Building record 0446503015 - THE CASCADE, WEST WYCOMBE

Grade II. C18 with C20 alterations and additions. A print of 1757 shows a triple cascade under an arch of artificial rocks. Now with 5 segmental brick arches flint faced with keystones, brick bands, ashlar copings. 2 C20 pedestals either side with reclining female figures in fibre glass imitating lead (B9).
The present-day cascade is far less monumental than the original structure which comprised a 'rusticated arch flanked by huge piles of rocks, framing a series of steps and basins and containing a reclining lead figure of Neptune'. The modest structure that can be seen today comprising twin piers either side of a tiered cascade was constructed around 1770, and restored in 1969 at which point the lead nymphs on each pier were replaced with fibreglass copies (B24).
The cascade provides the main outlet for the River Wye on the eastern side of the Great Lake. Marked on Jolivet's survey, the original cascade was a massive affair. Hannan's illustrations c1752-3 depict a rusticated arch flanked by huge piles of rocks, framing a series of steps and basins and containing a reclining lead figure of Neptune (probably by John Cheere). The structure was removed around 1770, possibly by Thomas Cook, and replaced with a more subdued design consisting of two rectangular piers to either side of low segmental arches and a shallow tiered waterfall. The later cascade was restored in 1969, at which time the reclining lead nymphs on each pier were replaced with fibreglass copies. The Cascade contains a small waterwheel (c1770) used to pump water to the house via a cistern in the Round Temple.
Pronounced earthworks survive adjacent to the cascade; the most prominent, the looping bank which lies on the southern side of the weir, extends to the south-east from the cascade for a distance of 25m and stands to a height of 1m. It is possible that the earthworks are the remnants of the earlier rockwork or can be attributed to their alteration and ultimate removal (B13).