West Wycombe
Coordinates: 51°38′35″N 0°47′59″W / 51.643143°N 0.799635°W
| West Wycombe | |
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 West Wycombe
West Wycombe shown within Buckinghamshire |
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| Population | 1,176 [1] |
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| OS grid reference | SU830945 |
| Civil parish | West Wycombe |
| District | Wycombe |
| Shire county | Buckinghamshire |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | High Wycombe |
| Postcode district | HP14 |
| Dialling code | 01494 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Buckinghamshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Wycombe |
| List of places: UK • England • Buckinghamshire | |
West Wycombe is a small village situated along the A40 road, due three miles west of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England.
The historic village is largely a National Trust property and receives a large annual influx of tourists - being the site of West Wycombe Park, West Wycombe Caves and the Mausoleum on top of West Wycombe Hill. The Mausoleum and Golden Ball above West Wycombe village are impressive local landmarks, visually dominating the village and local landscape for miles surrounding.
West Wycombe Park, Caves, Mausoleum and Saint Lawrence's church were all constructed in the mid-18th century by the infamous Sir Francis Dashwood, founder of the Dilettanti Society and co-founder of the notorious Hellfire Club.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early History
The hill above West Wycombe (now the site of Saint Lawrence's Church and the Mausoleum) has been continuously occupied for centuries. A Bronze Age settlement is widely believed to have first existed here, and research suggests there was a Pagan Temple on this settlement in a similar style to Stonehenge. A Roman settlement later inhabited West Wycombe Hill, and local historians believe a religious temple was constructed here (though the exact site remains unknown).
[edit] The lost village of Haveringdon
The next major influence upon West Wycombe were the Saxons. The hillside was once again occupied, and this newly established settlement was named Haeferingdune (literally meaning Hill of Haefer's people in Old English). The name later evolved into Haveringdon. The site retained religious importance as a church was said to have been erected by St. Birnius (who later became the bishop of the West Saxons in 635 AD).
A Norman watch tower is also said to have been built on top of the hill following the Norman Conquest.
Haveringdon's population allegedly became greatly reduced due to the effects of the Bubonic Plage (or Black Death, as it was later known) in the 1340s. By the 18th century the village had re-situated in the valley along the Oxford Road, and was subsequently renamed due to its geographical features and position - "West" because of its westward situation from the already existing town of High Wycombe. Both settlements are located in the Wye Valley and the word "Combe" derives from the Old English/Brythonic word for "valley". According to local records there were just two rate payers left in Haveringdon in the 19th century.
[edit] Georgian Era
During the mid-18th century Sir Francis Dashwood commissioned an ambitious project to supply chalk for a straight, three-mile road between West Wycombe and High Wycombe, a stretch of the now A40 road, then a prominent trade route which carried traffic between London, Oxford, Gloucester and onto South Wales . The existing local chalk cave (which had existed in the village since prehistoric times) was expanded into an elaborate network of tunnels and passages. The design of the caves was mostly inspired by Dashwood's Grand Tour of Italy, Greece and the Ottoman Empire. Local villagers, impoverished after a series of harvest failures, were paid the price of a shilling per day to tunnel underground to mine chalk. The caves were all excavated by hand and even today they are viewed as an incredible feat of engineering.
Dashwood's family home, West Wycombe House, also underwent major alterations at this time. Although Haveringdon had all but disappeared during this time, the church and tower had remained and a centre section was built to join the two together and the Mausoleum was also constructed (based on the design of the Constantine Arch in Rome). The new church was named Saint Lawrence's, as it was common for churches built on Pagan sites to have this name. The church and Mausoleum were also built using chalk and flint from the caves.
During this time, Dashwood and other high-powered politicians and society members formed a club then known as The Knights of St. Francis (which was later known as the Hellfire Club by a London paper). They first used Medmenham Abbey, situated eight miles away from West Wycombe on the River Thames but the caves were later used for the club's meetings. The club received much notoriety during their day - being rumoured for orgies and black magic, but Dashwood's infamous club had disbanded by 1763 (according to church records). The caves no longer served a purpose and quickly fell into disrepair.
[edit] West Wycombe in the 20th Century
In 1929 West Wycombe village was put up for sale by the Dashwood family to raise assets following that year's Wall Street Crash. It was bought in its entirety by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) as part of the Society's "Campaign for the Preservation of Ancient Cottages". In 1934, after extensive repairs, the Society handed the property over to the National Trust. The National Trust markets this property under the name 'West Wycombe Village and Hill'. The property features many buildings of architectural value which were built between the 16th and 18th centuries.
Between 1906 and 1958 the village was served by a railway station on the Chiltern Main Line between London and Birmingham which was situated to the east of West Wycombe Village.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s the caves underwent extensive reparation work under the auspices of the Dashwood family and turned into a tourist attraction. The profit earned was used to renovate the dilapidated West Wycombe Park. The caves continue to thrive as a popular tourist attraction today and have received over 2 million visitors since their re-opening in 1951.
[edit] West Wycombe Today
The village centre, despite being situated on a busy main road (the A40), retains much of its historical charm, and being National Trust-owned for the main part, has resisted modernisation. The High Street consists of a number of 'old-fashioned' shops (in appearance at least), as well as three pubs, some small offices and a well-utilised village hall. Just off the High Street can be found the village Combined School (ages 4–11) and a traditional garden centre. The current population consists of around 1,000 residents.
West Wycombe is also a civil parish in Wycombe district.
[edit] West Wycombe on TV
The village and West Wycombe Park have been used as a filming location for numerous films, most notably The Duchess, The Importance of Being Earnest, I Capture the Castle and Dead Man's Folly. The BBC TV adaptation of the Mrs. Gaskell novel Cranford was partly filmed at West Wycombe Park, along with TV series Inspector Morse. The Mausoleum was used as the set of a Roman town in an episode of the BBC Children's show Chucklevision.
The caves have also been visited by paranormal TV shows Most Haunted and Ghost Hunters.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: West Wycombe |
- West Wycombe Village and Hill information at the National Trust
- West Wycombe Estate Sawmill House and others. Accessed July 2007
- Photographs of Dashwood's tunnels in West Wycombe
- West Wycombe Parish Council
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