River Wye, Buckinghamshire

The River Wye is a river in Buckinghamshire, England. Around 9 miles (14 km) in length, it rises in the Chiltern Hills and flows through High Wycombe before emptying into the River Thames at Bourne End, on the reach above Cookham Lock.

For other rivers named "Wye", see River Wye (disambiguation).

Wye
River Wye near Wooburn Industrial Estate
Location
CountryEngland
CountiesBuckinghamshire
TownsHigh Wycombe, Bourne End
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationBradenham, Chiltern Hills
MouthRiver Thames
 • location
Bourne End
 • coordinates
51°34′13″N 0°42′40″W
Length14 km (8.7 mi)
Discharge 
 • locationHedsor
 • average1.00 m3/s (35 cu ft/s)
 • minimum0.25 m3/s (8.8 cu ft/s)25 December 1973
 • maximum4.40 m3/s (155 cu ft/s)25 September 1981
Discharge 
 • locationHigh Wycombe
 • average0.31 m3/s (11 cu ft/s)

High Wycombe takes part of its name from the river, which now runs mostly underground through the town.[1] Pann Mill watermill, at the eastern end of Wycombe, is the last remaining watermill on the River Wye.[2]

History

There is a long history of water-mills being operated in the Wye Valley which drops about 200 feet in its 9-mile course. The Domesday Book records eighteen of them in the nine miles between West Wycombe and the Thames.[3] By the seventeenth century there were fulling mills as well as corn mills. A Court of Survey in 1627 lists six mills running upstream from the boundary with Wooburn Parish: the paper mill, Tredway, Loudwater, Bassetsbury, Chalfonts (Rye) and Bridge. There were by this time at least two paper mills: Glory in Wooburn Green and Hedge in Loudwater. By 1636 another paper mill had been established in the parish of West Wycombe and by 1656 another at Marsh, below Wycombe. At this time paper was made from rags and by the end of the eighteenth century more than 150 men were recorded as papermakers in the valley. In 1816 there were 32 paper mills (some of which also milled corn), four which only milled corn and one which was also a saw mill. This was when paper making reached its peak in the valley. However, the introduction of the Fourdrinier machine, which produced a continuous roll of paper, led to widespread unemployment and many families went to the cotton mills of Lancashire. In 1830 there were riots when machine wreckers broke the machines at Ash, Marsh Green and Loudwater. Twenty men were punished by penal transportation to Tasmania.[4]

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.[5]

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 Recorded Last record No Type OS Ref
West Wycombe Mill13111900~sawmill (18thC)SU 8373 9415
Upper, Francis or Little Mill16811903423paperSU 8443 9400
Lower, Mill End or Fryer’s Mill15051915422Corn & paperSU 8490 9384
Lord, Frog or Ball Mill17171883421Corn & paperSU 8550 9363
Ash or Lane’s Mill (Broughton/Wynkle’s) (2)15961895419, 420paperSU 8600 9339
Temple Mill (Gosenham)12271895cornSU 8631 9315
Bridge Mill11851932cornSU 8653 9290
Pann Mill11851967cornSU 8705 9276
Rye Mill (Bradshaw’s, Sale’s, Bowler’s, New)13461931411paperSU 8746 9260
Bassetbury Mill14111931cornSU 8771 9240
Bowden Mill (2)12351939415, 416Corn & paperSU 8830 9220
Wycombe Marsh Mill (Lower Marsh)11331993414paperSU 8880 9195
King’s Mill (New)17251939417paperSU 8746 9260
Loudwater Mill (2)14831939430, 431paperSU 9014 9079
Snakely or Ford’s Mill17671970428paperSU 9027 9036
Hedge Mill12351970427Corn & paperSU 9042 9012
Marsh Green or Upper Marsh Mill17501816412Corn & paperSU 8790 9212
Beech Mill17401900413paperSU 8881 9155
Treadway Mill (Overshot’s)16821854418Corn & paperSU 8999 9056
Clapton Mill14921922429, 509Corn, metal & paperSU 9100 8997
Glory Mill (2)12352000426Corn & paperSU 9130 8950
Lower Glory Mill16311907425Corn & paperSU 9160 8895
Soho Mill17051988424Corn & paperSU 9080 8770
Prince’s Mill (Egham Green) (3)17301865287, 288, 289Corn & paperSU 9009 8736
Gunpowder Mill (Jackson’s)17051980286Corn & paperSU 8978 8717
Hedsor Mill14921980285Corn & paperSU 8962 8670
Lower Bourne End Mill[6]17191895284Corn & paperSU 8948 8643
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See also

References
  1. Bucks Free Press River Clean-up Project gets Underway 1 October 2008
  2. Pann Mill Watermill
  3. L. John Mayes (1985). "Paper in the Wye Valley". In G T Mandl (ed.). Three Hundred Years in Paper. London:G T Mandl.
  4. "Brief History of High Wycombe". Buckinghamshire County Council. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
  5. "Wooburn and Bourne End Parish Council". Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  6. Alan Mead (1999), Days of Glory, Far Out Publications
Next confluence upstreamRiver ThamesNext confluence downstream
Hennerton Backwater River Wye, Buckinghamshire York Stream (south)
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