Furniture making may be the most well-known part of the area’s history, but there is much more to discover about the area’s past. Other local crafts and industries represented in the collections include lace making, straw plaiting, paper making and brewing. Wycombe Museum also holds a small number of Roman, Saxon and Pre-Historic artefacts.
Wycombe Museum cares for over 24,000 items exploring the local area’s history. Our museum represents the area formerly known as Wycombe District, extending out to Marlow, Stokenchurch, Princes Risborough and the surrounding villages. The artefacts in our collection belong to Buckinghamshire Council and are cared for by the Museum.
Lace Making & Straw Plait Collection Highlights
Lace making and straw plaiting were not only important local industries in their own right, but they also tell the little-told stories of women’s work, and represent the impact that women had on the economy of the town and also of their households. You can read more about women’s contribution to furniture-making here.
More on Lace Making & Straw Plait
Lace Making
Lace was a luxury product used to decorate the clothing of the rich. It was made throughout the Chilterns and beyond from the 1600s onwards. Lace is made by twisting threads around complex patterns of pins stuck into a lace ‘pillow’, and is very time consuming. All handmade lace was intricate and time-consuming, but Buckinghamshire point lace was particularly delicate and slow to make.
Lace making was done by women and children, both boys and girls. Women made lace in the home around other duties such as cooking, cleaning and childcare. It was poorly paid work, with women usually earning only a quarter of what men would at work during the same period working the same hours. In the mid-1800s, parents sent both girls and boys to lace schools to learn to make lace and begin to earn money for the household. These ‘schools’ were really workshops, held in a lace maker’s cottage. Up to 30 children aged from 5-12 were crammed into a small room, making lace for long hours.
By the 1870s, cheap foreign imports and machine-made lace meant that it was harder to make any money at all from hand-made lace. The number of lacemakers in Buckinghamshire fell sharply, especially from 1871 onwards. There were 10,500 in the census of 1851. By 1911 there were only 373. Lace makers had to find other types of work. Sometimes this was in other craft industries, such as chair making or tambour beading. The straw plaiting industry declined at around the same time, which meant that many poor and desperate women had no choice but to work for very low wages. Women with young children whose husbands had died had to continue to make lace. They could do it at home, however badly paid.
Straw Plait
Straw was plaited in many parts of the Chilterns. Straw plaiting needed less equipment than lace making and it could even be done when walking around.
Straw plaiters bought straw from local suppliers and plaited it into long strips (known as ‘lengths’), which they sold to dealers. The dealers sold plaits for a profit to the straw hat industry in Dunstable and Luton. There was a huge demand for straw plait because all women – both rich and poor – wore straw hats in summer until the 20th century.
In the early 1860s, when trade was good, plaiters could earn up to two-thirds of a male agricultural labourer’s work. A Victorian report in the 1860s detailed how important the earnings from straw plait were – the man’s wage often paid for food and rent and earnings from straw plait paid for everything else needed by the family. In 1867, trade was bad and adult plaiters could only make about one sixth of a labourer’s pay for 10 or 11 hour days. The local plait industry collapsed in the 1870s when cheap foreign plaits flooded the market.
Straw Splitter
Straw splitters were used by workers in the cottage industry of straw plaiting. Women and children throughout the Chilterns area plaited straws to supply the hat industry in Luton. Straw splitters are tools with holes that cut a single hollow length of straw into multiple thinner lengths. Its invention enabled workers to produce finer and more delicate plaits, meaning they could earn more money.
This wooden straw splitter is stamped J AUSTIN, perforated with 7 holes, 5 of which contain varied sizes of metal splitters for straw splitting. Austin was one of the main makers of straw splitters.
Museum number HIWLH : T 26.5.2000.2
Mrs Emily Strange, lacemaker
Mrs Strange makes lace on her lace pillow in the garden of her home, at 52 Easton Street, High Wycombe. These were the Almshouses where she lived with her daughter Elizabeth. Lacemakers often worked outside or at windows as you need good light to clearly see the fine threads of your work. Emily Strange was born in 1845 and was married to William, a Stokenchurch chairmaker. Mrs Strange was still making lace at the age of 94.
Museum number HIWLH : T 9.7.1993.3
Bucks Point Lace and Lace Bobbins
Bobbins are used to make lace. Thread is wound around the bobbins that are then plaited into elaborate patterns. Lace making was common throughout Wycombe and district. The cottage industry gave its name to the village of Lacey Green, and was also an industry of Great Hampden.
Traditional Bucks Point lace is particularly intricate, and therefore slow to make. Although lace was expensive to buy, a majority of the profits would go to lace dealers, rather than to the makers. Bucks lace makers often lost out to simpler and faster varieties, such as Honiton lace from Devon and new machine-made lace from Nottingham. As the 19th century progressed, it became harder for local women and children to earn a living.
Museum numbers HIWLH : 2001.60.1 & HIWLH : T 18.6.1997.10
Local Social History Collection Highlights
Local Social History artefacts make up the majority of Wycombe Museum’s collection. Covering a wide range of objects and documents, they tell the stories of the area and its people.
Broom & Wade Photograph
This is one of hundreds of photographs we have from the archives of the company Broom & Wade. It shows a paraffin and oil spray gun in use, produced by the company.
Broom & Wade, founded in 1899, were makers of machinery, specifically air compressors and pneumatic tools. In the late 1960s Broom & Wade merged with Holman Brothers to become CompAir, who are still in operation, although not in High Wycombe.
For a detailed history, read ‘A Recorded History of CompAir BroomWade‘, written for the company’s centenary in 1998. You can also see footage of the inside of the factory from the 1930s on YouTube here.
Museum number HILWLH : 2009.9.111
Stamps by Harrisons Printers
A set of four stamps dedicated to British fishermen from 1981 – the ‘fishermen’s year’. They range in price from 15 to 25 pence and they all feature watercolour images of small boat fishing, design by Brian Sanders.
The stamps were printed by Harrisons & Sons of Coates Lane, High Wycombe. Harrisons were a security printers who produced postage stamps, banknotes and passports. Founded in London in 1750, they set up premises in High Wycombe in 1934. Harrisons printed the majority of British stamps between 1930s – 1990s. The factory at the bottom of Coates Lane closed in 2003 and was redeveloped as housing – with one of the roads named Harrisons Way.
Museum number HILWLH : 2013.8.9
The Red Lion
This is the original Red Lion that stood outside the Red Lion Hotel. It was carved between 1772 -1832; most likely between 1824 – 1832. Both Benjamin Disraeli and Winston Churchill gave speeches to the town standing next to it. After around 150 years standing outside the Red Lion Hotel, the High Street’s original lion was in a fragile state. It is now displayed and cared for at Wycombe Museum.
A new lion was made for the hotel in the High Street in 1956, carved by Frank Hudson. It was restored in 2017 following a fundraising campaign by the Red Lion Supporters Group, and was worked on by Frank Hudson’s grandson, Colin Mantripp.
The Red Lion has been adopted as an unofficial of symbol of the town.
Museum Number HIWLH : T 25.1.2001.1
Penn Tile Fragment
In the 1300s, Penn was a major producer of decorative floor tiles made from local clay. Penn tiles can be found in churches throughout the Chilterns and Thames Valley area and beyond. This tile, along with several others, was found at Yonder Lodge, Yew Tree Cottage and in a field behind the Red Lion pub, Penn.Â
Museum Number HIWLH : 2007.40
Rush Light & Candle Holder
This light is made from iron and could have been made between about 1600-1750. It can hold both a candle or a rush light. Candles were made of beeswax and were expensive. Cheaper lights could be made by burning rushes dipped in animal fat or grease. They gave a good light but also a strong smell. With a combined holder like this one, the rush light pincers were probably for everyday use with the candle holder being used on special occasions.
Museum number: HIWLH : T 10.11.1995.11Â
Paper Balance Scales
These balance scales were used for weighing sheets of paper at Wycombe Marsh Paper Mill. Wycombe Marsh Mill was a corn mill in the 1100s and was making paper and milling flour in 1724. In 1830 it was the area’s largest employer, with 53 workers. In 1956 Wycombe Marsh became a subsidiary of Bunzl Pulp and made products such as cigarette filters and adhesive papers.
Museum Number HIWLH : T 15.2.1996.2
Child’s Party Dress
Worn by Shahnoor Minhas Amin at a wedding in High Wycombe, aged 3. She also wore it at Eid and on other special occasions. Eid is a Muslim festival that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. Muslims celebrate Eid with prayer, a meal with their family and friends, and gifts.
Our collection aims to tell all stories of Wycombe, not just historic ones. We collect modern items that reflect the wide range of people living in the local area.Â
Museum Number HIWLH : 1999.64.1a-b
Mummified Rat
This rat is a divisive star of our collection. It’s one of several items that were found under the floor at a house in Medmenham – Medmenham Farm Lodge. They date from the 1700s to the 1900s. Most of them were probably dropped and lost until they were discovered in the 1990s when The National Trust took over the house. The rat died at some point in the house’s history and naturally desiccated, becoming preserved. He’s a favourite of school children!
Museum Number HIWLH : 2008.62.46
Beer Bottle, Wethered, Marlow, 1800s
Beer was considered an essential part of UK diets from at least the Middle Ages, and into the 20th century. The brewing process killed bacteria in the water, while beer also contained energy and nutrients that helped fuel physical work. Beer was brewed throughout the district in small breweries, but Marlow became particularly known for brewing by 1700. Wethered’s brewery made beer in Marlow from 1758-1988 and grew to become the biggest employer in Marlow. The brewery was taken over by Whitbread in 1968 and brewing stopped in 1988.
Museum Number HIWLH : T 6.10.1995.5
Land Army Uniform
Uniforms issued to ‘Land Girls’ – as Women’s Land Army members were known – had to be made using the least amount of fabric possible, while still being durable and fit for heavy manual labour.
This uniform was owned by Bucks Land Army girl Gwendoline Hann of High Wycombe. She would have served on farm land in the villages surrounding High Wycombe. Gwendoline was one of relatively few women to serve in the WLA for all eleven years that the scheme ran. She received several awards for her service.
Museum Number HIWLH : 2001.59.4
Wycombe Wanderers Rosette
Wycombe Wanderers have been nicknamed ‘The Chairboys’ since their early days in the 1880s. The name comes from the day jobs of many of the players in football’s amateur days. Following the decline of furniture making in the district, some young supporters are surprised to learn of this history.Â
This rosette commemorates the Chairboys reaching the 2001 FA cup semi-final. Other club high points include winning the Amateur Cup in 1931, reaching the Amateur Cup final in 1957, making it to the FA cup semi-final in 2001, reaching the League Cup (Carling Cup) semi-final in 2007 v Chelsea and moving up to the ELF Championship in 2020.
Museum Number HIWLH : 2001.32.1
Steel Drum
This miniature steel drum is made from a oil drum and is a typical instrument from Trinidad and the smaller Caribbean Islands, including St Vincent. Many people settled in the UK from the Caribbean in the 1950s and 1960s to help fill post-war labour shortages. Most Caribbean immigrants to High Wycombe area were from the island of St Vincent. The local traditions of agriculture and woodworking were familiar to people from the island. Since gaining independence in 1969, the United States is a more common destination than the UK for people leaving the island to settle elsewhere.Â
This drum was used by the St Vincent’s Second Generation Steel Band in Wycombe, by second generation migrants.
Museum Number HIWLH : 2007.60
Got questions about local history?
Do you want to learn more about Wycombe traditions? Or perhaps you have something you’d like to offer to our collection.
Early History Highlights
The history of people in the area stretches back a long time, and it’s important to reflect in our galleries. Early history and prehistoric items make up just a small portion of Wycombe Museum’s collection. The objects we do have tell an interesting story about early times in what we now call our town. Most of these objects were donated by eccentric collectors in the museum’s formative years, before we had a Collections Policy that determined the kind of objects we accept. If you are interested in seeing more archaeology and prehistoric pieces, the county’s archive is held at the Discover Bucks Museum. Wycombe Museum does not actively collect objects from prehistory any longer.
Stone Age Hand Axe
A local man was astonished and confused to find this early prehistoric hand axe on his garden rockery in Rectory Avenue, High Wycombe, in 1938. Experts at The British Museum confirmed that it is around 500,000 years old, made in the Early Stone Age, from the time known as the Acheulian Era. It’s made from a type of volcanic rock that’s found in the Lake District and North Wales – not rock from the South East of England.
Museum number HILWLH : 2007.57
Roman Lamp
This ornate clay lamp was found on the London Road in 1954. Not far from where it was found are the remains of a Roman villa, underneath what is now the Rye Lido. The lamp has a pattern around the top depicting a leaping hare. In both Roman and Celtic cultures the hare was considered sacred. Fewer Roman lamps have been found in Britain than in other parts of the Roman Empire, probably because of the high cost of importing the olive oil that the lamps burned. Lamp wicks were usually made from pieces of linen.
Museum number HIWLH : 9.9.2008.30
Saxon Pendant, around 600AD (replica)
In 1901 a human skeleton was discovered during Fred Skull and Ellen Peace’s wedding celebration in the garden of Castle Hill House (now Wycombe Museum). The skeleton was wearing a gold pendant on a necklace of glass beads and a gold bracelet, with weapons. At the time, the house was the Peace family home. The pendant was given to the groom, Fred Skull of the Skull family furniture makers. It was sold and in 1942 the pendant was bought by the British Museum. This replica was made for Wycombe Museum.
Museum Number HIWLH : 2008.57
Want to see more?
These highlights show just a tiny selection of what the museum galleries have to offer. Wycombe Museum is free to enter.Â
Photograph Collection Highlights
The Museum’s wide range of photographs includes glass plate negatives, film negatives and photographic prints. They document a broad range of views and subjects relating to Wycombe district, including a strong collection of images of the furniture industry and trade. The bulk of our photographic collection is from the 20th century, with smaller selections showing earlier views from the 19th century, as well as modern 21st century examples.Â
Winston Churchill and the Red Lion (detail)
Winston Churchill gave a speech in support of the local Tory candidate from the portico of the Red Lion Hotel, on the High Street, High Wycombe in June 1945. The Red Lion Hotel closed in 1969, but a red lion still stands on Wycombe High Street. The current red lion is not the original. It was carved in wood by Frank Hudson and was restored in 2017 by Hudson’s grandson, Colin Mantripp after a fundraising campaign by Wycombe Museum’s Trustees. For many, it’s a symbol for High Wycombe.
The original red lion – which Churchill spoke next to – is on display in Wycombe Museum, loaned to us by The National Trust.
Museum number HILWH : 2012.391
Inside Glenister’s Factory
The interior of Glenister’s chair factory at Temple End, High Wycombe, taken in September 1902. The image shows a team of workers who would fit seats into chair frames – you can also see a little dog sat on a chair amidst the workers. When this photograph was taken, the school leaving age and typical age for starting as an apprentice in the furniture trade was 12. Glenisters spans much of the history of local furniture making, with humble beginnings in the 1830s. Like many local furniture businesses, Glenisters began as a side line to another business – in the backyard of a pub. It grew to become one of the largest furniture businesses in High Wycombe, before closingin 1990.Â
Museum number HILWH : P189
The Great Chair Arch, 1884
The Chair Arch across the High Street, High Wycombe, in celebration of the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Wycombe Abbey in November 1884. This is probably the town’s most impressive chair arch. The first was erected in 1877 to celebrate Queen Victoria passing through High Wycombe, and the most recent major chair arch on the High Street was in 2000 to mark the new millennium.
You can learn more about the history of chair arches in High Wycombe here.Â
Museum number HILWH : P3169C
Bodger in Hampden Woods
A view of Alec Dean using a pole lathe and chisel to turn a chair leg in his workshop in Hampden Woods, Great Hampden. Taken in December 1949, it’s just one in a series of photographs showing the full bodging process, from felling trees through to finished chair legs and back sticks.Â
Museum number MHW:12830
Into the Golden Ball
Two well-dressed men entering the Golden Ball above St Lawrence’s Church at West Wycombe via a trap door. Originally built in the 14th century, the church was remodelled dramatically in 1763. The tower was raised and topped with the wooden golden ball that was reputed to be a meeting place for the Hellfire Club. It could seat 6-10 people. Taken in 1930.Â
Museum number MHW:46340
Marquetry in Lacey Green
A view of Mr Andrew Oliver, one of the last traditional ‘marquetry cutters’ in his Lacey Green workshop. Marquetry is the art of applying jigsaw-like pieces of thin wooden veneer to create designs and patterns, often to decorate furniture. Mr Oliver sits astride a 19th century ‘marquetry cutter’s donkey’ (a kind of fret saw), cutting a ‘packet’ of several thin sheets of veneer to a pre-planned design. These cut components would then be assembled into a decorative panel or inlay. Taken around mid-1970s.
Museum number MHW:12808
The Downley Total Abstinence Society
Members of Downley Total Abstinence Society seated at long tables for an outside celebration. Downley, near High Wycombe. Taken in June 1899.
Museum number MHW:35283
Stokenchurch Lace School
Women and children at a lace making school in Stokenchurch. Taken around 1860s.
Museum number MHW:39157
Wethered’s Brewery Site Excavation
Elevated view showing excavation of a medieval structure on the the site of the old Wethereds brewery, just off the High Sreet, Marlow. Taken 1993.
Museum number MWH:12688
Cows walking home from the Rye along the High Street, High Wycombe
From medieval times until 1927, some householders in the town could pasture three cows each on the Rye. The cows were usually taken there by the owners in the morning but were often left to find their own way back home at evening milking time. The rights to pasture cattle ended in 1927 when fewer individuals were owning farm animals, road traffic was increasing, and the Rye was in greater demand as a recreational space.
Museum number: P542
The Rolling Stones in Wycombe
Inside the Town Hall, girls with members of the Rolling Stones group including Mike Jagger and Brian Jones. Taken in Queen Victoria Road, High Wycombe, 1963.
The Rolling Stones played a few shows at Wycombe Town Hall that year – on 13th August, 12th November and 17th December.
Museum number MHW:01881
The London to Oxford stagecoach outside the Falcon Hotel, High Street, early 1900s
High Wycombe was on the main London to Oxford road, halfway between the two cities. Wycombe made the ideal place for travellers and their horses to stop, rest and eat. The money spent at hotels and coaching inns helped make High Wycombe wealthy. The Falcon Hotel is now a Wetherspoon’s pub, still called The Falcon.
Museum number MHW:28150
Want to browse more photographs?
There is a free public access online database of old photographs of High Wycombe, called Sharing Wycombe’s Old Photographs, or SWOP. It contains digitised versions of most photographs in the archives of Wycombe Museum, High Wycombe Library, and The Bucks Free Press, as well as those in private collections.
FAQs
What is the origin of High Wycombe’s mayor weighing tradition?
Traditionally, a mayor was weighed at the beginning and end of their term to make sure that they had not ‘grown fat’ at the expense of the people of Wycombe. It has in recent years become more of a ceremonial tradition. The date of the first mayor weighing in High Wycombe is unknown, but in John Parker’s history of Wycombe (1878) he claims that this tradition had fallen into disuse since the dissolution of the old Corporation in 1835. There are no other known references to the tradition.
Mayor weighing is almost unique to High Wycombe - in 1951, mayor weighting was adopted by Minneapolis in America, based on Wycombe's tradition.
Why were chair arches built in High Wycombe?
In Victorian Britain many towns often constructed arches to mark special occasions, sometimes composed of objects which symbolised the town, and High Wycombe was famous for chairs.
The original idea of a triumphal arch goes back to classical Greek and Roman times. More recent examples were probably inspired by Marble Arch which was moved from Buckingham Palace to Hyde Park Corner in 1850-51. See more on the town’s chair arches on our Photography page.
What is the origin of the Wycombe swan emblem?
The association between Buckinghamshire, its towns, and the swan starts from around 1444, when Humphrey sixth Earl of Stafford became Duke of Buckingham. The swan was his personal crest. However, the direct link to High Wycombe is not known. The crown that accompanies the swan on the emblem of High Wycombe is said to come from the belief that High Wycombe owes its allegiance to no one but the crown.
There are differences between the Buckinghamshire swan crest and the High Wycombe swan crest. While they both derive from the Duke of Buckingham’s crest, the Buckinghamshire county swan almost always has its wings open, whilst the High Wycombe swan’s wings are almost always closed.
Is High Wycombe listed in the Domesday Book?
The Domesday Book is a record of the 1086 Great Survey, that was undertaken in much of England and parts of Wales, as ordered by William the Conqueror. There is an entry for High Wycombe (then Wicumun), which includes these details:
Population: 60 ‘very large’ households - 40 villagers, 8 smallholders, 8 slaves & 4 boors.
Ploughland: Land for 30 ploughs - 3 lord's plough teams & 27 men's plough teams.
Other resources: Meadow - 3 ploughs. Woodland - 500 pigs. Mills - 6.
A ‘boor’ was the lowest grade of peasant, but above a slave. A ‘plough’ was a measure of land, determined by what could be ploughed by a team of 8 oxen in a day.
Was there ever a castle in Desborough?
It is believed that a castle was built at Desborough during the 1150s, during the reign of King Stephen and the war with his cousin Matilda. A fortress could have been sited at Desborough as early as 1000BC.
See Buckinghamshire's Heritage Portal for more information.Â
Are there other places I can go to find out more?
At Wycombe Museum our focus is on the artefacts we look after and Wycombe’s nationally significant chair collection. For more general local and family history there are plenty of other resources.
External Resources on Wycombe’s History & Heritage
Can Wycombe Museum help me with my family history research?
Wycombe Museum does not carry records specific to family history research. We recommend you use the resources available at the Buckinghamshire Archives and High Wycombe Library.
If you are looking for information on a relative you know to have been associated with a particular local furniture factory, there is a small chance we may have information on them, but our records are not designed to be useful for family history research. You may also want to look at our List of High Wycombe Furniture Factories for names and dates of factories and makers.
If you are looking for information on relatives who are not involved in the furniture industry, we recommend using the resources below.
