Editing High Wycombe (section)

==History==
===Early history===
[[File:High Wycombe map1945.jpg|thumb|250px|right|A map of High Wycombe from 1945]]
[[File:High Wycombe Roman Villa.png|left|thumb|200x200px|Ruins of [[High Wycombe roman villa]]]]

The town once featured [[High Wycombe roman villa|a Roman villa]] (built 150–170 AD)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/bcc/swop/history.page |title=Brief history of High Wycombe |access-date=7 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525211409/http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/bcc/swop/history.page |archive-date=25 May 2011}}</ref> which has been excavated four times, most recently in 2002. [[Mosaic]]s and a bathhouse were unearthed at the site on what is now the Rye parkland.  The name Wycombe would appear to come from the river Wye and the old English word for a wooded valley, "[[combe]]", but according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary of Place-Names'' the name, which was first recorded in 799–802 as "Wichama", is more likely to be Old English "wic" and the plural of Old English "ham", and probably means "dwellings"; the name of the river was a late back-formation.<ref>Eilert Ekwall, 1960. ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary of Place-Names''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0198691033}}.</ref> Wycombe appears in the ''[[Domesday Book]]'' of 1086 and was noted for having six mills.

The existence of a settlement at High Wycombe was first documented as 'Wicumun' in 970. The parish church was consecrated by Wulfstan, the visiting [[Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester|Bishop of Worcester]], in 1086. The town was described as a borough from at least the 1180s, and built its first [[moot hall]] in 1226, with a market hall being built later in 1476.<ref name="buckscc1">{{cite web |url=http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/media/130564/high_wycombe_report.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222134003/http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/media/130564/high_wycombe_report.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 February 2014 |title=High Wycombe : Historic Town Assessment Report Draft |website=Buckscc.gov.uk |access-date=9 August 2016 }}</ref>

The 1841 census reports the population that year was 3,184.<ref>''The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge'' Vol.III, London, 1847, Charles Knight, p.899</ref>

===Trade and industrial development===
High Wycombe remained a mill town through Medieval and [[Tudor period|Tudor]] times, manufacturing [[lace]] and [[linen]] cloth. It was also a stopping point on the way from Oxford to London, with many travellers staying in the town's taverns and inns.<ref name="buckscc1"/>

The paper industry was notable in 17th and 18th century High Wycombe. The Wye's waters were rich in [[chalk]], and therefore ideal for bleaching pulp. The paper industry was soon overtaken by the cloth industry.

Wycombe's most famous industry, furniture (particularly [[Windsor chair]]s) took hold in the 19th century, with furniture factories setting up all over the town.<ref>{{cite web |title=High Wycombe Furniture Trade History |date=16 May 2022 |url=https://www.gbfoamdirect.co.uk/high-wycombe-furniture-trade-history/ |access-date=17 May 2022}}</ref> Many terraced workers' houses were built to the east and west of town to accommodate those working in the furniture factories. In 1875, it was estimated that there were 4,700 chairs made per day in High Wycombe. When [[Queen Victoria]] visited the town in 1877, the council organised an arch of chairs to be erected over the High Street, with the words "Long live the Queen" printed boldly across the arch for the Queen to pass under. [[Wycombe Museum]] includes many examples of locally made chairs and information on the local furniture and lace industries.

The town's population grew from 13,000 residents in 1881 to 29,000 in 1928. Wycombe was completely dominated socially and economically by the furniture industry.

===20th century===
[[File:River Wye Wooburn.jpg|thumb|right|River Wye near [[Wooburn]] Industrial Estate]]
By the 1920s, many of the housing areas of Wycombe had decayed into slums. A [[Slum clearance in the United Kingdom|slum clearance]] scheme was initiated by the council in 1932, whereby many areas were completely demolished and the residents rehoused in new estates that sprawled above the town on the valley slopes.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Other Elizabeth Taylor|first=Nicola|last=Beauman|publisher=Persephone|year=2009|page=175|isbn=978-190-646210-9}}</ref> Some of the districts demolished were truly decrepit, such as Newland, where most of the houses were condemned as unfit for human habitation. However, some areas such as St. Mary's Street contained beautiful old buildings with fine examples of 18th and 19th century architecture.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visitoruk.com/HighWycombe/20th-century-T2208.html |title=Timeline History of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire |website=Visitoruk.com |access-date=9 August 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Former town hall, High Wycombe (geograph 3237429).jpg|thumb|The former [[High Wycombe Town Hall]] of 1904, now part of the [[Wycombe Swan]] theatre complex.]]
From 1940 to 1968 High Wycombe was the seat of the [[RAF Bomber Command]]. Moreover, during the [[Second World War]], from May 1942 to July 1945, the [[U.S. Army Air Force]]'s [[8th Air Force]] Bomber Command, codenamed "Pinetree", was based at a former girls' school at High Wycombe. This formally became Headquarters, 8th Air Force, on 22 February 1944.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.barksdale.af.mil/8af/news/facts.doc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060630001131/http://www.barksdale.af.mil/8af/news/facts.doc |archive-date=30 June 2006 |format=DOC |title=Eighth Air Force |access-date=9 August 2016}}</ref>

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Boating on the dyke, High Wycombe.jpg|thumb|right| [[River Wye, Buckinghamshire|River Wye]] 2007]] -->
In the 1960s the town centre was redeveloped and many old buildings were demolished. The River Wye was culverted under concrete between 1965 and 1967 from  and demolishing most of the old buildings in Wycombe's town centre. Two shopping centres were built (the Octagon in 1970 and the Chilterns' in the 1980s) along with many new [[multi-storey car park]]s, office blocks, [[Overpass|flyovers]] and [[roundabout]]s.