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Background Princes Risborough lies in a broad
gap on the western slopes of the Chiltern Hills to which, in all
probability, it owes its existence. This provided travellers with
a link between the River Thames and the Icknield Way, both of which
were routes of prime importance from earliest times. Added to this,
the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which we protect today for
our leisure would have had much greater practical significance for
those travellers. The chalk downland of Saunderton Lee and clear
springs, such as Pyrtle Spring, are cited by J.F. Head as making
the area particularly favourable to early settlement, when much
of the region was either wooded or marshy. Local names such as Slough
and Ilimire (llmer) and even Summerleys (the summer fields) point
to a generally higher water table than that of today.
There is ample evidence of these first inhabitants. The block of
pebble conglomerate, commonly known as a ‘Pudding Stone’,
which has (recently) been restored to proper prominence at the roundabout
in Horns Lane, is one of several in the Chilterns thought to have
been way-markers for prehistoric man. For many years only its tip
was visible, at the foot of a post in Back Lane, and it was a very
happy decision to use it to mark the New Road and signal a growing
awareness of our heritage.
More familiar human traces lay in the recently re-excavated Neolithic
barrow, some 5,500 years old, near Whiteleaf Cross and in a Beaker
burial found in 1983 in Clifford Road, close to where an old track
known as Barrow Way crossed the hill to Culverton. A Bronze Age
axe was found on the site of the British Legion Hall, and the Iron
Age is represented by earthworks on Pulpit Hill and Lodge Hill.
Whiteleaf Cross itself, which dominates the landscape, remains a
mystery. It is curious that it is not mentioned in writing before
1738 and the earliest known drawing of it is in the Bodleian library
and entitled ‘Crux Saxonica’ dated 1742. Whiteleaf Cross
stands on the face of a promontory of the Chilterns above Whiteleaf
and can be seen clearly across the Vale of Aylesbury. By the Enclosure
Act 9 of George IV it was declared to be public property. In autumn
2003 severe erosion was repaired and surrounding areas renovated,
helped in part, by funding from the National Lottery.
Kop Hill is a long climbing road that leads from the town up towards
Whiteleaf Cross. This steep, straight hill was a very famous venue
for Motor Racing in the early 20th C with the famous Kop Hill Climb
being a very popular and regular event in the racing calendar. On
the left as you climb Kop Hill, you will find the Brush Hill Nature
Reserve. An Area of Special Scientific Interest, Brush Hill has
just been awarded a grant from The Heritage Lottery Fund to help
with its management and maintenance, as it is an important site
for rare and endangered plants and wildlife.
A Romano-British villa at Saunderton, excavated in 1937 and then
re-buried, may have had a neighbour at Pyrtle Spring, since Roman
tiles and pottery may still be found there. Roman control of Britain
ended officially in 410 AD and the Danes and Saxons moved in, to
their ‘wicks’ and ‘hams’. As late as 871
AD, a Danish army marched along the Upper Icknield Way and soon
after, in 903 AD, we find the first reference to Risborough by name,
‘Hrisebyrgan be cilternes efese’, which has been translated
as ‘the brush covered hills by the Chiltern eaves’.
 Princes
Risborough Town The Norman Conquest is the historical landmark
that starts to define the town and its associated villages. The
Domesday Book contains several references to ‘Riseburg’.
The manor had belonged to Earl Harold and been passed to William
the Conqueror. What a spectacle it must have been as the latter
marched his army from Wallingford to Berkhamsted past his new estate,
though at the time the population density here has been estimated
at less than ten per square mile. There would have been little need
for crowd control!
In 1343 the manor passed to Edward, the Black Prince, and the site
formerly known as Court Close, later The Mount, and now the Stratton
Road car park, was traditionally known as his Palace. Records show,
that even before his day, there was a Royal Stud here, and the Prince
was known to visit his manor, to view stallions, with such resounding
names as Grisel, Tankarvill, and Morel de Salesbirs. Excavations
in 1955 at The Mount revealed both evidence of a substantial manor
and a penny of Edward 1, minted in 1280 and representing a day’s
wages for the stud-keeper’s page. The site continued to be
occupied until the 17th or 18th century. The Mount bears traces
of banks, and entrenchments, enclosed by a moat, and is originally
believed to have been a Saxon Encampment. The high bank that separates
the churchyard from Stratton Road can still be seen and the name
Court Close has been retained for a nearby cul-de-sac. Today you’ll
find a plaque denoting ‘The Site of The Manor of The Black
Prince’.
Henry VI succeeded to the manor in the 15th century, when his army
was confronting Joan of Arc. The cottages in Church Street, now
converted into a restaurant, are of the same era and narrowly escaped
demolition in 1934.
A living link with the Middle Ages stems from the Charter granted
in 1523 by Henry VIII for a weekly market and two annual fairs,
‘for the improvement of the status..... of the inhabitants.....
by the making common of saleable things’. The fairs are still
held, in May and October, though in our impatient age some do not
share King Henry’s views. Like the pudding stone, if the fairs
were regarded as a part of our heritage, they might be seen as a
focus for other activities rather than an intrusion, and we might
all still be improved by the ‘grand, galloping horses’.
Tradition says that Queen Elizabeth 1 stayed at a manor called Brooke
House which has long since disappeared. The present Manor House,
dating from early to mid-17th century, situated next to the church,
probably stands on the same site. It is a handsome house of mellowed
brickwork built around a magnificent Jacobean staircase and balustrade.
In 1766 the Manor House was sold to John Grubb, of Horsenden, and
was eventually bought by the Rothschild family and presented by
them to the National Trust in 1925 by the widow and family of the
Hon. Charles Rothschild. It is open to the public for viewing on
specific dates. Contact The National Trust for more details.
Opposite The Manor House, in Church Lane is a very pretty 17th century
half-timbered house, which was once the Vicarage and is now known
as Monks Staithe. This was once occupied by the famous Aviatrix
of the 1930’s, Amy Johnson.
The well known 17th or 18th C Market House, originally timber-framed
but altered and its upper storey rebuilt by John Grubb (grand-nephew
of John Grubb of Horsenden), in 1824, is the focal point of the
town. The upper floor was used by the Town Council as the Council
Chamber until mid 2001, when due to accessibility problems it was
forced to move to alternative premises. It is used by Risborough
Countryside Group for occasional displays. In 1994 to celebrate
the centenary of the Civic Parish, the Town Council undertook a
major refurbishment of the Grade 11 listed Market House, with assistance
from English Heritage, Buckinghamshire County Council and Wycombe
District Council.
The l9th Century opened with a disaster, when the church tower collapsed,
destroying the roof and peal of bells which had been hung in 1552.
The century did, however, give birth to modern Princes Risborough.
The fields were enclosed in 1823, at which time there were 1,958
inhabitants in the Parish of whom about 1,200 actually lived in
the town. With the enclosures came road improvements, which in turn
led to the development of the area known as Parkfield, and later,
in 1862, came the railway and the gasworks. Two schools were established,
the British School in Parkfield in 1836, and the National School
on the site of the old workhouse by St Mary’s Church in 1841.
They catered between them for about 260 pupils.
The Literary Institute, in the High Street, was leased at a peppercorn
rent to the town in 1891 by the first Baron Rothschild for use as
a public reading room. Today, the upstairs room can be hired for
meetings etc. and the downstairs room, housing a billiards table,
is used as a snooker club.
The Lion or Welch Ale Brewery was an important employer until it
closed in 1927. The lion surmounting its gateway surveyed the Market
Square until 1960 and the last vestige of the brewery, the malthouse,
was demolished in 1987.
A new spire, built in 1908 for the Parish Church of St Mary, pointed
the way to the 20th century and the town has continued to flourish
with it.
Other properties, old cottages or houses built at various times
during the last four centuries, mix happily together to create a
blend of interesting and pleasant architecture.
The central part of the town still retains its old world charm and
is designated as a Conservation Area. Various improvements have
been made in the Market Square, High Street, Church Street and Duke
Street; the whole area has been repaired and improved lighting has
been mounted on Victorian style metal lamp standards. Considerable
improvements and new building of residential and commercial type
have taken place within the boundaries of old properties. Two-way
traffic still passes through the High Street and Duke Street, but
much of the heavy traffic load has been removed by the New Road
‘by-pass’ completed in 1987. At the same time road narrowings
with, pedestrian crossing points and raised flower beds, were introduced.
The Town contains churches of various denominations all of which
are referred to later under the heading ‘Churches’.
Princes Risborough is well served by both state and independent
schools, details of which can be read under the heading ‘Education’.
There are two medical and three dental practitioners in the town,
NHS General Hospitals at Stoke Mandeville (which also houses the
National Spinal Injuries Unit), High Wycombe and Amersham. The Paddocks
in the Aylesbury Road built at the turn of the century and once
a family home has been considerably enlarged and is now a private
hospital. See section on ‘Local Medical Services’ for
more information.
Monks Risborough Monks Risborough was confirmed
in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as belonging to Lanfranc, Archbishop
of Canterbury, and it remained a possession of the See until the
Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII. At the present time
the parish comes under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Oxford.
Monks Risborough has the distinction of being the oldest documented
Parish in the country; its boundaries being defined in a Charter
of 903 AD which was itself a replacement of an earlier charter destroyed
by fire. Parts of this boundary known as the Black Hedge, which
can be seen from the Brimmers Road crossing the hillside to the
east, still remain to this day. Known then as East Risborough the
land was conveyed by Aethelfrith to his daughter Ethelgyth. The
land later passed into the possession of monks of Christ Church,
Canterbury and from this ecclesiastical association is derived the
first part of its present name. The parish church of St. Dunstan
stands behind a charming group of thatched cottages in Burton Lane,
just off the Aylesbury Road. Beyond the church is the St. Dunstan’s
Recreation ground containing an interesting l6th century Dovecote
with a richly carved doorway, now a listed building that is testament
to the age and importance of this parish. Monks Risborough is served
by Chiltern Railways through a halt in Crowbrook Road. Trains run
approximately hourly at peak periods between Aylesbury and Princes
Risborough and continue to High Wycombe and London
Monks and Princes Risborough became one civil parish in 1934 and
were physically united by 1965, with the completion of the Wellington
and Place Farm Estates.
Mill Lane still has its watermill house, but a windmill mentioned
in the 14th century was moved to Radnage in 1650.
Five other settlements are included in the Parish, namely Alscot,
Horsenden, Askett, Cadsden and Whiteleaf.
Alscot is a charming cul-de-sac hamlet mid way
between Longwick and Princes Risborough. It is also the smallest
conservation area in the Parish, hiding itself by the Longwick Road.
The road crosses a stream, now hardly noticed by drivers hastening
to Thame. It is called the ‘foul brook’ in the Charter
of 903 and it is interesting to see the traces of the wide ford
that an older, muddier road created.
Horsenden is a delightful and peaceful village
some one-mile from the railway station, secluded at the end of a
narrow country lane. It was here that the Grubb family lived from
at least 1662, though the present Manor House was not built until
1810. The Manor house is adjacent to the small church of St. Michael,
which consists of a chancel built from the remains of a previous
larger building. It is to a former Rector, Edward Stone, that we
owe the benefit of aspirin, the active ingredient of the Willow
bark, with which he treated his ague. Also in Horsenden Lane are
The Windsor Playing Fields where Risborough Rangers Football Club,
the Risborough Cricket Club and Horsenden Lawn Tennis Club meet.
The Phoenix Cycle Trail passes through Horsenden.
Askett was a renowned centre for lace making during
the late 19th century, and has been recently described as ‘A
conservation area in a hamlet in a meadow’. Thatch, brick
and flint and considerate modernisation characterise it. Sadly,
conservation came too late for the old manor house, which had to
be demolished in 1969, but was until then renowned to be the oldest
house in the county. Askett lies to the west of the Aylesbury Road,
opposite Whiteleaf and beyond Monks Risborough.
Cadsden Even further along the Aylesbury Road and
lying behind Whiteleaf on the road to Hampden and Great Missenden
and underneath Longdown Hill is the small hamlet of Cadsden. Travellers
on the Ridgeway Path may refresh themselves at Lower Cadsden in
the shadow of Longdown Hill. A path branches off past the one cottage
of Middle Cadsden to Upper Cadsden where Tudor cottages became Whiteleaf
Golf Club. The Cadsden Road and Upper Icknield Way transect at Gallows
Cross, a reminder of the days when the Prior of Christ Church had
gallows, tumbrel and pillory in the manor.
Whiteleaf is a picturesque village east of the
Aylesbury Road between Princes Risborough and Cadsden. The name
of this village is reputed to derive from Whitecliffe as it is situated
on rising ground under the Chiltern escarpment and immediately below
the White Cross carved in a clearing at the top of the hill. The
Icknield Way leads through Whiteleaf village, where again thatch
and flint delight, before bringing us back to look over Risborough
Gap, described by John Nash the artist, and F.C. Parsons the historian,
as the finest view in the south of England. The houses in Whiteleaf
command extensive panoramic views across the Vale of Aylesbury towards
Oxford and the southwest. Just above the village and approached
by Golf Club Lane (Thorns Lane) is Whiteleaf Golf Course. This is
a nine-hole golf course set in a fold in the hills with marvellous
views over the Vale towards Aylesbury. Adjacent to the golf course
is Monks Risborough Cricket Club, which celebrated its centenary
in 1993 and is reputed to have a square with ‘views second
to none’. Whiteleaf Fields, comprising three acres opposite
the lay-by near the church of St. Dunstan, Monks Risborough, and
two acres along Icknield Way, were vested to the National Trust
in 1925. Covenants protect a further fifty-eight acres of adjoining
land.
The population of the Risborough parish has grown from 2,418 in
1883 to some 8,500 today. This has inevitably led to change and
relatively large housing development. While these have created their
own individuality they all remain in harmony with the heart of the
old town. That heart beats with renewed vitality and Princes Risborough
remains a very pleasant place in which to live.
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Introduction
