A Timeline of Downley
A copper coin, found in a field near Downley in 1904, shows the bust of the Emperor Galerius and has the inscription – MAXIMIANUS NOB(illissimus) CAES(ar). The full name of this Emperor was Galerius Valerius Maximianus, who died in 311.
On her return from visiting the University of Oxford, one of the many overnight stays of Queen Elizabeth I was Bradenham House, then the residence of Lord Windsor. The following day, her Majesty continued on to what is now called High Wycombe by way of Downley Common and Tinkers Wood. It is reported that she was accompanied by “a large party of gentlemen, because of thieves which infested these woods”. It should be noted that the present roads from Bradenhan and West Wycombe had not yet been constructed.
Begun construction in 1797, Plomer Hill House eventually became the family home of John Hicks from Plomer Hill, Bath. It was located near the bottom of the west side of what is now Plomer Hill. On the death of John Hicks in 1821, the house was rented to various personnel including Henry Wheeler, a banker and brewer from High Wycombe. Occupied by Belgium refugees in 1915, Plomer Hill House and Estate was purchased in 1931 by Alex Stacey, a local entrepeneur, who claimed to be the owner of the first motor car in High Wycombe. The house was probably demolished in the early 1960s.
Well Cottage, built in 1813, was vital to the villagers living around the common. At over 60m deep its well never dried up, even in the most severe droughts. Cottages higher in the valley had cisterns cut in the chalk and lined with brick as water tanks.
The first religious building in Downley, the Wesleyan Chapel, was very unpretentious, being only 22 feet long by 17 feet wide, and considerably lower than at present. Mr John Wright, a local preacher of independent means, residing at Flackwell Heath, lent the money for its construction. Although small, however, it was equal to the need, as at this time Downley consisted of only thirty houses. It has been enlarged on a number of occasions and the photograph shows the structure as of 1861.
As well as being the first religious building in Downley, the Wesleyan Chapel at the end of what is now Moor Street, was the first school in the village. The certified teacher, Miss Steel, taught both boys and girls, who were each charged 3d per week, for six hours of tutelage per day. It was advertised as a means of securing a cheap and efficient education for the children resident in Downley and its vicinity.
Colonel Cody was an early pioneer of manned flight and in 1908 was the first man to fly an aeroplane in Britain. In the early morning of late September he left Farnborough, planning to fly to Cambridge with his son as passenger, but experienced problems with the weather and the biplane’s compass. As a consequence he had to make an unintended landing, coming down at Mannings Field.
Downley was originally within the 1890s civil parish of West Wycombe, however, in the 1930s West Wycombe village was incorporated into the Borough of High Wycombe and the remainder of the original civil West Wycombe Parish, which included Downley, became known as West Wycombe Rural Detached Parish. As a consequence of the reorganisation of Local Government in the 1980s West Wycombe Rural Detached Parish was split into the parish of Downley Parish, and the parish of Piddington & Wheeler End.
The Mines and West Factory re-located to Princes Risborough and the site became the Mines Close and West Close housing estates.
The last pub to be built in Downley closed its doors and re-opened as a Morrison’s Local before finally changing ownership to a Co-Op store.
Government rules in the Spring of 2020 placed severe restrictions on the mixing of the public in general in an effort to reduce the incidence of Covid-19, by limiting social distancing to 2.0m. The Tesco Express at Cross Court introduced a one-way system in the store and 2.0m pavement markings. Staff also limited the number people in the store.