The most famous legends in Buckinghamshire
Do What You WillMedmenham · FamousOver a Thames-side doorway, aristocrats placed the words 'do what you will'. What they did inside has been whispered about ever since.
Race of the PancakesOlney · FamousOne Shrove Tuesday a housewife heard the church bell mid-pancake. She ran, and Olney has been running ever since.
Shakespeare's ConstableGrendon Underwood · FamousA travelling playwright stopped at a roadside inn in Bucks. The local lawman never knew he was taking notes.
The Devil in the BootNorth Marston · FamousA humble village rector made North Marston one of medieval England's great pilgrim stops. His strangest miracle involved a devil, and a boot.
The Dinton HermitDinton · FamousWhen the monarchy returned, a Dinton clerk vanished underground. Locals whispered they knew exactly why.
The Hellfire CavesWest Wycombe · FamousUnder West Wycombe Hill, a lord's secret club once gathered by candlelight. Today visitors keep spotting a young woman in white in the tunnels.
The King on the StairsChenies · FamousHenry VIII brought his young queen to Chenies, unaware she was secretly meeting another man. Some say the jealous king never left.
The King's PineappleDorney · FamousPineapples were the ultimate status symbol in the 1600s. One Thames-side manor claims it grew England's very first, and gave it to the king.
The Mayflower's BonesJordans (Chalfont St Giles) · FamousIn a quiet Quaker corner of the Chilterns stands an old wooden barn. Some believe its beams once crossed the Atlantic with the Pilgrim Fathers.
The Patriot's CoffinGreat Hampden · FamousWas England's great patriot killed by his own exploding pistol? In 1828 a lord decided to dig up the church floor to find out.
The Tennis-Court BlowIvinghoe · FamousA Hampden supposedly hit the Black Prince over a game of tennis. The punishment rhymed, and a famous novel was named after it.
Customs you can still see
- Race of the PancakesShrove Tuesday pancake race (next 9 February 2027) · Olney
- The Fenny Poppers11 November, firing at noon, 2pm and 4pm · Fenny Stratford
- Weighing the MayorWeighing the Mayor outside the Guildhall each May after the charter trustees' annual meeting (last reported 24 May 2026) · High Wycombe
Ghosts 11
- The Hellfire CavesWest Wycombe · Pay to get inUnder West Wycombe Hill, a lord's secret club once gathered by candlelight. Today visitors keep spotting a young woman in white in the tunnels.
- The King on the StairsChenies · Pay to get inHenry VIII brought his young queen to Chenies, unaware she was secretly meeting another man. Some say the jealous king never left.
- Fair Rosamond's FootstepsCreslow · PrivateA guest locked both doors and searched the haunted room before bed. Just after midnight, something began to move.
- Grey Lady at the InnAylesbury · FreeAylesbury's oldest inn claims royal guests from Henry VI to Cromwell. Some visitors, they say, never checked out.
- Sukie's Last DanceWest Wycombe · FreeA serving girl at this coaching inn longed to marry a rich gentleman. When a secret note arrived inviting her to the caves, she believed it.
- The Black MonkGreat Missenden · PrivateMissenden's medieval monks were notorious for not living by their rules. One of them, the story goes, has never been allowed to rest.
- The Green ForesterFingest · FreeA bishop fenced off the poor folk's common so he could hunt deer. After he died, a figure in forester's green began walking the woods.
- The Hanging Judge's InnChalfont St Peter · FreeA notorious hanging judge is said to have held court upstairs at this old inn. And some nights, locals say, a coach arrives that nobody is driving.
- The Standard Bearer's HandMiddle Claydon · Pay to get inAt Edgehill a loyal knight refused to let go of the King's banner. What happened to his hand still troubles Claydon.
- The Stolen HeartWest Wycombe · FreeA poet asked for his heart to be kept in a marble urn on this hilltop. Tourists came to see it for decades, until one day it vanished.
- The Drummer Boy's InnForty Green, Beaconsfield · FreeThis hidden pub served the king's men during the Civil War. When the Roundheads came, the youngest Royalist was just twelve years old.
The Devil 1
Witches 1
Beasts 1
Heroes and kings 3
- The Black Prince's PalacePrinces Risborough · FreePrinces Risborough is named after England's most famous warrior prince. Locals long swore his palace stood right here, beside the church.
- The Boar of BernwoodBoarstall · FreeA wild boar was ravaging the King's forest. One huntsman went after it with nothing but a knife.
- The Bull RidersGerrards Cross · FreeWhen the Normans came to take a Saxon's land near Gerrards Cross, he refused to go quietly. His secret weapon had horns.
Outlaws 1
Saints and holy places 5
- The Devil in the BootNorth Marston · FreeA humble village rector made North Marston one of medieval England's great pilgrim stops. His strangest miracle involved a devil, and a boot.
- The Saint's PoolTaplow · PrivateA missionary saint came to the Thames valley to convert the pagan Saxons. Local tradition points to one small pool where he baptised them.
- The Three-Day SaintBuckingham · FreeA royal baby born in the 7th century did something astonishing on each of his three days of life. Pilgrims still come to his well.
- The Weeping MadonnaBradwell, Milton Keynes · FreeA failing priory found a statue outside its walls. Then people said it began to cry.
- Where Nothing Would GrowQuarrendon, Aylesbury · FreeMedieval villagers avoided one bare patch of ground at Quarrendon. They said a royal saint had been born there.
Customs 7
- Race of the PancakesOlney · FreeOne Shrove Tuesday a housewife heard the church bell mid-pancake. She ran, and Olney has been running ever since.
- The King's PineappleDorney · Pay to get inPineapples were the ultimate status symbol in the 1600s. One Thames-side manor claims it grew England's very first, and gave it to the king.
- The Fenny PoppersFenny Stratford · FreeAn 18th-century antiquary left money so the town would never forget him. Every November, Fenny Stratford makes sure of it, loudly.
- The Rhyne TollChetwode · FreeEvery autumn the lord of Chetwode blew his horn and taxed every passing beast. The reason, they said, lay under a mound in a nearby field.
- Weighing the MayorHigh Wycombe · FreeEach May, Wycombe's new mayor climbs onto a giant set of scales in front of a crowd. The verdict is shouted out, and the crowd decides how to react.
- The Christmas ThornQuainton · FreeAfter eleven days disappeared from the calendar, Quainton asked a thorn tree to decide when Christmas was. The tree had an answer.
- The Thatched PondHaddenham · FreeHaddenham's duck-breeders put a roof over their pond. The neighbours never let them forget it.
Curses 2
- The Barren CircleAmersham · FreeSeven people were burned in a field above Amersham for their beliefs. For generations afterwards, farmers noticed something odd about one patch of that field.
- The Church on the EdgeBledlow · FreeBledlow's church perches on the very edge of a hollow full of bubbling springs. An old rhyme promises patient villagers a dramatic sight one day.
Mysteries 11
- Do What You WillMedmenham · PrivateOver a Thames-side doorway, aristocrats placed the words 'do what you will'. What they did inside has been whispered about ever since.
- Shakespeare's ConstableGrendon Underwood · PrivateA travelling playwright stopped at a roadside inn in Bucks. The local lawman never knew he was taking notes.
- The Dinton HermitDinton · PrivateWhen the monarchy returned, a Dinton clerk vanished underground. Locals whispered they knew exactly why.
- The Mayflower's BonesJordans (Chalfont St Giles) · PrivateIn a quiet Quaker corner of the Chilterns stands an old wooden barn. Some believe its beams once crossed the Atlantic with the Pilgrim Fathers.
- The Patriot's CoffinGreat Hampden · FreeWas England's great patriot killed by his own exploding pistol? In 1828 a lord decided to dig up the church floor to find out.
- The Tennis-Court BlowIvinghoe · FreeA Hampden supposedly hit the Black Prince over a game of tennis. The punishment rhymed, and a famous novel was named after it.
- Circle Under the ChurchChesham · FreeLook closely at the foot of Chesham's parish church and you will find strange knobbly boulders. One theory says they are far older than the church.
- The Cock and Bull StoryStony Stratford · FreeTwo coaching inns, one high street, and plenty of travellers with tales to tell. The town says it coined a famous phrase.
- The Hillside CrossMonks Risborough / Princes Risborough · FreeA giant white cross stares out from a Chiltern hillside across the vale. Everyone can see it, but nobody can say who first cut it.
- The Prophet of Holy GroundWater Stratford · FreeA village rector told crowds the end was near and he would rise in three days. Then he died.
- Two in the CoffinTurville · FreeIn 1901 builders found an old stone coffin hidden under Turville's pulpit. When they lifted the lid, it held more than they expected.