River Wye, Buckinghamshire
Wye | |
---|---|
West Wycombe, Chiltern Hills | |
• coordinates | 51°38′52″N 0°48′45″W / 51.64778°N 0.81250°W |
• elevation | 94m |
Mouth | River Thames |
• location | Bourne End |
• coordinates | 51°34′13″N 0°42′40″W / 51.57028°N 0.71111°W |
• elevation | 26m |
Length | 17 km (11 mi) |
Discharge | |
• location | Hedsor |
• average | 1.00 m3/s (35 cu ft/s) |
• minimum | 0.25 m3/s (8.8 cu ft/s)25 December 1973 |
• maximum | 4.40 m3/s (155 cu ft/s)25 September 1981 |
Discharge | |
• location | High Wycombe |
• average | 0.31 m3/s (11 cu ft/s) |
The River Wye is a river in Buckinghamshire, England. It takes its name from the town of High Wycombe through which it flows, rather than the town being named after the river, as is more commonly the case.[1]
Around 10.5 miles (16.9 km) in length,[2] the Wye rises close to West Wycombe village in the Chiltern Hills and flows through High Wycombe before emptying into the River Thames at Bourne End, on the reach above Cookham Lock. In particularly wet years, the source can temporarily change and effectively extend the river by another mile, due to a chalk spring rising above the ground in a field further up the same valley. The River Wye now runs in underground culverts through the centre of High Wycombe.[3] Pann Mill watermill, at the eastern end of Wycombe, is the last remaining watermill on the river.[4]
History
There is a long history of
Papermaking continued at the Soho and Glory mills till the end of the twentieth century, though the water-mills gave way to steam in the mid-nineteenth century. The Soho mill in Wooburn was the prime supplier of high-grade colour paper till its demise in 1984.[7]
Mills
Shown in order from highest to lowest. Note that Marsh Green to Treadway are on an extra cut parallel to Pan to Loudwater Mills. The number is that given by registration in the eighteenth century.
Name[8] | Recorded | Last record | No | Type | OS Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
West Wycombe Mill | 1311 | 1900~ | sawmill (18thC) | SU 8373 9415 | |
Upper, Francis or Little Mill | 1681 | 1903 | 423 | paper | SU 8443 9400 |
Lower, Mill End or Fryer's Mill | 1505 | 1915 | 422 | Corn & paper | SU 8490 9384 |
Lord, Frog or Ball Mill | 1717 | 1883 | 421 | Corn & paper | SU 8550 9363 |
Ash or Lane's Mill (Broughton/Wynkle's) (2) | 1596 | 1895 | 419, 420 | paper | SU 8600 9339 |
Temple Mill (Gosenham) | 1227 | 1895 | corn | SU 8631 9315 | |
Bridge Mill | 1185 | 1932 | corn | SU 8653 9290 | |
Pann Mill | 1185 | 1967 | corn | SU 8705 9276 | |
Rye Mill (Bradshaw's, Sale's, Bowler's, New) | 1346 | 1931 | 411 | paper | SU 8746 9260 |
Bassetbury Mill | 1411 | 1931 | corn | SU 8771 9240 | |
Bowden Mill (2) | 1235 | 1939 | 415, 416 | Corn & paper | SU 8830 9220 |
Wycombe Marsh Mill (Lower Marsh) | 1133 | 1993 | 414 | paper | SU 8880 9195 |
King's Mill (New) | 1725 | 1939 | 417 | paper | SU 8746 9260 |
Loudwater Mill (2) | 1483 | 1939 | 430, 431 | paper | SU 9014 9079 |
Snakely or Ford's Mill | 1767 | 1970 | 428 | paper | SU 9027 9036 |
Hedge Mill | 1235 | 1970 | 427 | Corn & paper | SU 9042 9012 |
Marsh Green or Upper Marsh Mill | 1750 | 1816 | 412 | Corn & paper | SU 8790 9212 |
Beech Mill | 1740 | 1900 | 413 | paper | SU 8881 9155 |
Treadway Mill (Overshot's) | 1682 | 1854 | 418 | Corn & paper | SU 8999 9056 |
Clapton Mill | 1492 | 1922 | 429, 509 | Corn, metal & paper | SU 9100 8997 |
Glory Mill (2) | 1235 | 2000 | 426 | Corn & paper | SU 9130 8950 |
Lower Glory Mill | 1631 | 1907 | 425 | Corn & paper | SU 9160 8895 |
Soho Mill | 1705 | 1988 | 424 | Corn & paper | SU 9080 8770 |
Prince's Mill (Egham Green) (3) | 1730 | 1865 | 287, 288, 289 | Corn & paper | SU 9009 8736 |
Gunpowder Mill (Jackson's) | 1705 | 1980 | 286 | Corn & paper | SU 8978 8717 |
Hedsor Mill | 1492 | 1980 | 285 | Corn & paper | SU 8962 8670 |
Lower Bourne End Mill | 1719 | 1895 | 284 | Corn & paper | SU 8948 8643 |
See also
References
- ^ High Wycombe#History
- ^ "About the Wye | Revive the Wye".
- ^ Bucks Free Press River Clean-up Project gets Underway 1 October 2008
- ^ Pann Mill Watermill
- ^ L. John Mayes (1985). "Paper in the Wye Valley". In G T Mandl (ed.). Three Hundred Years in Paper. London:G T Mandl.
- ^ "Brief History of High Wycombe". Buckinghamshire County Council. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
- ^ "Wooburn and Bourne End Parish Council". Retrieved 8 July 2010.
- ^ Alan Mead (1999), Days of Glory, Far Out Publications