Wycombe Marsh Village Sign
WYCOMBE MARSH VILLAGE SIGN
Wycombe Marsh Village sign has been missing for a while during its refurbishment but will be back in place shortly as the amazing Kat at https://chicsign.studio has now completed refreshing both sides of the sign.
As you can see from these photos the completed sign looks stunning and it will shortly be returned to its position in Kings Square/Abbey Barn Road, (it’s very heavy!)
This area previously looked very different, and we asked long standing local resident and ex Wycombe District and Bucks County Councillor, Peter Cartwright, to tell us a little bit more about the history of the site which at one time was home to the War Memorial.
War Memorial in the 1970’s
’The war memorial in Wycombe Marsh was originally situated to the east of King's Road bordering London Road before being relocated at the junction of Ford Street/ Beech Road/ Abbey Barn Road.
Wycombe Marsh Paper Mills, which is now the Retail Park, had its main entrance opposite the memorial site having moved its entrance from London Road opposite Micklefield Road. In the late 1970s large lorries had some difficulty turning into the new entrance and the railings surrounding the war memorial had been damaged as a result. Some years before houses fronting London Road between Ford Street and King's Road had been demolished, and the land, (The Quicks), was not maintained as well as it should have by its owner at the time, Wycombe District Council.
As a local Councillor at the time, I thought this important approach to the town was poor and in need of improvement and suggested that flower beds be created on the land bringing colour to the street scene along with a few trees. At the same time the War Memorial was relocated close to where it originally stood and was more accessible to all and free from the risk of being damaged.
In place of the War Memorial a flower bed and village sign were created which was officially unveiled on Saturday 11th December 2010 by five long standing residents of the area.’
A plaque on the post holds the names of those residents: Mervyn Bowen, Majorie Francis, Margaret Hawes, William Leatherby and Inez Wright.
The area was previously maintained by the congregation of the Church of Shalom but is now looked after by Wycombe Marsh Community Environment Group volunteers.
To find out more about the environment group and the work they do, click on the link below.
Thanks to Peter Cartwright for sharing memories about the village sign and War Memorial.