West Wonderful Wycombe
Explore beautiful Buckinghamshire
AFEW years ago, whilst driving away from High Wycombe, we stumbled on a picturesque village, where the main road was lined with beautiful old properties.
A short while ago, we bought an old book filled with illustrations of beautiful Britain at the turn of the last century.
Two of West Wycombe caught my eye, reminding me how picturesque the village is, so one autumn morning we returned to spend a day enjoying this architectural time capsule.
Whilst the neighbouring town is busy and modern, West Wycombe retains much of its historical charm.
Prior to the 1920s, the village was part of the Dashwood family’s estate, and chair-making was the traditional local industry.
The area is surrounded by beech woodland, providing material for the makers, whilst in the woods, “bodgers” turned freshly cut timber to create chair legs and spindles.
Approaching from the east, there are two identical buildings at the entrance to the old drive, Kitty’s Lodge and Daphne’s Temple.
If you want to see the house and parkland, which are owned by the National Trust, you need to visit in the summer, as they close at the end of August, which means the Dashwoods have their home to themselves for most of the year.
Today’s owner is Sir Edward Dashwood, 12th Baronet, whose mansion
stands in lovely parkland laid out in the 1700s.
There are a number of historic follies and temples to be found amongst the lawns and lake, which was home to a real galleon.
The 2nd Baronet acquired the vessel, which was somehow brought overland and floated on the lake!
When the garden designer Humphrey Repton was brought in, he took a dislike to a statue of William Penn, which was removed to Philadelphia.
When the 11th Baronet decided to restore the park in the 1980s, he had a copy made to stand atop Sawmill House, which can be seen from the hill when the park is closed. Indeed, the house and much of the grounds are visible from this position.
The earlier village of Haveringdon stood nearby, but was ravaged by the Black Death in the 14th century, then resited along the Oxford Road, which is why such a tiny village has so many inns.
The George and Dragon is the village’s largest pub, but the Swan Inn is one of the most interesting, having been in the same family for many years.
Landlady Christine Barry is the third generation to run the Swan, which has hardly changed since the defunct Wheeler’s Wycombe Brewery modernised it in the early 1930s.
“During the war, a book called ‘England Today’ had a picture with my mum and gran in the front bar,” Christine told us, showing us the room which is now on the National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.
The Swan is a refreshingly simple pub, where barrels behind the bar help the timeless ambiance.
Earlier, we had talked to a local about how charming the village was and if it had a sense of community spirit. Her answer was surprising.
“Most of the houses are rented out by the National Trust, so people don’t stay long.”
When I mentioned this to Christine, who has lived in West Wycombe all her life, she was keen to emphasise that not all the village was occupied by short-term renters.
“We look after our old folk,” she told us. “A ninetyfour-year-old lives opposite. We pop in every day and a girl calls in the afternoon to see if she needs any help.”
Most houses date from between the 1500s to 1700s and are either timberframed or built from a lovely warm brick, often with flint facings.
Some, like Church Loft, have their bare oak structure exposed, but each house is different from its neighbour, giving the street a very pleasing appearance.
Church Loft has served many purposes over the year, including a rest house for pilgrims and the village jail.
The clock hanging above this entrance looks new, but dates back to 1668. The restored mechanism is housed in Church Loft where it chimes every hour.
Further along the high street, Steps House is impossible to miss with a lantern hanging over the elevated front door.
Formerly known as the Manor House, the upper five windows are not all they seem. The centre one is an illusion, painted to create a more harmonious façade.
Almost every property along the high street is listed, but that didn’t protect the library. When it was threatened by council cuts, the tiny building beside the butcher’s was taken over by the community.
Today, volunteers open up this former wheelwright’s workshop five days a week, but it isn’t only books on offer – cooked breakfasts and lunches are also served.
The antiquity of many buildings has been disguised by Georgian gentrification, but a number of houses show their age, and many have upper floors which reach out towards the road, the few extra feet for upper floor rooms supported by old oak beams.
Across the road from the Swan, the Apple Orchard shop has more
than 10 rooms crammed with Fine Furniture, Homeware and Unusual Things.
Like so many high street buildings, this glorious place was once an inn, as was silversmith Justine Holliday’s workshop, in the courtyard of the former Black Boy.
Here she refashions old jewellery and creates new pieces, giving visitors an insight into her craft.
Eagle-eyed visitors will spot St Paul’s church’s unusual sign, which is part in Cyrillic, as the church is shared between the Anglican community and Serbian Orthodox worshippers.
The older hilltop church of St Lawrence was described by poet Charles Churchill as “Built aloft in air may serve for show and not for prayer”.
Year-round, visitors make their way to the village to explore an underground attraction with a dark past.
When a number of harvests failed in the 1740s, unemployed farm workers were paid to excavate the hillside, the stone being used to pave the road to High Wycombe.
Sir Francis Dashwood used the tunnels for meetings of the Knights of St Francis of Wycombe or Hell-fire Club, as it became more notoriously known.
Sir Francis was Benjamin Franklin’s friend and the inventor and politician was a visitor to the caves.
Extending 300 feet below the hill, the caves hosted meetings where 18thcentury toffs indulged in wine, women and song.
When we paid a visit, the place was full of ghouls, ghosts and other Hallowe’eny things – not that they lack their own spectres. The spirit of Suki, a serving girl killed in a prank gone wrong, is said to wander these parts.
We ended our visit at St Lawrence’s church, whose tower is topped with a Golden Ball. It looks quite small from the ground, but 100 steps later you discover a sphere large enough to contain up to six people.
“The best Globe Tavern I was ever in,” the author John Wilkes declared.
Sir Francis Dashwood created the church when he returned from a grand tour of Europe and the Ottoman Empire with grand ideas.
First he raised the old church tower to make it visible from the road, then, taking Venice’s Custom House as his inspiration, he built the gilded globe.
Adjoining the churchyard is a huge hexagonal mausoleum, built in 1765 to protect urns containing the Dashwood family’s ashes.
This immense memorial enjoys wonderful views along the Oxford Road to High Wycombe and across the valley to West Wycombe Park and House.
As I tried to take a picture of the mansion, something flashed across my viewfinder.
“It’s a red kite!” Hazel exclaimed as the russet bird turned to fly towards the church, 10 yards over our heads.
As we returned to the car, Hazel’s eagle eyes flicked upwards.
“It’s not alone,” she said, pointing to another four birds expertly riding the breeze, their tails twitching as they scoured the woodland for lunch.
We aren’t the only ones to appreciate West Wycombe on a glorious autumnal day! n