Princes Risborough

Princes Risborough is a small town in Buckinghamshire.

Understand

It's on the A4010 about halfway between High Wycombe and Aylesbury. The population is around 10,000. Why "Princes"? Because Edward the Black Prince apparently had a palace near St Mary's Church. (The site is now, in the finest British tradition, a car park.) Before then, it was "Great Risborough" on the same pattern as Great Missenden, and there was a Little Risborough, which changed its name to Monks Risborough as it had a monastery (no longer extant).

Getting information about Princes Risborough ("Risborough" for short) is very easy. No emigrants to other parts of the world seem to have called anywhere else by the same name, so a Google search for "Princes Risborough" (with the quotes) will get useful results. Unless you want to look a chump, don't say or write "Princess Risborough".

Get in

By road

A4010 from Junction 4 of the M40 south of High Wycombe, or B4009 from J6 - both about 10 miles of driving from the motorway junction.

By rail

By bus

By bicycle

Get around

For the town, you can just use your feet. For the local countryside, you need a car or bike unless the bus routes or railway lines suit.

See
  • The High Street and Duke Street - some old buildings and good local shops among the vast number of estate agents. Note the Trumpton-style market square.
  • Manor Park Avenue and Church Lane are worth walking along for some nice private houses, and one cottage in Church Lane has a plaque commemorating Amy Johnson the aviator.
  • 🌍 St Mary's Church, Church Ln, Princes Risborough HP27 9AW. The spire is visible from almost anywhere in town and parts of the church are quite old, though there are no particular features that would get it into a list of churches to visit. Outside the church by the Mount car park is a sign about the Black Prince's Palace. (updated Jun 2017)
  • 🌍 Whiteleaf Cross. A large chalk engraving in the side of a hill can be seen from nearly anywhere in the town. A steep uphill walk (or drive) to the top will give you views of the entire town and beyond as far as Didcot to the west and Aylesbury and Milton Keynes to the north. 
  • Red kites: the population started from a breeding programme to the west has reached Risborough, and you can quite often count six or more kites soaring above the town.
  • 🌍 Cymbeline's Castle (½ km SW of Ellesborough church). A motte and bailey castle. (updated Jun 2017)
  • 🌍 Kop Hill Climb (Annual Motorsport Hill Climb Event). ½ mile hill climb event with a gradient of 1 in 4 at its steepest. Event originally started in 1910 but ended in 1925 following a minor accident involving a spectator. The RAC then banned all motorsport on public roads. In 1999 the event was revived as a non-competitive charity event. (updated Jun 2017)

Do

Get into local countryside for walks - the Ridgeway National Trail and Icknield way pass close by.

Nightlife: for anything other than pubs and eateries, you need to go to High Wycombe or Aylesbury.

Visit the Tourist Information Centre in Horns Lane opposite Marks & Spencers to find out whats on in and around Princes Risborough. Walking & cycling leaflets available.

Buy

Food: Clark's is an excellent butcher. Tesco and Marks and Spencers Simply Food supermarkets are just what you'd expect, though anyone used to modern Tesco stores should be aware that this one is tiny. There's a deli in the High Street as well as the usual shops you would expect in a small town. Thursday sees a street market with some stalls selling some more exotic items. There are about four charity shops with the usual range of stuff - reasonable quality as Risborough has plenty of wealthy people.

Eat

Three curry houses of which Radhuni, which replaced a Chinese in the helf-timbered old library building, is the most ambitious, and an expensive one, Coco Tamarind, on the road to Aylesbury. Snacks/sandwiches at the deli and a sandwich bar. Many pubs in and around town will serve you food.

Drink

About four pubs.

Sleep

There are no longer any hotels in the town, but a number of B&Bs and inns in the surrounding area.

Connect
  • 🌍 Post Office, Tower Court, Horn Lane, Princes Risborough HP27 0AJ. M-Sa 9AM-5:30PM. (updated Jun 2017)

Go next
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