Department for Education
The Department for Education is a department of Her Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, education and wider skills in England. A Department for Education existed between 1992, when the Department of Education and Science was renamed, 1995 when it was merged with the Department for Employment to become the Department for Education and Employment; the DfE was formed on 12 May 2010 by the incoming Cameron ministry, taking on the responsibilities and resources of the Department for Children and Families. In June 2012 the Department for Education committed a breach of the UK's Data Protection Act due to a security flaw on its website which made email addresses and comments of people responding to consultation documents available for download. In July 2016, the Department took over responsibilities for higher and further education and for apprenticeship from the dissolved Department for Business and Skills. Committee of the Privy Council on Education, 1839–1899 Education Department, 1856–1899 Board of Education, 1899–1944 Ministry of Education, 1944–1964 Department of Education and Science, 1964–1992 Department for Education, 1992–1995 Department for Education and Employment, 1995–2001 Department for Education and Skills, 2001–2007 Department for Children and Families, 2007–2010 The department is led by the Secretary of State for Education.
The Permanent Secretary is Jonathan Slater. DfE is responsible for education, children’s services and further education policy and wider skills in England, equalities; the predecessor department employed the equivalent of 2,695 staff as of April 2008 and as at June 2016, DfE had reduced its workforce to the equivalent of 2,301 staff. In 2015-16, the DfE has a budget of £58.2bn, which includes £53.6bn resource spending and £4.6bn of capital investments. The Department for Education's ministers are as follows: The management board is made up of: Permanent Secretary - Jonathan Slater Director-General, Social Care and Equalities - Indra Morris Director-General, Education Standards - Paul Kett Director-General and Funding - Andrew McCully Director-General and Further Education - Philippa Lloyd Chief Financial and Operating Officer, Insight and Transformation - Howard Orme Chief Executive, Education & Skills Funding Agency - Eileen MilnerNon-executive board members: Marion Plant OBE; the Education Funding Agency was responsible for distributing funding for state education in England for 3-19 year olds, as well as managing the estates of schools, colleges and the Skills Funding Agency was responsible for funding skills training for further education in England and running the National Apprenticeship Service and the National Careers Service.
The EFA was formed on 1 April 2012 by bringing together the functions of two non-departmental public bodies, the Young People's Learning Agency and Partnerships for Schools. The SFA was formed on 1 April 2010, following the closure of the Skills Council. Eileen Milner is the agency's Chief Executive; the National College for Teaching and Leadership is responsible for administering the training of new and existing teachers in England, as well as the regulation of the teaching profession and offers headteachers, school leaders and senior children's services leaders opportunities for professional development. It was established on 1 April 2013, when the Teaching Agency merged with the National College for School Leadership; the National College for Teaching and Leadership was replaced by the Department for Education and Teaching Regulation Agency in April 2018. The Standards and Testing Agency is responsible for developing and delivering all statutory assessments for school pupils in England, it was formed on 1 October 2011 and took over the functions of the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency.
The STA is regulated by Ofqual. The DfE is supported by 10 public bodies: Education and children's policy is devolved elsewhere in the UK; the department's main devolved counterparts are as follows: Scotland Scottish Government – Learning and Justice DirectoratesNorthern Ireland Department of Education Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister Wales Welsh Government – Department for Education and Skills The Department for Education released a new National Curriculum for schools in England for September 2014, which included'Computing'. Following Michael Gove's speech in 2012, the subject of Information Communication Technology has been disapplied and replaced by Computing. With the new curriculum, materials have been written by commercial companies, to support non-specialist teachers, for example,'100 Computing Lessons' by Scholastic; the Computing at Schools organisation has created a'Network of Teaching Excellence'to support schools with the new curriculum. In 2015, the Department announced a major restructuring of the
Huish Park
Huish Park is a football stadium located in Yeovil, England. The stadium has been home to Yeovil Town F. C. since its completion in 1990, following their relocation from Huish. Huish Park has a capacity of 9,565 with terraces behind each of the goals. In January 1985, Yeovil started negotiations to sell the Huish Athletic Ground and move to a new stadium in the Houndstone area of Yeovil on the site of an old army camp. Negotiations commenced between the club and Bartlett Construction regarding moving from Huish to a new site at Houndstone Camp, with the first meeting taking place on 12 November 1985 when an offer of £1.3m was made for the Huish site. Following further meetings and more detailed plans being studied the offer was raised to over £2m early in 1986, when the directors agreed in principle for the move to go ahead. A company, Collier & Madge, who specialised in buying and selling supermarket sites was engaged to advise the club and to ensure the best possible price was obtained. On 15 December 1986 the club was informed by its advisors and Madge, that the offer of £2.4m now on the table was about as much as they could hope to receive.
It was revealed that the new proposed site for the club was 20.75 acres of freehold land at Houndstone Camp with a further 4.2 acres being made available on a 999-year lease. The directors agreed in principle to the deal and Tesco were insisting that contracts should be exchanged by the end of March 1987 with the building contractors having vacant possession by July 1988. Further discussions took place with South Somerset District Council regarding developing the new site for recreational use, they set aside money to purchase the land. At an extraordinary general meeting held on 25 August 1987, shareholders gave the go-ahead to "conclude negotiations with F. R. Bartlett Limited for the sale of Huish and to negotiate the development of the Houndstone site"; the voting was 14,431 for and 1,356 against, giving a majority of 13,075, representing 91% in favour. On 15 September 1987, the Public Inquiry began, to delay the proposed move for a long time. On 21 March 1989, after a wait of just over 20 months, the result of the Public Inquiry was made known.
The Department of the Environment granted planning permission to develop Huish, therefore the move to Houndstone was now on. The first work at the new ground got underway in May 1989. A month it was revealed that the cost of the new development had risen to £3.5m and that Bartletts had come forward with a further £400,000 bringing the total for the sale of Huish to £2.8m. On Sunday 1 April 1990, over 500 supporters viewed the new stadium at Houndstone, it was announced the new stadium would be called Huish Park; the new Huish Park Stadium was opened with a friendly against Newcastle United on 4 August 1990, ending in a 2–1 defeat in front of a crowd of 5,093. The first competitive match followed on 18 August 1990 with a Football Conference match against Colchester United, the 2–0 win for Yeovil resulted in Mickey Spencer scoring Yeovil's first competitive goal at the new ground; the first season at the new ground resulted in an average attendance of 2,639, an increase of 17.6%, the season finished with an U18 international match between England and Wales attracting a bumper 6,153 crowd.
The 1999–2000 season saw a proposal for the erection of a roof over the home terrace. The work took place in early 2001, with the roof being completed for the match against Rushden & Diamonds with a record crowd of 8,868. Following Yeovil's promotion to the Football League, crowds increased by 30% to an average of 6,197 in the 2003–04 season, on 25 April 2008 Yeovil's match against Leeds United saw the record attendance at the ground of 9,527; the ground is made up of four stands: Tamburino Stand, is a cantilevered covered single tiered stand, all-seated. The stand has executive boxes running across its back and bar areas, the dug outs and players' tunnel, a small simple electric scoreboard, it houses the ticket office and club shop. Screwfix Community similar to the Main Stand in style with a Press Box beneath its roof. Thatchers Gold Stand, similar style covered cantilevered terrace for home fans. Radio Cabs Stand, smaller uncovered terrace with a large electric scoreboard behind; the five highest attendances at Huish Park are: Source: The stadium has been used for the following international games: 22 May 1991 England U18 Vs Wales U18 17 May 1992 England women Vs Iceland women 16 November 1993 England U18 Vs France U18 23 April 1996 England U18 Vs Scotland U18 15 September 1999 England women Vs France women 24 April 2002 England Semi-Pro Vs Netherlands Semi-Pro 27 March 2007 England U18 Vs Netherlands U18 15 October 2009 England U16 Vs Wales U16 25 March 2011 England Schools U16 Vs Wales Schools U16 20 November 2014 England U16 Vs Scotland U16 In March 2011, Yeovil Town announced plans for a 3,500 seat stand to replace the current Away Terrace, in conjunction with the training pitches being redeveloped into retail land creating over 300 jobs in partnership with Chris Dawson, owner of the Range Home and Leisure.
Following public consultation in late-November 2011 the plans for a new stand have dropped off the agenda with the retail development continuing as a new food store. Huish Park at official Yeovil FC site Footballground Guide Article Stadium pictures
Association football
Association football, more known as football or soccer, is a team sport played with a spherical ball between two teams of eleven players. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies, making it the world's most popular sport; the game is played on a rectangular field called a pitch with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by moving the ball beyond the goal line into the opposing goal. Association football is one of a family of football codes, which emerged from various ball games played worldwide since antiquity; the modern game traces its origins to 1863 when the Laws of the Game were codified in England by The Football Association. Players are not allowed to touch the ball with hands or arms while it is in play, except for the goalkeepers within the penalty area. Other players use their feet to strike or pass the ball, but may use any other part of their body except the hands and the arms; the team that scores most goals by the end of the match wins.
If the score is level at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shootout depending on the format of the competition. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, which organises World Cups for both men and women every four years; the rules of association football were codified in England by the Football Association in 1863 and the name association football was coined to distinguish the game from the other forms of football played at the time rugby football. The first written "reference to the inflated ball used in the game" was in the mid-14th century: "Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe"; the Online Etymology Dictionary states that the "rules of the game" were made in 1848, before the "split off in 1863". The term soccer comes from a slang or jocular abbreviation of the word "association", with the suffix "-er" appended to it; the word soccer was first recorded in 1889 in the earlier form of socca.
Within the English-speaking world, association football is now called "football" in the United Kingdom and "soccer" in Canada and the United States. People in countries where other codes of football are prevalent may use either term, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now use "football" for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is evidence. Cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net, it was remarkably similar to modern football. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established. Phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup. Athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda and harpastum were played involving hands and violence.
They all appear to have resembled rugby football and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified "mob football", the antecedent of all modern football codes, these three games involved more handling the ball than kicking. Other games included kemari in chuk-guk in Korea. Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other ball games played around the world FIFA has recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe; the modern rules of association football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the varying forms of football played in the public schools of England. The history of football in England dates back to at least the eighth century AD; the Cambridge Rules, first drawn up at Cambridge University in 1848, were influential in the development of subsequent codes, including association football. The Cambridge Rules were written at Trinity College, Cambridge, at a meeting attended by representatives from Eton, Rugby and Shrewsbury schools.
They were not universally adopted. During the 1850s, many clubs unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout the English-speaking world, to play various forms of football; some came up with their own distinct codes of rules, most notably the Sheffield Football Club, formed by former public school pupils in 1857, which led to formation of a Sheffield FA in 1867. In 1862, John Charles Thring of Uppingham School devised an influential set of rules; these ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association in 1863, which first met on the morning of 26 October 1863 at the Freemasons' Tavern in Great Queen Street, London. The only school to be represented on this occasion was Charterhouse; the Freemason's Tavern was the setting for five more meetings between October and December, which produced the first comprehensive set of rules. At the final meeting, the first FA treasurer, the representative from Blackheath, withdrew his club from the FA over the removal of two draft rules at the previous meeting: the first allowed for running with the ball in hand.
Other English rugby clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA and instead in 1871 formed the Rugby Football Union. The eleven remaining clubs, under
VX (sport)
VX Rock-It-Ball, is a ball sport from the UK. It evolved in North Yorkshire and was launched in February 2006 at the Youth Sport Trust's Sports Colleges Conference; the sport was continually developed by the International Federation and in 2012 the Federation approved a move by the worldwide membership to rename the sport VX to cater for its international development. VX has continued to be popular in schools in the UK and is now being adopted by universities, youth organisations, Street Games and the military, it is attracting interest from the Prison Service and Primary Care Trusts. It now has a foothold in 25 countries. VX is a gender-neutral sport. Males and females play on a equal footing in all disciplines and at all levels, it is accessible to players of all abilities. It is not an adaptation of any single sport however there are elements of several sports including dodgeball, basque pelota and hockey; the sport known as Rock-It-Ball, is a ball sport which originated from the UK. It evolved in North Yorkshire and was launched at the Youth Sport Trust's Sports Colleges Conference in February 2006.
Rock-It-Ball spread through schools in the UK. It featured on four of the Youth Sport Trust’s programmes, began to be played in 17 countries, saw the establishment of an international federation and eleven national governing bodiesOver time the international administrative body had taken the original game and further developed and extended it, setting up a full sports infrastructure. In 2012, in order to cater for the international growth, the sport was rebranded by the international community to VX. All the clubs and NGBs followed suit and now all leagues and international competitions are under the VX banner. In August 2017 VX gained international recognition as a sport at the General Assembly of the Sport Recognised Association. VX is played by two teams of five players; the court is the size of a sports hall with four badminton courts. In the USA, basketball courts are used; each player uses a VstiX. This is made up of a thrower/catcher at each end. Players can go anywhere on court, they must dribble by rock-ing the ball between the two ends, or by using one end of the VstiX to bounce the ball on the floor.
Five balls are in play. One point is scored by hitting an opponent with the ball between the feet. Three points are scored by catching an opponent's thrown ball; when a player is hit he must raise a hand and look to the referee. The referee tells the player to play on; the referee is assisted by two umpires positioned on the opposite side of the court. The role of the umpires is to look for infringements. All infringements incur a three-point penalty. Violence results in ejection from the game and disciplinary action. Examples of infringements are: A player fails to acknowledge a strike. Fishing Travelling, i.e. not dribbling. A player can take two steps and must dribble. Striking. A player is not allowed to strike either the ball or another player with the VstiX. Illegal bodily contact - for example deliberately barging into an opponent. Knocking the ball out of an opponent’s VstiX. SwearingFormal matches consists of four quarters; as part of the development of VX, the International Federation introduced Singles, a 1v1v1 version and Doubles V2 is played by two players on a squash court with three balls.
This version is the most intense of the official versions. A game lasts for two halves of four minutes each. V3 is a singles version played on a squash court, however it is played by three players using four balls. V3 is played on the basis of ‘every man for himself.’ The winner is the player who concedes the least number of points. A game lasts for two halves of four minutes each. V4 is played on a squash court and is played 2v2 with four balls. A game lasts for two halves of four minutes each; the new versions were created by the International Federation to develop the sport and provide individuals with an opportunity to set up clubs more easily. Scott Snowdon Carl Alsop Tom Hildreth Joe Willis Matty Horsfield Tom Burgess Lena Fowles Jess Porter Chris Town Iona Freeborn Oliver Stocks Jak Foster Andrew Davidson Henry Pittham Jhapin Shahi Becca Fram Cain Branton Patrick Cavanagh Trinity Benson Will Seabourne Emma Fram Ellie Bowman Jonathon Ward Toby Helfferich Matthew Ayre Charlie Fram Ed Pharoah Antonia Evans Ellie Torrens-Burton Edward Dobbs Tom Griffiths Sam Griffiths Jamie Pritchard Andrew Foster Leigh Branton Karen Bruin Jill Stocks Karen Evans Ricky Gibson Carl Alsop Joe Willis Tom Hildreth Dan Raper James Foster Jess Porter Dan Shuker Egoitz Campo Gonzalez Scott Snowdon Oliver Stocks Becca Fram Andrew Davidson Cain Branton Patrick Cavanagh Leigh Branton Karen Bruin Jill Stocks Widen Tom Hildreth Dan Raper Pawan Kumar Hasindihe James Dan Shuker Businge Didus Gursewak Singh Sahil Tiwari Kunal Sharma Adarsh Bhadoria Shammy Prabjhot Singh Osman Wong Gagan Singh Anmol Dhiman Yuvraj Lai Ka Wan Harish Kumar Sharng Laddi Bhardwaj Oliver Stocks Parminder Singh Ajay Singh Shyamk
Buckinghamshire County Council
Buckinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in England, the United Kingdom established in 1889 following the Local Government Act 1888. The county council's offices are in Aylesbury; the borders of the ceremonial county and county council have changed several times and no longer align, with the last reorganisation in 1997 when the Borough of Milton Keynes became a unitary authority. The council consists of 49 councillors, is controlled by the Conservative Party, which has 41 councillors, it has been controlled by the Conservatives since the reorganisation of local government in 1973. For the 2013 elections, the number of seats was reduced from 57 to 49 following the 2012 changes in division boundaries. In March 2018 Sajid Javid, the Communities Secretary at the time, backed proposals to replace the county council and the four district councils with a single unitary authority, named Buckinghamshire Council; as of January 2019, South Bucks and Wycombe district councils had launched legal action against the "undemocratic" plans for how the unitary authority was to be set-up.
Elections are held every four years, interspersed by three years of elections to the four district councils in the county. Conservative councillors represent most of the county, both in terms of number of seats and geographic area. Four seats in Aylesbury are held by the Liberal Democrats, the sole Labour member was elected in Booker, Cressex & Castlefield, in the suburbs of High Wycombe. Independents hold the divisions of Ryemead & Micklefield, Totteridge & Bowerdean, West Wycombe in the High Wycombe area. County architect Fred Pooley designed the Council's 12-storey tower block at Aylesbury built in 1966 which became known as "Fred's Fort" and less flatteringly as "Pooley's Folly". Frederick Verney, member from 1889 to 1907 Tonman Mosley, 1st Baron Anslow, Chairman from 1904 to 1921 Sir William Carlile, 1st Baronet William Joseph Ashby Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, 6th Baronet Sir Aubrey Ernest Ward, Chairman from 1963 to 1974 Edward Curzon, 6th Earl Howe, Vice-Chairman 1974 to 1978 John Darling Young Sir Ralph Verney, 5th Baronet Guthrie Moir, member from 1949 to 1975 Brian White member of parliament for Milton Keynes Official website
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of, a 20-metre pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striking the ball bowled at the wicket with the bat, while the bowling and fielding side tries to prevent this and dismiss each player. Means of dismissal include being bowled, when the ball hits the stumps and dislodges the bails, by the fielding side catching the ball after it is hit by the bat, but before it hits the ground; when ten players have been dismissed, the innings ends and the teams swap roles. The game is adjudicated by two umpires, aided by a third umpire and match referee in international matches, they communicate with two off-field scorers. There are various formats ranging from Twenty20, played over a few hours with each team batting for a single innings of 20 overs, to Test matches, played over five days with unlimited overs and the teams each batting for two innings of unlimited length.
Traditionally cricketers play in all-white kit, but in limited overs cricket they wear club or team colours. In addition to the basic kit, some players wear protective gear to prevent injury caused by the ball, a hard, solid spheroid made of compressed leather with a raised sewn seam enclosing a cork core, layered with wound string. Cricket's origins are uncertain and the earliest definite reference is in south-east England in the middle of the 16th century, it spread globally with the expansion of the British Empire, leading to the first international matches in the second half of the 19th century. The game's governing body is the International Cricket Council, which has over 100 members, twelve of which are full members who play Test matches; the game's rules are held in a code called the Laws of Cricket, owned and maintained by Marylebone Cricket Club in London. The sport is followed in the Indian subcontinent, the United Kingdom, southern Africa and the West Indies, its globalisation occurring during the expansion of the British Empire and remaining popular into the 21st century.
Women's cricket, organised and played separately, has achieved international standard. The most successful side playing international cricket is Australia, having won seven One Day International trophies, including five World Cups, more than any other country, having been the top-rated Test side more than any other country. Cricket is one of many games in the "club ball" sphere that involve hitting a ball with a hand-held implement. In cricket's case, a key difference is the existence of a solid target structure, the wicket, that the batsman must defend; the cricket historian Harry Altham identified three "groups" of "club ball" games: the "hockey group", in which the ball is driven to and fro between two targets. It is believed that cricket originated as a children's game in the south-eastern counties of England, sometime during the medieval period. Although there are claims for prior dates, the earliest definite reference to cricket being played comes from evidence given at a court case in Guildford on Monday, 17 January 1597.
The case concerned ownership of a certain plot of land and the court heard the testimony of a 59-year-old coroner, John Derrick, who gave witness that: "Being a scholler in the ffree schoole of Guldeford hee and diverse of his fellows did runne and play there at creckett and other plaies". Given Derrick's age, it was about half a century earlier when he was at school and so it is certain that cricket was being played c. 1550 by boys in Surrey. The view that it was a children's game is reinforced by Randle Cotgrave's 1611 English-French dictionary in which he defined the noun "crosse" as "the crooked staff wherewith boys play at cricket" and the verb form "crosser" as "to play at cricket". One possible source for the sport's name is the Old English word "cryce" meaning a staff. In Samuel Johnson's Dictionary, he derived cricket from "cryce, Saxon, a stick". In Old French, the word "criquet" seems to have meant a kind of stick. Given the strong medieval trade connections between south-east England and the County of Flanders when the latter belonged to the Duchy of Burgundy, the name may have been derived from the Middle Dutch "krick", meaning a stick.
Another possible source is the Middle Dutch word "krickstoel", meaning a long low stool used for kneeling in church and which resembled the long low wicket with two stumps used in early cricket. According to Heiner Gillmeister, a European language expert of Bonn University, "cricket" derives from the Middle Dutch phrase for hockey, met de sen. Gillmeister has suggested that not only the name but the sport itself may be of Flemish origin. Although the main object of the game has always been to score the most runs, the early form of cricket differed from the modern game in certain key technical aspects; the ball was bowled underarm by the bowler and all along the ground towards a batsman armed with a bat that, in shape, resembled a hockey stick.
High Wycombe
High Wycombe referred to as Wycombe, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is 29 miles west north west of Charing Cross in London, it is 13.2 miles south-south-east of the county town of Aylesbury, 23.4 miles southeast of Oxford, 15.4 miles north east of Reading and 7.7 miles north of Maidenhead. According to the ONS official estimates for 2016, High Wycombe has a population of 125,257 and it is the second largest town in the county of Buckinghamshire after Milton Keynes. High Wycombe Urban Area, the conurbation of which the town is the largest component, has a population of 133,204. High Wycombe is an unparished area in the Wycombe district. Part of the urban area constitutes the civil parish of Chepping Wycombe, which had a population of 14,455 according to the 2001 census – this parish represents that part of the ancient parish of Chepping Wycombe, outside the former municipal borough of Wycombe. Wycombe is a combination of industrial and market town, with a traditional emphasis on furniture production.
There has been a market held in the High Street since at least the Middle Ages. The name Wycombe appears to come from the river Wye and the old English word for a wooded valley, but according to the Oxford English Dictionary of Place-Names the name, first recorded in 799-802 as'Wichama', is more to be Old English'wic' and the plural of Old English'ham', means'dwellings'. Wycombe was noted for having six mills; the town once featured a Roman villa, excavated three times, most in 1954. Mosaics and a bathhouse were unearthed at the site on. High Wycombe was the home of 19th-century Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli; the existence of a settlement at High Wycombe was first documented as'Wicumun' in 970. The parish church was consecrated by Wulfstan, the visiting Bishop of Worcester, in 1086; the town received market borough status in 1222, built its first moot hall in 1226, with a market hall being built in 1476. The Barony of Wycombe is one of the few titles in history that's so associated with negotiations that influence the rights of individuals that today that it's hard to dismiss.
The men who held the title played such a meaningful supporting role in the signing of one of the most important documents on record – the Magna Carta – that anyone connected with it is touching living history. For not only has it shaped the British rule of law, but the American Constitution; the manor and Lordship of Wycombe was given to a member of the Basset family, Thomas Gilbert, in 1171. A fitting offering for the man who was, at that time, the Sheriff of Oxfordshire, but from this standard start for a title, being only a lordship, within thirty odd years it was to be allied with the King. Passing through a small number of Bassets as they died, by 1215 Wycombe was resting with Alan Basset... as a Barony. When this upgrade occurred is not clear, but the fact that Alan Basset was one of but a handful of barons who accompanied King John to Runnymede on 15 June for the signing of Magna Carta means he'd become an individual of influence. Listed as a King's counsellor, through Alan Basset the Barony of Wycombe had begun its parallel wanderings with The Great Charter and the throne.
When John died in 1216, the title's association with both remained strong. Henry III took the crown and Alan Basset was, again, a witness to a reworked version of Magna Carta on 11 November; the Basset family remained allied with the King over the next few years, upon Alan's demise in 1232 his son Gilbert became 2nd Baron of Wycombe. It's at this point, that things started to get a little rocky, it would seem that despite being in the good favour of Henry III, Gilbert joined a political group headed by Richard, Earl Marshall. He was summoned, with other barons, to meet Henry's foreign relations... but he refused to attend. As any child discovers, petulant behaviour tends to elicit a punishment. Henry took back one of Gilbert's manors; when he tried to reclaim it, the King announced him to be a traitor and threatened him with hanging unless he left the court. Further peevish behaviour saw him outlawed by the King, orders were sent out to destroy all towns and parks that belonged to him, his associates.
However, as was the case in this turbulent medieval era, the pendulum swung back the following year when the Earl Marshal died. Gilbert was asked to take his place, his estates were returned. What prompted Henry's change of heart is unclear... but the politics of the time were far from straightforward. Sadly for Gilbert, in 1241 he was paralysed, he never recovered and his son soon inherited the title. But he too was short-lived, within the same year Gilbert's brother, Fulk – Dean of York – inherited the barony and he became the 4th Baron of Wycombe, it appears that Fulk, was destined to clash with the King. That year he was elected Bishop of London, much to Henry's disgruntlement, who'd wanted the Bishop of Hereford to get the role. Within five years, however, he'd redeemed himself in the eyes of the King, only to displease Pope Innocent IV instead; the Pope had decided all beneficed clergy should give him up to half their income for three years, he'd entrusted Fulk to see this was enacted. Henry forbade it, Fulk sided with the King on this.
It was a dispute that would rumble for a number of years and saw Fulk at first excommunicated... before being absolved from excommunicat
