Loudwater, Buckinghamshire

infobox UK place
static_

static_image_caption= Loudwater sign depicting a mill that once stood there
country = England
latitude= 51.606025
longitude= -0.692297
official_name= Loudwater
population = 4,170
civil_parish= Chepping Wycombe
shire_district= Wycombe
shire_county = Buckinghamshire
region= South East England
constituency_westminster= Beaconsfield
post_town= HIGH WYCOMBE
postcode_district = HP10
postcode_area= HP
dial_code= 01494, 01628
os_grid_reference= SU905905

Loudwater is a hamlet in the parish of Chepping Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the valley to the east of the main town, on the A40 London Road.

History

The hamlet name refers to the river nearby, that also flows through High Wycombe. Its meaning is literally 'noisy water'. In manorial records in 1241 the hamlet was referred to as "La Ludewatere".The brick built St Peter's Church dates from 1788 with a gothic style chancel added in 1903 and further improvements in the last two 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.

There was once a blotting paper mill in the valley and Loudwater had its own railway station on the Wycombe Railway that opened in 1854 and closed in 1970.

Today there is little to distinguish the hamlet from the urban sprawl of High Wycombe, though it is signed along the London Road. A 1744 milestone can still be seen and there is also still a traditional village pub 'The Derehams Arms' in Derehams Lane.

Features

Loudwater is home to several retail and industrial concerns - a large Tesco supermarket, an industrial estate, a small retail park, a Brewers Fayre motel and also the office of the local newspaper, the Bucks Free Press. The M40 motorway crosses over the valley close to the village, and facilitates the eastbound only Junction 3, signposted as 'Wycombe East'.