The trade of this county has been, greatly facilitated by the Grand Junction Canal, which enters it near Woolverton, and, after running eastward within a mile of Newport Pagnell, it flows to the south, and passes Fenny Stratford, Stoke Hammond, Linslade, and lying hoe, and enters Hertfordshire near Bulbourne. A cut, called the Navigable Feeder, has been made from the canal at Bulbourne to Wendower, and another from Old Stratford to Buckingham. • The county of Buckinghlm is about 45 miles long, 18 broad, and 138 in circumference. It contains about 518,400 acres of land, of which 352,000 are stated to be arable, and about 170,000 acres pasturage, with about 5000 acres of waste ground fit for cultivation. The number of houses is 20,443, and the population 107,444. The number of males is 52,094, and the number of females 55,350 ; of whom 25,033 were returned as em ployed in agriculture, and 20,138 as engaged in trade, manufactures, and handicrafts.
There are 185 parishes in Buckinhamshire, and 15 market towns, viz. Buckingham and Aylesbury, the county towns, Amersham, Beaconsfield, Chesham, Col nebrook, lvinghoe, Newport Pagnell, Olney, Risborough, Stony Stratford, NVendover, Wycombe, Winslow, and Great Marlow. It is divided into eight hundreds, viz. Ashenden, Aylesbury, Buckingham, Burnham, Cot tesme, Desborough. Newport, and Stoke. It sends fourteen members to parliament : two from the county, two from Buckingham, two from Aylesbury, two from Hign Wycombe, two from Amersham, two from Wend over, and two from Great Marlow. With the exception of six parishes belonging to the see of Canterbury, and four in the diocese of London, the whole of the county is in the diocese of Lincoln. It is in the Norfolk circuit, and pays twelve parts of the landtax, and furnishes the militia with 560 men. The pool's' rates have been
augmented to 22s. in the pound.
The magnificent mansion and grounds of Stowe, the seat of the Marquis of Buckingham, form the principal ornament of the county When viewed from a distance, they appear like a vast grove, interspersed with columns, obelisks, and towers, which seem to emerge from a luxuriant mass of foliage. The pleasure grounds occupy 400 acres ; and the mansion contains a collection of the finest paintings, and a very choice and spacious library.t The other principal seats in the county are, Gothurst, the seat of George Wright, Esq.' ; Liscombe House, the seat of Sir Jonathan Lovat ; Wotton-under Bernwood, the seat of the earl of Temple; Chequers, the seat of Sir John Russel, Bart. ; Chalfont House, the seat of Thomas Hibbert, Esq.; Shardeloes, the seat of 1'. D. Tyrwhitt Drake, Esq. ; Wycombe Abbey, the seat of Lord Carrington ; Hitchenden, the seat of the Coun tess Dowager Conynghain ; Wycombe Park, the seat of Sir John Dashwood, Bart.; Fawley Court, the seat of Strickland Freeman, Esq. ; Danesfield, the seat of Robert Scott, Esq.; Harleyford, the seat of Sir \Valiant Clayton ; Hedsor Lodge, the seat of Lord Boston ; Wil ton Park, the seat of James Du Pre, Esq. ; Bulstrode, the seat of the duke of Portland ; Slope Park, the seat of John Penn, Esq. ; and Taploe House, the seat of the Marquis of Thomond. See Langley's History and Antiquities of the Hundred of Desborough, 4to, 1772 ; The Beauties of England and Wales, vol. i. p. 276.; The General View of the Agriculture of Buckingham shire ; Pennant's Tuur from Chester to London, 1782 ; Bray's Tour in 1783 ; and Shaw's Tour in 1789. For some account of the strata of Buckinghamshire, and of the pits of fullers' earth in Wavendon, see the article BEDFORDSHIRE. (a')