Saxon To Medieval Period
The earliest stone buildings in the town were the castle and the parish church. Little is known of the castle: its existence is speculation based on the names Castle Street and Castle Fee, though archeological excavations in the 1960s uncovered a section of the castle wall and part of an Iron Age fort. It is likely that it was a Norman structure consisting of just a motte-and-bailey. Built immediately after the conquest it was probably demolished after outliving its requirement following the quelling of the Anarchy of the early 12th century.
The parish church, dedicated to St Mary is the oldest surviving building in Aylesbury. Cruciform in design, it follows a common layout of English churches, the tower in the centre, the nave with aisles in the west, leading to the chancel in the east, and chapels in the north and south transepts. The eastern chapel, known as the Lady chapel has beneath it a crypt containing Saxon brickwork, possibly dating from circa 571 when Aylesbury was a Saxon settlement known as Aeglesburge. It is thought a Norman church, of which only the font remains, then stood on the site. The present church was built during the first half of the 13th century, and has later perpendicular battlements. The tower is crowned by a small spire dating from the reign of Charles II. Between 1850 and 1869 the church was restored under the direction of Sir George Gilbert Scott. Pevsner describes this restoration as "so reckless both exterior and interior look mostly Victorian". Scott removed features such as the intricately carved manorial pew, the "three decker" pulpit and replaced some perpendicular windows with Gothic triple lancet windows beloved of the Victorians (the original east window can now be found in the gardens of Green End House in Rickford's Hill). The church was, at this time, in a dilapidated state, the roof was perilous, and innumerable internal burials had undermined the foundations, in addition to this much of the church was let to local organizations, the local fire service kept three fire engines in one of the chapels, and the local regiment and militia stored their stock of gunpowder in part of the church. Many fine architectural details did survive the neglect and following restoration - the large west window, the perpendicular roofs to the transepts, the late 12th century font and the four misericords besides some well carved stone monuments and memorial tablets. In the 1970s the church was again considered perilously unstable, and at one time appeared to be facing demolition, though was eventually restored, and is today the town's principal Church of England place of worship.
The former friarage at 27 Rickfords Hill is the oldest residential building in Aylesbury. Constructed circa 1386 as a Franciscan priory the substructure remains intact although the exterior is more modern. Part of the original foundation of the building can still be seen at the side in Friarage Passage.
It is possible that the building was re-fronted shortly after the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII in the 16th century. Re-fronting was a common practice in British building techniques and involves stripping away the external shell of the older building, sometimes just the front, and then adding a new shell.
There is a high likelihood that the building was re-fronted for a second time or had extra features added to it in the 18th century: the front door, for instance, is of a much later design than 16th century. However records suggest that the size of the doorway, and the position of the windows are original features from the 14th century structure.
Today the building is one of the offices of a firm of solicitors, who have been based in this building for over 20 years, the main office is 25 yards away at 14 Bourbon Street. It had been the private residence of one Colonel Crouch a Clerk of the Peace and Clerk of Buckinghamshire County Council (1924–1955).
Read more about this topic: Architecture Of Aylesbury
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