Editing High Wycombe (section)

===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>

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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.