Statue of King George I

A bronze statue of King George I stands in Buckingham town centre, a fairly straightforward tribute to the Hanoverian monarch who ruled Britain from 1714 until his death in 1727. It's the sort of thing you stumble upon whilst wandering the high street rather than a destination in itself, but if you're passing through Buckingham anyway, it's worth a quick look.

The statue itself is decent enough - nothing that'll blow your mind, but competently executed. You get a sense of how Georgian-era sculptors handled royal portraiture, and there's something oddly grounding about seeing a centuries-old representation of a figure most people have only read about in history books. A couple of minutes and you've taken it in properly.

This works best for history types doing a broader Buckinghamshire wander, or for anyone with a specific interest in 18th-century royal monuments. Families with restless kids will find it underwhelming - there's no interactivity, no story panels, just the statue and your own imagination. If you're camping at one of the nearby sites like Silverstone Woodlands or Windmill Farm and fancying a trip into town for a pub lunch and a poke about, factor in five minutes here at most.

It's free to view (standing in a public space tends to work that way), and there's no admission fee or opening hours to worry about - you can see it whenever you're passing. Pair it with a proper look at Buckingham's church or the old marketplace if you want to make a proper afternoon of local history.