About High Wycombe

High Wycombe is a large English town in the district of Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

A settlement at High Wycombe was first documented in 970 as Wicumun, and this remained a mill town through medieval and Tudor times with the manufacture of lace and linen cloth. These industries were overtaken in the 17th and 18th centuries by paper, and Wycombe's most famous industry, furniture (particularly chairs), reached prominence in the 19th century.

High Wycombe town centre has recently undergone a large redevelopment, including expansion of the existing Chilterns shopping centre, the completion of the new Eden Shopping centre and redevelopment of the Buckinghamshire New University, all of which have brought new life to the town and attracted further development.

Since 1968 all commands of the Royal Air Force have been housed in High Wycombe, the town having previously been the seat of the RAF Bomber Command.

Two popular local landmarks are the statue of a red lion (above the Woolworths store on the High Street) and the fountain in Frogmoor Square. A historical attraction is Hughenden Manor, an architecturally appealing Regency period mansion which in the mid-19th century was home to Benjamin Disraeli, one of two Prime Ministers (the other being the Earl of Shelburne) to have lived in High Wycombe.

An interesting quirk of High Wycombe is that it is the only place in the world that weighs its Mayors – a traditional ceremony of the town since the medieval period.