20. CHEPPING WYCOMBE RURAL

(O.S. 6 in. ^(a)xlvii. N.W. ^(b)xlvii. N.E.)

Secular

Wycombe Marsh

^a(1). House, formerly an inn, now three cottages, stands on the E. side of Beech Row. It is a two-storeyed building, probably of early 17th-century date, restored and enlarged in the 19th century. The front is partly of brick and flint, partly of modern brick; the back has some original timber-framing with modern brick filling. The roofs are tiled. The plan is rectangular, facing W., with a short central wing at the back. The wing has two roofs with hipped ends, and a window on the first floor has original moulded mullions and iron casements with an old fastening. The central chimney stack is built of thin bricks; under it is a fireplace with an oak lintel and an original chimney-corner seat. In the ceilings there are old beams with chamfered edges and moulded stops.

Condition—Poor.

^a(2). Farmhouse, now three cottages, on the N. side of Abbey Barn Road, is of two storeys, built probably late in the 16th or early in the 17th century, and almost completely encased with red and black bricks late in the 17th century; the original timber-framing shows in the gable at the W. end. The roof is tiled. At the back is an old chimney stack built of thin bricks. On the ground floor a large fireplace has chimney-corner seats, now enclosed in cupboards, and in the ceiling there are heavy beams with chamfered edges and moulded stops.

Condition—Fairly good.

Loudwater

^b(3). House, formerly a farmhouse, now a shop, at the E. corner of the road to Flackwell Heath, is of two storeys, built of brick and timber, probably late in the 16th century; the roof is tiled. The plan is irregular, with small projections on the N. and S. In the middle of the N. front is a heavy projecting chimney stack of thin bricks; it has two large square shafts set diagonally, with oversailing courses at the top, a round moulding over broach stops at the base, and a flint foundation. At the W. end the lower storey is of modern brick, the timbers of the gabled upper storey are covered with plaster. Part of the wall at the back is original Inside the house a wide fireplace has been partly filled in, with cupboards enclosing the chimney corners, and the floor of the upper storey has broad oak boards.

Condition—Good.

^b(4). Cottage, on the S. side of the main road, about 50 yards E. of (3), is of two storeys, built of brick and timber probably early in the 17th century. The roof is tiled. The plan is rectangular, with a projecting chimney stack at the S. end. On the N. front the overhanging upper storey is gabled; the original bricks have been plastered and the timbers covered with modern boards. On the W. side the lower storey is of modern brick; at the back is a chimney stack of thin bricks.

Condition—Poor.

^b(5). Weather-vane, on a barn, on the W. side of the road to Flackwell Heath, is of late 16th-century date, and is said to have been brought from Penn Church. It is of iron, elaborately worked, about 4 ft. to 5 ft. high.

Condition—Fairly good.