California, Buckinghamshire

Infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= California
latitude= 51.813066
longitude= -0.816409
civil_parish= Aylesbury
shire_district= Aylesbury Vale
shire_county= Buckinghamshire
region= South East England
constituency_westminster= Aylesbury
post_town= AYLESBURY
postcode_district= HP21
postcode_area= HP
dial_code= 01296
os_grid_reference= SP8113

California is a hamlet to the south side of Aylesbury town centre in Buckinghamshire in England, although today it has been completely swallowed up by the urban growth of Aylesbury. [ [http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=481738&y=213387&z=1&sv=481738,213387&st=4&ar=Y&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf Streetmap.co.uk, with the arrow pointing to the location of California] ]

Until the arrival of the Great Western Railway in Aylesbury in 1839, California was the name of a farm and related buildings that stood in the area. However with the arrival of the railway, cottages were constructed in the location of the farm to house railway workers and the area became known as the "Hamlet of California".

By the early 1920s Aylesbury had grown such that it was necessary to start building houses on the site of Southcourt (the other side of California from Aylesbury), and so California and the associated farmlands that surrounded it became part of Aylesbury town. Eventually the farmlands themselves were built on, though the railway cottages that formed the hamlet remain.

The site was home to the "California Industrial Estate" until 2005 when it was demolished to make way for a new housing estate, renamed the "Grand Central" due to its proximity to the centre of Aylesbury. As of November 2006 the building work has nearly finished and it is likely that the hamlet will be forgotten about as it has been completely swamped by Aylesbury's development.

The hamlet is probably named after the U.S. state of California, though its history goes back long before the state was known to British people. The name of the original farm was therefore most likely changed to California at some point before 1839. It is widely believed that the hamlet was named after visiting American servicemen during the Second World War; however, 19th-century maps prove this to be incorrect. [ [http://www.old-maps.co.uk/ Old-maps.co.uk] ]

References

External links

* [http://apps.buckscc.gov.uk/eforms/photolibrary/photoDetail.aspx?id=1764 Image of California Industry c1900]