Great Missenden

Lots of prehistoric artefacts have been found in Great Missenden parish. A programme of fieldwalking around the parish has meant that lots of Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age flint flakes and tools have been found in fields near Hyde Farm, Hyde House, Barley Mow, Cudsden’s Farm, Darvell’s Grove, on the south side of Hyde Heath Lane, at Road Farm and at Springfield Farm in Potter Row. Along with later flint tools, a Lower Palaeolithic flint flake was found near the Black Horse pub and a Palaeolithic handaxe was found at Hyde House. Another handaxe was found during the construction of the railway bridge to the north of the station. Quite a few stray finds have also come up over the years, such as a few Neolithic axe-heads in Prestwood, one of them in the grounds of Prestwood Lodge School and another was found digging potatoes in the garden of Somerly on Moat Lane. A post-hole containing Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age pottery was discovered in a test-pit at Bury Farm.

Grim’s Ditch, a linear bank and ditch system, passes through Great Missenden parish at Woodland’s Park and Prestwood Common. It probably dates to the Early Iron Age, though very little dating evidence has been found when it has been excavated. It may have been intended to divide the landscape up into territories for cattle grazing. Late Iron Age pottery has been found at King’s Lane on Cobbler’s Hill and may be a predecessor to a Roman site, as lots of Roman pottery and building materials have also been found here. Roman metalwork has also been found in metal-detecting rallies around the parish and has identified one potential villa site at Coney Hill. Roman pottery and tile has also been found in fieldwalking, for instance at the Black Horse pub and at Barley Mow.

An earthwork in Rook Wood known as the Castle was thought to be a possible Roman fort, but it is more likely to be a medieval moat or ringwork. Roman pottery was found in the 19^th century but medieval pottery and metalworking waste have been found more recently. A number of other medieval moats and enclosures are known around the parish. Redding Wick is a double moat that is recorded in the 13^th century and medieval pottery has been found there. A medieval moat and fishpond is known at Bury Farm, which seems to have been a farmstead and maybe the seat of a manor from this period, though the house is 17^th century. Moat Farm in Prestwood also has a medieval moat and the house dates back to the 15^th and 16^th century. A moat with an adjoining bailey exists in Jenkin’s Wood. There is also a medieval ringwork on Frith Hill.

Medieval pottery has been found in some of the fieldwalking sessions, for instance 13^th and 14^th century pottery were found at Friendly Lodge Farm. Pottery of a similar date was found at Cudsden’s Farm, suggesting the presence of a farmstead here. The test-pit at Bury Farm that uncovered the prehistoric post-hole also revealed a slot for the foundation beam of a wall and a gully containing 11^th to 14^th century pottery, probably part of the predecessor of the current farm.

The place-name Potter Row gives a good idea of the type of activity that took place there in the medieval period. This has been confirmed by fieldwalking and stray finds. Medieval and post-medieval pottery sherds and kiln furniture has been found around Potter Row, suggesting that kilns were functioning here from the 13^th to the 17^th century. There are also records of a windmill in the parish from the 14^th to the 18^th century, and a watermill from the 13^th to the 18^th century, known as Deep Mill. Records also note a medieval manor house called Peterley. Even the later house at this site is now gone.

A few medieval buildings still stand, such as St Peter and St Paul church, which dates back to the 14^th century. Older than this is Missenden Abbey, which was first built in the 12^th century. It was turned into a country house in the 18^th and 19^th century and also suffered a fire in the 1980s, so much of the medieval fabric is gone or encased in later building work. Some secular buildings incorporate medieval fabric, such as Elmhurst (also known as Elmtrees), which may have been a manor house, and the George Inn, which incorporates 15^th century fabric and was used as a courthouse in its early years. Several of the buildings on the High Street were built in the 15^th century and later fronted with 18^th century facades, such as Beam House, 46 High Street, and 81 High Street, which is now the Roald Dahl Museum.

Milling and potting continued, but at different sites, after the medieval period. 19^th to 20^th century brickworks were set up on Kiln Lane in Prestwood and on Honor End Lane. Lots of extractive pits for chalk, gravel and clay are recorded on 19^th and 20^th century maps around the parish. Mills were set up in the 18^th century at Prestwood and on Frith Hill. Wherever the local court was held in the post-medieval period, criminals were held in the lock-up next to the Wagon and Horses pub. The toll-road between Aylesbury and Amersham also passed through Great Missenden (before the A413 was diverted), and a toll-house survives.

Want to find out more?  Read the detailed historic town report for Great Missenden (below).