Beaconsfield
When Beaconsfield was surrounded by thick woodland it provided convenient cover for bandits and highwaymen who preyed on rich travellers form London. But as the woodland receded it became a much more civilised place.
Although Beaconsfield has its modern part, the highlight of which is Bekonscot Model Village, its heart is its old quarter. Full of fine Georgian buildings from the 18 th century and old inns, it has retained its age-old charm. One inn, "the George" contains a staircase with sword-cuts, which the highwayman, Claude Durel made while fighting off the Bow Street runners, the earliest British policemen dating back to the early 19 th century.
The town traditionally attracted wealthy people, many of them famous dignitaries such as the 18 th century political theorist, Edmund Burke, the writer GK Chesterton and the late Victorian prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, who was granted the title, Earl of Beaconsfield by Queen Victoria. At the centre of the old quarter stands the church of St. Mary and All Saints, whose origins lie in the 13 th century.