WHAT ARE THE GRIMSDALE CHRONICLES?

Created by honorary historian to the Old Gaol Ed Grimsdale, the Grimsdale Chronicles are a collection of key historical works centred on Buckingham and the Gaol.

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Ed has documented all sorts of fascinating tales. We are very grateful for his industry and expertise.

GET STARTED!

THE BURNT PIG

Buckingham boy thrown from horse spooked by singed pig

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1844: THE RURAL POOR

Buckingham poverty so bad, onlookers assume the plague has struck

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THE WRETCHED STEVENS
1864 murderer of Buckingham girl held in Old Gaol before hanging

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MAKE YOUR OWN ESCAPE ROPE
Prisoner escapes the Old Gaol using rope made from bits of 'oakum'

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THE TALE OF WILLIAM 'COINER' VARNEY
Forgery, escape and tragedy

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POACHERS BEWARE!

In the mid-1800s, a third of Old Gaol inmates were poachers

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THE ONE THAT DIDN'T GET AWAY

Prisoner Wade ... NON EST!

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THOMAS DANDY

The Gaoler whose life was saved by an inmate

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THE GRIM REAPER STRIKES

Some prisoners never left the Gaol alive

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BUCKINGHAM POLICE STATION & HOUSES

What happened to all the police?

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OUR MOST DISTINGUISHED LODGER?

The Duke of Lancaster or a 'pauper lunatic'?

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YOUNG OFFENDERS

Born criminals?

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KNOCKED AT THE WRONG DOOR

Begging at Padbury ends in bad luck

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THE MUSTER'D MEN FOR BUCKINGHAM

1369: Buckingham sends its bowmen to the wars

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THE FIELD GUN

A captured German howitzer from WW1 displayed from 1920 

WHO IS ED GRIMSDALE?

Check out Ed's LinkedIn profile.

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September 2021: Ed talks to the BBC about the 2021 archaeological find of headless Anglo-Saxon skeletons in a Buckingham field.