Urbanisation

Lots of people moved from the countryside into the town in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Many rural villages shrunk, while towns grew. The oldest part of a town is usually round the church, just like in villages, and expansion happened around this central core. By looking at maps we can chart the growth of some of our towns.

High Wycombe

Look at the three map sections of the western edge of High Wycombe that your teacher gives you. On the 1900 map, shade in the original area of housing from the 1880 map in green and everything that has been built since in blue. On the last map, showing High Wycombe in 1927, shade in all the phases of development. Shade the 1880 part in green, the 1900 in blue and the later development in red.

Aylesbury

Your teacher will give you three maps of Aylesbury. The maps show the north-east edge of Aylesbury, what is now the Bierton Road going past the prison. Mark on the second map where the 1880 settlement was in green and the new settlement in blue. On the third map, shade the 1880 settlement in green, the 1900 in blue and the new settlement in red.

Comparison

The expansion at High Wycombe was much more rapid than in Aylesbury. The type of buildings going up look different as well. Looking at the later maps of High Wycombe and Aylesbury, what do you think the type of buildings going up could be? Circle one answer:

1. The buildings at High Wycombe look large, so they might be rich people’s houses, whereas those in Aylesbury were for poor people.

2. The buildings at High Wycombe look large, so they might be rich factories, whereas those in Aylesbury were houses.

3. The buildings at High Wycombe look like a mixture of houses and factories whereas those in Aylesbury are just houses.

The buildings going up in High Wycombe do seem to be a mixture of houses and factories. There are also community buildings, like schools. See if you can find where these buildings are on the 1900 High Wycombe map. There are two schools, a chapel, a church and a pub to find.

The Aylesbury buildings are mostly houses. What is the name of the new development on the 1927 map of Aylesbury? What kind of development do you think this is? Tick one answer:

1. It is an estate for rich people.

2. It is an estate for poor people.

This is probably an estate built by the town council to house workers in Aylesbury. The houses are very small and have only small gardens too. The town council seem to have tried to make the estate a nice place to live, as they have avoided building long terraces.

Go back to find more Changes in the landscape.