High Wycombe
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General
High Wycombe stretches along the Wye Valley from West Wycombe in the east to Loudwater in the west. It is one of Buckinghamshire’s largest towns and was once famous for its furniture industry which started in the seventeenth century. At one time it was known as ‘the furniture capital of England’. Each May an ancient ceremony is re-enacted in which the mayor is weighed to make sure he is not getting fat at the rate payers’ expense.
The name Wycombe is thought to derive from the Old English word wicum which means ‘at the dwellings or settlement’ or from wic and cumb meaning ‘at the specialised farms’. There is some debate as to whether the River Wye took its name from the town or vice-versa. By the time of the Norman Conquest the name had become Wicumbe.
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Cock Lane
In January 1994 a man reported seeing a female ghost dressed in grey clothing who was crossing the road in front of him.
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Healey Avenue
Early one evening in October 1994 a resident of High Wycombe was taking his dog Lassie for a walk. They went down Totteridge Road then turned into Healey Avenue. As they turned the corner Lassie, who was off the lead and a few paces in front, stopped and began to wag her tail. It was a clear, moonlit night but there was nothing there that would account for Lassie’s actions. As the owner approached he saw what appeared to be the shadow of a man bending down and stroking the dog. But where was the body to go with the shadow? Lassie refused to come when her owner called so he had to go up and pull her away, at which the shadow vanished.
About a week later, on Bonfire Night, he took Lassie out for a walk. This time it was much later as he had waited for the fireworks to end and there was no moon. Once again as they went into Healey Avenue Lassie stopped and once more greeted her invisible friend. About a month after that they were again in Healey Avenue when Lassie began to pull on her lead. Her owner let her go and she ran forward a few yards then stopped. This time things were different as, instead of a shadow, her owner could clearly see a grey-haired man wearing what appeared to be a monk’s habit. He glided up to the dog, bent down, stroked her, then glided away and disappeared. Before he vanished Lassie’s owner had a good look at his face and declared it ‘the kindest, friendliest face I have ever seen’.
Since then Lassie met her friend several times but only as a shadow. It also transpired that other dogs had become agitated on the same stretch of road.
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King George V
In the early part of this century shadows would appear briefly on the walls of the King George V public house. No matter how much people searched they could never find a physical reason for the shadows. In addition, after everyone has gone home for the night soft voices can be heard.
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Loakes Road
The ghost of a woman on a spectral horse was seen this century riding along Loakes Road, High Wycombe. It is believed that the ghost is that of a girl who was thrown from her horse and killed in the 1720s near Loakes House. Now she is dressed in grey and rides a chestnut horse along the road and up to the gates of the house where she met her end, then she vanishes. In all the times she has been seen riding, no sound has ever been heard.
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Local Lanes
In the lanes around High Wycombe people have reported seeing Roundheads and Cavaliers. People have also seen the ghost of John Hampden riding across the fields with his Greencoats on moonlit nights. Hampden was a local man who lived at Great Hampden and during the Civil War he raised a Buckinghamshire army and fought with distinction at Edgehill and Reading. On 17th June 1643, Hampden was badly wounded during a skirmish with troops led by Prince Rupert; he died from his wounds six days later. His body was escorted back to Great Hampden by his beloved Greencoats and he was buried in the Church of St Mary Magdalene.
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Local Public House
At a public house in High Wycombe the new owners kept experiencing feelings of intense cold especially in one particular upstairs room. Eventually they found the reason. One day the landlord went into the room and was rather shocked to see a woman in a long blue dress sitting in the corner. The figure was hazy but he could still make out that she had long fair hair and that she was brushing it. He also felt that the figure was aware of him as her eyes appeared to follow him round the room. At no point did he feel frightened and he even felt that the ghost was totally benevolent. From that point on she was seen several times, always in the oldest part of the building.
The ghost even turned out to be a potential life saver. Once a visitor to the pub had stayed overnight in a room in which the ghost had been seen. The room was heated by a portable gas heater near the bed and when the visitor went to sleep he left it on. This could have proved fatal as the close proximity of the heater to the bed could have resulted in a fire. Yet when he woke up in the morning the heater had been turned off even though he insists he did not do it and neither did anyone else in the pub. Had the ghost helped avert a disaster?
Even though the landlord felt that the ghost was friendly, one of their dogs seemed to think otherwise. Firstly it would show fear then back away growling at an empty point in space. Yet their other dog would leap forward as if it was greeting an old friend. Quite often the ghost would reveal herself in other ways including the sound of footsteps coming from upstairs, sudden cold draughts, lights switching themselves on and off and doors opening of their own accord.
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Railway Station
At 23:30, on a cold and misty night, a British Rail Employee was waiting for a train on platform 3 of High Wycombe Station. He had been to a Christmas staff party at the nearby Flint pub and was returning to his home in Beaconsfield. At first he seemed to have the station to himself then he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. The only problem was that they were not on the platform but were coming from the ballast down on the track. As he stood on the platform he distinctly heard the crunching noises passing by below him. At that moment more people arrived and during the momentary distraction the noises faded away.
A short while later he was talking with one of the members of staff at the station and mentioned what had occurred. He was rather surprised to discover that he was not the only one to have had the experience as other people had also heard the footsteps along the track. The same staff member told him about the time when he had heard footsteps outside the station office and had gone to investigate but there was no one there. Another time he heard someone running down the platform and had again gone to investigate but the runner had vanished.
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Sandage Wood
Sandage Wood, just to the southwest of High Wycombe and right against the M40, is haunted by a ghost known as the Spangled Lady. She is said to be clad in jewellery which sparkles in the moonlight and she walks up to a gate at the end of the wood where she stops. She then stands for a while looking out across the fields. When whoever it is she is waiting for fails to arrive she turns and retraces her path back into the woods.
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