Princes Risborough () is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England; it is located about south of Aylesbury, northwest of High Wycombe, and south of Thame. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through the Chilterns; the south end of which is at West Wycombe. The A4010 road follows this route from West Wycombe through the town and then on to Aylesbury.
Historically, it was both a manor and an ecclesiastical parish, of the same extent as the manor, which comprised the present ecclesiastical parish of Princes Risborough (excluding Ilmer) and also the present ecclesiastical parish of Lacey Green, which became a separate parish in the 19th century.A map of these parishes can be seen by going to achurchnearyou.com and entering the parish name and following the link from the church; then click on "About the parish". It was long and narrow (a "strip parish"), taking in land below the Chiltern scarp, the slope of the scarp itself and also land above the scarp extending into the Chiltern hills. The manor and the parish extended from Longwick in the north through Alscot, the town of Princes Risborough, Loosley Row and Lacey Green to Speen and Walters Ash in the south.
Since 1934, the civil parish of Princes Risborough (formerly the same as the ecclesiastical parish) has included the town of Princes Risborough, the village of Monks Risborough (but not the outlying parts) and part of Horsenden but has excluded Longwick. It is within the Wycombe district of Buckinghamshire and operates as a town council within Wycombe district.
The town is overlooked by the Whiteleaf Cross, a chalk cross carved into the hillside that's just northeast of the town. Though the cross itself lies just above the village with the same name, the landmark is located within the area of Monks Risborough.
Toponym The name 'Risborough' comes from the Old English hrisen beorgas meaning 'brushwood-covered hills'. Hrisen, an adjective meaning brushwood-covered derived from hris meaning brushwood or scrub, and beorgas which meant hills. The spelling varies in the documents in which the name is found.See Mawer & Stenton: Place Names of Buckinghamshire pp. 170–1
In the 13th century, it was known as Magna Risberge (Great Risborough) which distinguished it from Parva Risberge (Little Risborough), which is now Monks Risborough. Later it was Earls Risborough because the manor was held by the Earls of Cornwall between 1242 and 1336. At some point, following the death of Edward the Black Prince, it became Prince Risberge and later Princes Risborough, as the manor belonged to various Princes during the Wars of the Roses during the 15th century.
Risborough 1066–1086 Great Risborough, as it was then known, had been a Saxon village held by Edward the Confessor. As a royal manor it could be used by the King to make financial provision for members of the royal family or others whom the King at any point might wish to reward. The current land where the royal manor once stood (now a car park known as The Mount) bears traces of banks and entrenchments, enclosed by a moat and is originally believed to have been a Saxon encampment.|url=http://www.princesrisboroughtowncouncil.gov.uk/_UserFiles/Files/History/PR%20History.pdf The land was then held shortly by Harold Godwinson before he was defeated at the Battle of Hastings.All information on the manorial history comes from VHCB where full references can be found
Before 1066, the land of the manor and village only paid £10 at face value (i.e. without weighing the coins). Furthermore, a burgess of Oxford paid 2s and a saltboiler of Droitwich an amount left blank. A freeman held three virgates and had the right to sell his land, though it was said that he served the sheriff.Domesday Book Buckinghamshire 1,3 At the time of the Domesday Book survey in 1086, the Manor of Risborough was an extensive complex of a royal manor, stud farm, deer park and a large fishery. There most likely was an earlier church on the current site of St Mary's Church today. It was part of the Hundred of Risborough, which also comprised Bledlow, Horsenden and Monks Risborough.
In 1086, the land was assessed at 30 hides both before and after the conquest, of which 20 hides related to the demesne. The manor had land for 24 ploughs, four of them in the lord's demesne. There were 30 villagers and they together with 12 bordars (cottagers or small holdersBordar is the English translation of the Latin word bordarius, which is the standard word used in Domesday Book for a villein of the lowest class, holding a cottage and some land at the will of the lord of the manor in return for work or services which he was obliged to render on the manor) had 20 ploughs. There were three slaves. There were two mills, worth 14s 8d a year, meadow for seven ploughteams (generally taken as needing eight oxen each) and woodland sufficient for 1,000 pigs. In total, it paid £47 a year in white silver, less 16d.
Risborough as a Royal Manor After the Norman Conquest, the local woods on the land of the Manor were privatized under the forest law and formed part of the lands of the new King, William the Conqueror who granted Risborough's royal manor as one of 48 Buckinghamshire manors to the feudal barony of Long Crendon held by Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville for his many years of loyal service.George Edward Cokayne, The Complete Peerage of England Scotland Ireland Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant Extinct or Dormant, Vol. II, Ed. Vicary Gibbs (London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1912), p. 387 In 1085, lordship of the manor of Risborough passed to his son Walter Giffard, 1st Earl of Buckingham. By the 12th century, it was still held by the Giffard family, namely Walter Giffard, 2nd Earl of Buckingham, when he died without issue in 1164 it reverted to the Crown.
It was then granted to the Constable of Normandy, Robert de Humeto, who obtained a charter from King Henry II, and remained in his family until about 1242. King Henry III then granted the manor to his brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall, it was then meant to pass to Richard's eldest son Henry of Almain but when he was murdered before his father died, Richard ordered his estates be passed to his second son, Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall. When Edmund died childless in 1300, his estates including the royal manor of what was now called Earls Risborough were escheated to the Crown.
Between 1302 and 1305, King Edward I granted it to Queen Margaret for her life, subject to the rights of Edmund's widow Margaret, Countess of Cornwall, in one third part for life as part of her dower. King Edward II gave the reversion (subject to these life interests) to his unpopular favourite, Piers Gaveston and his wife, but this grant was surrendered in the same year. Queen Margaret died in 1318. In 1327, when Edward III succeeded to the throne at the age of fifteen, he granted the manor to his mother, Queen Isabella for her services during his father's reign. The King's brother, John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall, also had an interest for a time.
The King then granted the manor to his eldest son, Edward Prince of Wales, known later (though not during his lifetime) as the Black Prince. He held the manor for 32 years from 1344 to 1376 when he died.
On the death of the Black Prince, the manor passed to his son, Richard of Bordeaux, who became King Richard II in the following year. He granted it to Lewis de Clifford who held it for his life. When it reverted to King Henry IV, the manor passed through the royal family for many years who granted it to his son Henry, Prince of Wales, who became King Henry V in 1413. It then passed to Henry VI and was part of the dower of his Queen, Margaret of Anjou. Later, it was held by his son, Edward, and then appears to have remained vested in the Crown until Edward VI granted it to his half-sister, the Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth for her life.
Subsequently, James I held it and it formed part of the dower of his Queen, Anne of Denmark. Later again it was held by Prince Charles, later King Charles I, who in 1628 sold it to the City of London in part satisfaction of the large debts of the Crown. Thus, after more than 600 years, the manor's long connection with the Crown of England finally came to an end. Subsequently, the manor was bought and sold in the market and changed hands from time to time, but its later manorial history is only a record of commercial transactions.Information and references can be found in VHCB
Risborough under the Black Prince King Edward III granted the Manor of Risborough in 1344 to his eldest son, Edward Prince of Wales, known posthumously as the Black Prince. He was 14 years of age and he held the manor for 32 years until his death in 1376. Edward III did not die until 1377 and the Prince never became king. It was after the Black Prince's death that the market town became known as Prince Risberge later Princes Risborough.
At the time when the Prince became lord of the manor of Risborough, there was a manor house and hall on the west side of the church (where there is now a car park), which old sources describe as his "palace". To some extent, the manor was laid out on much the same lines as other manor houses (also called "palaces" at the time) like Much Hadham Palace in Hertfordshire and Woking Palace in Surrey and possibly the manor at Watlington which also belonged to the Black Prince. The manor house and grounds may have been extensive but it was hardly palatial and might be better described as a hunting lodge. The Prince seems never to have spent an extended period of time there. The nearest place where he lived for any length of time was Berkhamsted Castle, where he stayed after his marriage to Joan Countess of Kent from November 1361 to January 1362 and occasionally at other times.Barber pp. 172–4
By the 14th century, the Manor was known for its Royal stud for breeding horses and hunting. The main purpose of the Prince's visits to Risborough is likely to have been to visit the stud and inspect and/or select stallions with such resounding names as Grisel, Tankarvill, Morel de Salesbirs.
Much of his adult life was spent on campaign in France, where he won the great victory of Poitiers in 1356. In July 1362, his father (Edward III) made him Prince of Aquitaine and he remained in that province until he returned to England in 1371, probably already a sick man.For his life, see Barber. Significantly, this book does not mention Risborough at all. In 1346, when the Prince (aged 16) was about to leave with his father for his first campaign in France, which culminated in the battle of Crecy, a Council was set up to manage on his behalf his various manors and lordships throughout the country.Calendar of Patent Rolls 1345/48 p.43 The transactions of this council were recorded and have been printed and published by the Public Record Office.See Register Many decisions affecting Risborough were made by this Council rather than by the Prince himself. They give us some insight into life at Risborough in the 14th century.
The manor was in the charge of a steward (not always resident there), but its day-to-day management was in the hands of the reeve,Orders for the payment of money in the register are addressed to the reeve and there was a parker, responsible for the management of the park, and a keeper of the stud.