The old buildings of the town are disappearing, but in the centre stands the Market-house, with the Guildhall above, built by the Earl of Shelburne in 1757. We shall go up into the Council Chamber to look at the portraits of Philip the "Good" Lord Wharton, and of his wife, Jane Goodwin. There is also a portrait of Henry, their fourth son, after Vandyke. Thus, the Whartons, we see, were not only connected with Wooburn, but with Wycombe as well. The octagonal building adjoining was erected a few years later.

The church, which also stands in the centre of the town, is a large and handsome specimen, chiefly of the work of the Decorated period. It is, in fact, one of the show churches of the county. There was first a Norman church, of which, however, only a few stones remain, but the rebuildings have, it seems, always been on the same lines. Then there followed an Early English church, to which belonged the arch of the north chapel, and some of the windows which we can still see. We can trace on the outside the gables of this building. To this period also belongs the beautiful south porch. Next a Decorated nave was built, and a clerestory was added. The central tower was also taken down about this period. The transepts of the cruciform building can only

be made out from the exterior. In Tudor times the tower at the west end was built by Richard Messenger, the then Vicar, who was the friend of Cardinal Wolsey, and was his clerk of the works at the building of Christ Church, Oxford. The openings at the extreme end of the north aisle were evidently a con

nection with some building which once stood in the churchyard. Lastly, Lord Shelburne also tried his hand at church building, and added the pinnacles of the tower in the last century. The church was carefully restored under the direction of George Edmund Street. In the north chapel is a huge monument, by Schee

macher, to Henry, Earl of Shelburne. It represents the Earl, his wife, his son, his two daughters, and his son's wife, all of whom died. before him. The son is represented in the costume of a Roman soldier. Possibly many will prefer the monument, by Carlini, on the south side of the church, to other members of the Petty family.

In the centre of the great Shelburne monument is a medallion of Sir William Petty, the founder of the family. He was the son of a clothier at Romsey, where he is buried. He was born in 1623, and studied medicine at Leyden and Paris, and became Professor of Anatomy, besides being also Gresham Professor of Music. In 1652 he went to Ireland in the double capacity of Physician to the Army, and Secretary to Henry Cromwell, then the Lieutenant-Governor of that island. Sir William died, very wealthy, in 1687, and his son purchased the manor of High Wycombe in 1700, from Thomas Archdale, having been created Baron Shelburne the previous year. He resided at Loakes House, or, as it is now called, Wycombe Abbey, and became Earl Shelburne in 1709. But the most famous descendant of Sir William was William, the third Earl Shelburne, a well-known statesman of the last century. He was born in 1737, and in

early life served in the army and was present at the battle of Minden. He was a follower of the Earl of Chatham, and in 1782, on the death of Lord Rockingham, himself formed an administration, though he was only in office for a few months. But a good deal happened during those few months, for it was then that Lord Howe kept the French and Spanish fleets in check, and finally sailed to the relief of Gibraltar, where General Elliot had been holding out for so long and with such courage against far superior forces. It was also at this time that the Royal George sank at Spithead, an event which caused remarkable sensation. Moreover, William Pitt first held office under Lord Shelburne. The latter continued to reside at Loakes, and was frequently visited there by Dr. Johnson. In 1784 he was created Marquis of Landsdowne, and in 1798 he sold his Wycombe property and the house to Lord Carrington. He died in 1805, and is buried in the north chapel of the church near the great family monument; but there is nothing whatever to mark his grave.

Lord Carrington pulled down Loakes House, and it was rebuilt by Wyatt. Why, or how it came to be called The Abbey, is a difficult question to answer. The same thing may be said of another house in the town, which is

called The Priory, apparently for no reason whatever.

The Grammar School, which stands in the High Street, has also been rebuilt, but a few of the arches and piers of the chapel of the Hospital of St. John, which formed the original school, are still left standing in the grounds. Edmund Waller, the poet, was a schoolboy here in early days, though he was afterwards at Eton.

There was another educational establishment here in the last century, a military training school, which, like the one at Marlow, is now merged in the College at Sandhurst. This establishment occupied the house to the north-west of the church, which now contains the free library.

There is one other local celebrity whom we must not fail to remember at Wycombe. Sir Edmund Verney, of Claydon House, who fell at Edgehill with the royal standard in his hand, sat for this borough in the early days of the Long Parliament.

About two miles north of Wycombe, in a lovely valley, stands Hughenden. The older name of Hitchenden has been almost lost. In a pretty park which slopes down to the little stream, a feeder of the Wyck, stand Hughenden Manor, for many years the residence of Lord