About the Parish

Buckland Parish is a Chilterns strip parish, long and narrow, stretching from Draytonmead Farm in Aylesbury Vale in the north to Leylands Farm, high in the Chilterns in the south. Historically, the strips afforded residents a mix of arable land, upland pasture and woodland.

The Parish divides into three distinct, but intrinsically related, areas, in the north the ‘village’ of Buckland including the designated Conservation Area, in the centre the ‘triangle’ formed by the Lower Icknield Way, London Road (including Buckland Wharf) and Buckland Road, and the third section is the area south of the Wendover Arm canal, which is within the AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and the MGB (Metropolitan Green Belt), climbing high into the Chilterns.

Buckland Wharf consists of Victorian properties which came into being when the Wendover Arm Canal was built. London Road and Buckland Road consist mainly of dwellings built during the 20th century, starting during the inter-war period. Some planning policies will relate to all areas of the Parish, others will relate to specific areas.

Two main roads cross the parish: the B489 Lower Icknield Way and London Road, once Akeman Street. The Upper Icknield Way leads off the London Road at Tring Hill and a sunken lane, Dancersend Lane, wanders through the Chilterns up to the Crong and Northhill Wood. The A41 Aston Clinton bypass now cuts through a third of Buckland Parish.

There are two canals, to the north the Aylesbury Arm of the Grand Union Canal, and to the south the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal. The Wendover Arm Canal is currently undergoing restoration. At the southernmost end of the Parish is the ancient Ridgeway, a National Trail and, is therefore, a nationally significant recreation resource.