Loudwater is a village in the parish of

Chepping Wycombe Chepping Wycombe is a civil parish in the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. The parish includes the three large villages of Tylers Green, Loudwater, and Flackwell Heath. The central part of the parish comprises extensive business a ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, England. It is located in the valley to the east of

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

, on the A40 London Road.

History

The village name refers to the

River Wye The River Wye (; ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn Estuary. The lower reaches of the river forms part of Wales-England bor ...

nearby, that also flows through

. In

manorial Manorialism, also known as seigneurialism, the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, ...

records in 1241 the village was referred to as ''La Ludewatere''. The brick built St Peter's Church dates from 1788 with a gothic style

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

added in 1903 and further improvements in recent years, including new windows. On the London Road there is a Victorian mansion called Burleighfield House that was once the studio of the stained glass designer

Patrick Reyntiens Nicholas Patrick Reyntiens OBE (; 11 December 1925 – 25 October 2021) was a British stained-glass artist, described as "the leading practitioner of stained glass in this country." Personal life Reyntiens was born in December 1925 at 68 Cad ...

. There was once a

blotting paper Blotting paper is a highly absorbent type of paper used to absorb ink or oil from writing material, particularly when quills or fountain pens were popular. It could also be used in testing how much oil is present in products. Blotting paper ...

mill in the valley and Loudwater had its own railway station on the

Wycombe Railway The Wycombe Railway was a British railway between and that connected with the Great Western Railway at both ends; there was one branch, to . History The Wycombe Railway Company was incorporated by an act of Parliament, the ( 9 & 10 Vict. ...

that opened in 1854 and closed in 1970. Today there is little to distinguish the village from the

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...

of High Wycombe, though it is signed along the London Road. A 1744

milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway, railway line, canal or border, boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks like Mileage sign, mileage signs; or they c ...

can still be seen and there is also still a traditional village pub 'The Derehams Inn' in Derehams Lane. The Derehams Inn closed in 2021. However, there is an active Community Group trying to save it from residential development.

Features

Loudwater is home to several retail and industrial concerns - a large

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

supermarket, an industrial estate, a small retail park, a

Brewers Fayre Brewers Fayre is a Alcohol_licensing_laws_of_the_United_Kingdom#On-licence, licensed pub restaurant chain, with 161 locations across the UK as of August 2018. Owned by Whitbread, Brewers Fayre restaurants are known for serving traditional Brit ...

motel A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the Parking lot, parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central Lobby (room), lo ...

and also the office of the local newspaper, the

Bucks Free Press The ''Bucks Free Press'' is a weekly local newspaper, published every Friday and covering the area surrounding High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. It was first published on 19 December 1856. It covers news for south Buckinghamshire—focusi ...

. The

M40 motorway The M40 motorway links London, Oxford, and Birmingham in England, a distance of approximately . The motorway is dual three lanes except for junction 1A to junction 3 (which is dual four lanes) a short section in-between the exit and entry hig ...

crosses over the valley close to the village, and facilitates the eastbound only Junction 3, signposted as 'Wycombe East'. Loudwater was once served by the High Wycombe to Bourne End railway line, the station being situated at the bottom of Treadaway Hill. The line and station closed in 1970, the old railway path can still be walked through Fennel Wood. Loudwater is known as the Headquarters of Dreams Beds,

Costa Coffee Costa Limited, trading as Costa Coffee, is a coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Loudwater, Buckinghamshire, England, that operates in the United Kingdom and 37 other countries. Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa (co ...

and Fonehouse. Loudwater has a primary school called Loudwater Combined School, located on Kingsmead Road.

External links

Flackwell Heath and Loudwater Local History Group
{{Wycombe Hamlets in Buckinghamshire High Wycombe