
November 4, 2025 at 10:00 AM
We've still got a few spaces left for tomorrow's tour! Book your free space by emailing us at [email protected]
For even more events, head to histfestbucks.co.uk
For even more events, head to histfestbucks.co.uk
We've realised we're rapidly approaching a whopping 6000 followers on here. What would you like to see at 6k? A face reveal? A musical number? A list of our documents sorted from most delicious looking to least?
November 3, 2025 at 4:35 PM
We've realised we're rapidly approaching a whopping 6000 followers on here. What would you like to see at 6k? A face reveal? A musical number? A list of our documents sorted from most delicious looking to least?
It's the second week of Buckinghamshire History Festival, and we've got another bunch of brilliant events for you to enjoy! This week we have tours through cemeteries, windmills, and the archive, alongside a special talk from an author!
For more info head to histfestbucks.co.uk
For more info head to histfestbucks.co.uk
November 3, 2025 at 12:01 PM
It's the second week of Buckinghamshire History Festival, and we've got another bunch of brilliant events for you to enjoy! This week we have tours through cemeteries, windmills, and the archive, alongside a special talk from an author!
For more info head to histfestbucks.co.uk
For more info head to histfestbucks.co.uk
'Here be dragons' should be replaced by 'Here there be probably parts of Bedfordshire but the border is pretty vague'.
County boundaries weren't always as neat as we'd like them to be. The area around Meppershall in Bedfordshire was particularly complicated giving rise to this cartographical equivalent of a shrug of the shoulders:
HARTFORD SHIRE intermixed with BEDFORD SHIRE
The Limits uncertain
#MappyMonday
HARTFORD SHIRE intermixed with BEDFORD SHIRE
The Limits uncertain
#MappyMonday
November 3, 2025 at 10:39 AM
'Here be dragons' should be replaced by 'Here there be probably parts of Bedfordshire but the border is pretty vague'.
This week's #MKMonday photo is in our catalogue as 'May Day fun run in Linford Wood, 1980', but that fails to capture just how much it looks like a still from a slasher film.
November 3, 2025 at 8:30 AM
This week's #MKMonday photo is in our catalogue as 'May Day fun run in Linford Wood, 1980', but that fails to capture just how much it looks like a still from a slasher film.
It's the first day of November, so here's another page from Florence Fremantle's handmade 1926 calendar! There's an extract from Love's Labour's Lost by Shakespeare and some very frozen looking plants.
November 1, 2025 at 10:01 AM
It's the first day of November, so here's another page from Florence Fremantle's handmade 1926 calendar! There's an extract from Love's Labour's Lost by Shakespeare and some very frozen looking plants.
It's Halloween! Here's the scariest thing in our archive.
October 31, 2025 at 11:02 AM
It's Halloween! Here's the scariest thing in our archive.
Parents, make sure you're careful this Halloween! Inside this Snickers we've just found the 1444 map of Boarstall, one of the oldest maps of an English village and a fantastic example of late medieval cartography.
October 30, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Parents, make sure you're careful this Halloween! Inside this Snickers we've just found the 1444 map of Boarstall, one of the oldest maps of an English village and a fantastic example of late medieval cartography.
We're very excited to have the Mystery Tours returning for this year's History Festival!
Join the Time Traveller in this spooky walk through Aylesbury, uncovering some of the darkest parts of the town's history.
For more info and to book your ticket, head to histfestbucks.co.uk
Join the Time Traveller in this spooky walk through Aylesbury, uncovering some of the darkest parts of the town's history.
For more info and to book your ticket, head to histfestbucks.co.uk
October 29, 2025 at 2:04 PM
We're very excited to have the Mystery Tours returning for this year's History Festival!
Join the Time Traveller in this spooky walk through Aylesbury, uncovering some of the darkest parts of the town's history.
For more info and to book your ticket, head to histfestbucks.co.uk
Join the Time Traveller in this spooky walk through Aylesbury, uncovering some of the darkest parts of the town's history.
For more info and to book your ticket, head to histfestbucks.co.uk
As Black History Month draws to a close, we thought we'd share this entry in a baptism register for Buckingham, April 1571. It features a 14 year old boy called Samson Aethiops, noting that he was born in Africa.
![A close up photograph of an entry in a parish register. It is written in Latin, with black ink on vellum. The text says:
Aprilis
Samson Aethiops nate in Africa Quaturodece
an[n]os natus baptizabate sexto die Wil[l]mo Palmer
Grato [gratus] Wil[l]mo Davies Clerico et Katherina
Pates susceptoribus
Translated, this means:
6 April 1571
Samson Aethiops born in Africa fourteen years born
baptised 6th day William Palmer
Gratious William Davis Clerk and Katherina Pates sponsors](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6xy5uc24pd5iuysvqqtbohds/bafkreif3w3rkk2se5mgk4322kr3x4rbus7z7krfixx2u5ifn5e23z7qt4e@jpeg)
October 29, 2025 at 8:30 AM
As Black History Month draws to a close, we thought we'd share this entry in a baptism register for Buckingham, April 1571. It features a 14 year old boy called Samson Aethiops, noting that he was born in Africa.
Buckinghamshire has got a lot of historic pubs, and this talk for the History Festival explores some of them around Bourne End! Hosted by the Bourne End Bucks One Place Study Society, this talk is a historic pub crawl without needing to leave your seat.
Book your tickets at histfestbucks.co.uk
Book your tickets at histfestbucks.co.uk
October 28, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Buckinghamshire has got a lot of historic pubs, and this talk for the History Festival explores some of them around Bourne End! Hosted by the Bourne End Bucks One Place Study Society, this talk is a historic pub crawl without needing to leave your seat.
Book your tickets at histfestbucks.co.uk
Book your tickets at histfestbucks.co.uk
We don't usually share public health advice, but we thought we'd make an exception for this brilliant document.
In a collection from 1911 is this speech that covers 'What to say to a boy of nine or ten going to his first school', filled with talk about puberty.
It contains exactly what you expect.
In a collection from 1911 is this speech that covers 'What to say to a boy of nine or ten going to his first school', filled with talk about puberty.
It contains exactly what you expect.
October 28, 2025 at 11:56 AM
We don't usually share public health advice, but we thought we'd make an exception for this brilliant document.
In a collection from 1911 is this speech that covers 'What to say to a boy of nine or ten going to his first school', filled with talk about puberty.
It contains exactly what you expect.
In a collection from 1911 is this speech that covers 'What to say to a boy of nine or ten going to his first school', filled with talk about puberty.
It contains exactly what you expect.
We've got a fantastic online talk about Buckinghamshire's early modern musical history as part of the History Festival! This talk by Caro Lesemann-Elliott explores their project's work revealing new evidence of music-making.
Book your free ticket at histfestbucks.co.uk
Book your free ticket at histfestbucks.co.uk
October 28, 2025 at 8:30 AM
We've got a fantastic online talk about Buckinghamshire's early modern musical history as part of the History Festival! This talk by Caro Lesemann-Elliott explores their project's work revealing new evidence of music-making.
Book your free ticket at histfestbucks.co.uk
Book your free ticket at histfestbucks.co.uk
Buckinghamshire History Festival starts this weekend and we've got loads of great events for you to enjoy! With archaeology days, exhibitions, and guided walks, who knows what you'll discover?
For more details, head to histfestbucks.co.uk
For more details, head to histfestbucks.co.uk
October 27, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Buckinghamshire History Festival starts this weekend and we've got loads of great events for you to enjoy! With archaeology days, exhibitions, and guided walks, who knows what you'll discover?
For more details, head to histfestbucks.co.uk
For more details, head to histfestbucks.co.uk
We've got a new job available here in the archive! We're looking for an Archive Assistant to support our collections team.
For more information, head to jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/job_detail/3...
For more information, head to jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/job_detail/3...
October 27, 2025 at 1:04 PM
We've got a new job available here in the archive! We're looking for an Archive Assistant to support our collections team.
For more information, head to jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/job_detail/3...
For more information, head to jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/job_detail/3...
Here's a very spooky event from our friends at @cheshammuseum for Buckinghamshire History festival! Join local historian Eleanor Phillips for this talk on the paranormal history of the Chilterns.
Book your ticket at cheshammuseum.org.uk/event/phantoms-of-the-chilterns
Book your ticket at cheshammuseum.org.uk/event/phantoms-of-the-chilterns
October 25, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Here's a very spooky event from our friends at @cheshammuseum for Buckinghamshire History festival! Join local historian Eleanor Phillips for this talk on the paranormal history of the Chilterns.
Book your ticket at cheshammuseum.org.uk/event/phantoms-of-the-chilterns
Book your ticket at cheshammuseum.org.uk/event/phantoms-of-the-chilterns
We're very excited to have Milton Keynes Archaeology Day back for the History Festival this year! This is a free event for the whole family that celebrates the archaeological heritage of the city and the places beyond.
For a full programme of events and activities, head to histfestbucks.co.uk
For a full programme of events and activities, head to histfestbucks.co.uk
October 24, 2025 at 6:03 PM
We're very excited to have Milton Keynes Archaeology Day back for the History Festival this year! This is a free event for the whole family that celebrates the archaeological heritage of the city and the places beyond.
For a full programme of events and activities, head to histfestbucks.co.uk
For a full programme of events and activities, head to histfestbucks.co.uk
Our friends at Wycombe Museum are running two workshops for home educators as part of Buckinghamshire History Festival! Come learn about Wycombe's heritage in a fun, interactive session.
To book your space, head to wycombemuseum.org.uk/events/explore-for-home-educators-bodgers-bottomers
To book your space, head to wycombemuseum.org.uk/events/explore-for-home-educators-bodgers-bottomers
October 24, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Our friends at Wycombe Museum are running two workshops for home educators as part of Buckinghamshire History Festival! Come learn about Wycombe's heritage in a fun, interactive session.
To book your space, head to wycombemuseum.org.uk/events/explore-for-home-educators-bodgers-bottomers
To book your space, head to wycombemuseum.org.uk/events/explore-for-home-educators-bodgers-bottomers
From tomorrow you can book your tickets for this tour of the Ercol factory in Princes Risborough! This exclusive tour is likely to sell out fast so make sure you secure your space.
To book your ticket, go to wycombemuseum.org.uk/events/a-tour-of-the-ercol-factory-nov25
To book your ticket, go to wycombemuseum.org.uk/events/a-tour-of-the-ercol-factory-nov25
October 23, 2025 at 6:03 PM
From tomorrow you can book your tickets for this tour of the Ercol factory in Princes Risborough! This exclusive tour is likely to sell out fast so make sure you secure your space.
To book your ticket, go to wycombemuseum.org.uk/events/a-tour-of-the-ercol-factory-nov25
To book your ticket, go to wycombemuseum.org.uk/events/a-tour-of-the-ercol-factory-nov25
Next week we'll be visiting High Wycombe Library for some contemporary collecting as part of Black History Month!
We'll be recording responses to the question 'What does Black History Month mean to you?', preserving them as part of our collection.
Come along on the 30th and be a part of history!
We'll be recording responses to the question 'What does Black History Month mean to you?', preserving them as part of our collection.
Come along on the 30th and be a part of history!
October 23, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Next week we'll be visiting High Wycombe Library for some contemporary collecting as part of Black History Month!
We'll be recording responses to the question 'What does Black History Month mean to you?', preserving them as part of our collection.
Come along on the 30th and be a part of history!
We'll be recording responses to the question 'What does Black History Month mean to you?', preserving them as part of our collection.
Come along on the 30th and be a part of history!