Building record 0449300000 - ALL SAINTS CHURCH, HIGH WYCOMBE

Dimensions - Length 60m, Width 24m.
Probably C12 church on site - chancel, nave, central tower & N & S transepts. c.1275 N chapel, N & S aisles & S porch added, nave & chancel lengthened & N & S transepts incorporated in aisles. W tower begun mid-C15. 1509/10 central tower taken down, E bays of N aisle, arcades inserted & chancel arch rebuilt (B7).
Grade I. Originally Norman, rebuilt 1273, heightened and altered C15. The tower, originally over the crossing, was rebuilt at the west end circa 1521-35 under supervision of a certain Roland Messenger; cornice, parapet and pinnacles added circa 1755 by Henry Keene. Restored by G E Street, 1873-5, and by J Oldrid Scott 1889-9. Impressive architectural wall monument in north chapel to 1st Earl of Shelburne, 1754 by Scheemakers. Other monuments include one to Sophia Countess of Shelburne, 1771 by Agostino Carlini in south chapel, Shrimpton monument by Westmacott, 1784. The church is long with slender pillars to arcades of lofty nave. South porch of circa 1275. Church of All Saints, Churchyard Gates together with No 2, The Antelope Public House, No 5 and No 6 form a group with Nos 1 to 3 (consec) High Street (B10).
Watching brief by John Moore Heritage Services in March 2013 during test pitting in and around the south porch identified the 13th century mortared flint foundations of the porch and its butresses, which had been repaired with yellow brick in the late 19th century and a layer of broken slate and concrete bedding provided for the internal floor slabs and the external flagstones. See report for detail (B20).
Recording of the bell frame before and during removal and replacement was carried out in December 2011 and March 2012 by Oxford Archaeology. The existing bell frame had been built for a peal of 12 bells in 1909, with repairs and the insertion of a 13th bell in 1963. The remains of an older wall plate survived. See report for detail (B21).
Externally there were a number of deposits that probably represent an early grave soil horizon into which the foundations of the church constructed in 1273 were excavated(B22)