This Image shows the area to the West of Donkey (Keens) Lane along to the Cement Works as it was in 1948. The Building on the extreme Right on the Ancient Icknield Way immediately above the Cement Works is Icknield Hatch, the Home of William Benton who Founded the Works. This has long been Demolished & Subsumed into the Quarry that now occupies virtually the whole of this Area South of the Icknield Way & West of Hill Road. At the time of this photo the only Quarries in Operation were those on the North side of the Icknield Way. There remains a set of Steps up the Wooded Section of the Quarry Face just below Icknield Hatch that once provided Direct Access from the House into into the Works Site. Just along from this is the Tunnel that now connects the Quarries on both sides of the Icknield Way (not accessible to the Public). The Eastern End of the Cement Works & what appear to be the “Hot” end of 2-Rotary Kilns is shown clearly, as is the Line of the original 5 Brick-Built Kilns. One of these Kilns has been Preserved within the Old Kiln Lakes Housing Development on the old Cement Works Site & is now a Listed Industrial Relic. Westdown Farm is obvious at the bottom of the Triangular Field between the Upper Icknield Way & the Hill although the Building has now been extended significantly. Above it, alongside Hill Road, the small white area is the site of the largest of the old Chalk Pits on Hill Road. It still exists, albeit now largely covered with Scrub. There is a number of old Chalk Pits scattered across the Hill: Chalk was widely used to make an early form of Cement & to condition. Flint, which occurs widely distributed in the Chalk, has been used over the years to make Road Beds. Submerged In the Woods to the Southeast of the Chalk Pit is another of the Iron Age Round Barrows, now on Private Land. Just discernible running from above the Chalk Pit and to the right of the Dominant Circular Garden feature at the Top Centre of the Photo is the Line of the Path running from the top of Westdown Steps (100 steps) alongside the House with the Circular Feature, to the corner of Hill Top Lane.
The Line of Hill Road can be seen sweeping round to the South West, together with what appear s to be a Track running below this that may well be the Line of the Old Hill Road before it was re-positioned & re-Laid in the late-19thC. The Houses lower down on the opposite side of Hill Road, just before the Icknield Way, still exist relatively unchanged: these are Hillside (was Carlton House) & Hillfoot Cottage.
The Higher Level areas of Chinnor Hill above the Icknield Way on both sides of Hill Road contain a number of very Large Houses with extensive Gounds, with most of those on the East side accessed from Hilltop Lane or Hill Road beyond the Goose Neck. The almost Square Site of the Rec on the East side of Hill Road North of the Icknield Way stands out as do the Houses on one side – the North Side – of Wykeham Rise (Left before Roundabout). The South Side of Wykeham Rise together with most of the land up to the Rec has since been Developed, mainly as the Golden Hills Estate, although there is still an undeveloped space between these Houses & the Rec. Just North of the Railway on the West side below the Station can just be seen the Houses of Meadow Road & part of the Old Siary’s Woodyard – now also Housing. The Wooded area at the bottom Centre below Wykeham Rise has now been Built on a later Extension to the Avenue Estate & the Land from Hill Road (now Station Road at this point) Westward has now been almost totally re-Developed as Housing along to Oakley. The Old Cement Works Access Road has now been relocated to a point further up Hill Road and the Car Park for the Heritage Railway now occupies the position on the Corner by the Railway Bridge. Chinnor Station & the Station Approach Road are clearly shown with the Approach Road extending well past the Station. Crossing diagonally behind the Houses in Meadow Road to a point on the Railway just beyond the Station is the old Rail Connection into Siarey’s Wood Yard. This has now Gone although a small part of the Line remains Visible, Embedded in Meadow Road fairly Close to the old Station Access Road.
Aerial photo taken about 1948 & shows the area to the East of Donkey (Keen) Lane, across to Wainhill & almost to the Old Leather Bottle Pub on the Upper Icknield Way (Ridgeway) near Wainhill.
Chinnor Hill West of Keens Lane
Chinnor Hill East of Keens Lane
The Aerial Shot does completely “Flatten” the Hill & you have to use imagination to realise that the Top-Half of the Photo is a Scarp Slope rising several 100-ft from the relatively Flat Fields below. The Open Aarea with the Diagonal Hedgeline at the top of the photo is, in fact, on the Plateau area at the Top of the Hill & well into Bucks. The Plain is the partially scrub-covered area immediately below this. Over the years the amount of Scrub on the Plain has varied and, in recent years, only Vegetation clearance by BBOWT (Bucks, Berks & Oxon Wildlife Trust) Volunteers has kept it as Open as it is. Discernible on the Plain is a clear Track across the Top of the Hill & as a Whitish mark on the Grassland adjacent, are the Sites of Iron Age (or earlier) “Bowl” Barrows. These 2-Iron-age Burial Sites are in close proximity to each other and are Scheduled Ancient Monuments (Ref:1016067). Today they are covered in Scrub and look more like little Copses than Earth Mounds but they can still easily be found. They have been Excavated in the past & have been “Robbed Out” (to use an Archaeological Colloquialism) over the Centuries. There is a 3rd Barrow located in the Woods to the North of Hilltop Lane that is on Private Land and is much less easily accessible.
Bowl Barrows, the most numerous form of Round Barrow, are Funerary Monuments dating from the Late Neolithic Period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the Period 2400-1500 BC. They were Constructed as Earthen or Rubble Mounds, sometimes Ditched, which covered Single or Multiple Burials. They occur either in Isolation or Grouped as Cemeteries and often acted as a Focus for Burials in Later Periods. Often superficially similar, although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form and a diversity of Burial Practices. There are over 10,000 surviving Bowl Barrows Recorded Nationally (many more have already been Destroyed), occurring across most of Lowland Britain. Often occupying Prominent Locations, they are a major Historic Element in the Modern Landscape and their considerable variation of Form & Longevity as a Monument Type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs & social organisations amongst early Prehistoric Communities. They are particularly representative of their Period & a substantial Proportion of Surviving examples are considered worthy of Protection.
The 3-Bowl Barrows on Chinnor Hill form part of a Group of 4-Barrows which run along the top of the Hillslope overlooking the Ancient Icknield Way. They Survive well & are known from part Excavation to contain Archaeological Evidence relating to their Construction, the Landscape in which they were built & their later use & significance in the Anglo-Saxon Period. The Monument, which falls into 2-Areas, includes a Single Bowl Barrow & a Pair of Bowl Barrows situated in a South West to North East Line on Chinnor Hill. The Barrows Lie on a North Rest facing Slope, overlooking the Upper Icknield Way and the Lower Icknield Way, between Chinnor & Bledlow. They are part of a larger group of 4 with the other lying further North East in Buckinghamshire. This is the subject of a separate Scheduling (SM 19046). The Single Barrow lies 430M south west of the Pair. It has a 20M dia Mound which stands up to 2m high on its Downslope (North West) side. Surrounding this, but now partly infilled, is a 2M wide Quarry Ditch from which material was obtained during the Construction of the Mound. This is still visible on the Uphill side of the Barrow. The Pair of Barrows both have Central Mounds measuring between 23M & 24M in dia. They both stand up to 1.2m High. The Barrow Mounds are surrounded by partly infilled Quarry Ditches which run together, forming a Figure of 8 in Plan. These measure c.1.5M wide and are visible as low depressions c.0.3M Deep. All 3-Barrow mounds have Circular indentations on their Summits which show the location of Shafts Dug by 19thC Antiquarian Investigators. Finds of Bronze Age & Iron Age Pottery & Flint Artefacts have been made in the Vicinity and a Labourer digging on the 2-Barrows in 1899 found a Secondary Anglo-Saxon Inhumation Burial. This had been cut into the Mound and was accompanied by Spear Heads & a Bronze Chape. The Burial probably belonged to a small Settlement, situated between & to the North of the Pair of Barrows. This Settlement was excavated in 1947, revealing it to be a small Anglo-Saxon Homestead.
The entire Chiltern ridge is scattered with Barrows, Hillforts and other Ancient Monuments of which Chinnor’s examples are but a few. Many are within easy access of the Ridgeway Path. The line of the Upper Icknield Way is clear across the centre of the photo as is the Holloway (“Blood Valley”) descending Diagonally across the Steepest part of the Hillside from the Top Right corner to the Centre, then crossing the Icknield Way towards Wainhill. Within the area sandwiched between the 2-Tracks at the Base of the Hill are the remains of old Chalk Pits. Bledlow Cross can be seen quite clearly in the left centre of the photo & although it still exists, it is no longer in an Open Area & is now fully obscured by trees.
Its origins lie in the mists of time but it is one of 4-Scheduled Ancient Monuments on this part of the Hill. It is, in fact, just in Bucks by about 100M as the County boundary runs down the Sunken way towards Bledlow Village. Slightly less discernible is a 2nd sunken way descending from the Plain at the top left and running just beneath the Bledlow Cross. The buildings at Stepping Hill (Stepping Hill & Greenways) are visible on the Icknield Way where it joins Donkey (Keens) Lane, together with other Buildings about 100–200M further East. These latter have now gone but the land between them and Stepping Hill became the Site of the Stepping Hill Field Residential Caravan Site that post-dated this photo. Although today, a Path runs from Donkey (Keens) Lane past Stepping Hill & Veers West along the Hedgeline, the photo shows a Gap in the Trees running directly up the Hill. This was the old Footpath to the Top of the Hill (this area was known locally as the Horseshoe) & extremely steep. It was a scary Toboggan Run in the Winter!
Closer to the Village, Buildings can be seen on both sides of Donkey (Keens) Lane North & South of the Railway and beside the wooded area. All have now disappeared although the Wooded area south of the Railway is the old orchard that is currently being renovated and researched by the Donkey Lane Community Orchard group. The line of the Breach can be seen running south of, and parallel to, the railway across to Wainhill and, vaguely discernible at the junction of the Breach and Donkey Lane is a Line heading Diagonally across the large Field toward the Junction of the Icknield Way and the Sunken Way. This is across Private Land and is not a Public Footpath but the Land may have retained the “Memory” of the Line of an old Track shown on the pre-enclosure Map of 1854. The Hamlet of Wainhill remains largely unchanged other than for some infill of Buildings (mostly quite large) along the Llength of the Lane up to the Icknield Way.
Secrets of the Chinnor Hills
It would be easy just to take for Granted the Chiltern Hills above Chinnor, but they still contain a host of Ancient, hidden features tucked away out of sight. These range from sunken ways, old chalk pits, the old Westdown Steps
and artefacts like Bledlow Cross lower down the slope. The hills are now much more densely wooded than at most times in the last couple of hundred years, more areas are fenced off as private land and many of the ground features have now become completely hidden from view.
Old chalk pits
There are numerous old chalk pits scattered across the hills, most now overgrown and hidden in the trees, but quite often close to the sunken ways. Before the 20th century and the development of mechanisation with the cement works, chalk was extracted widely and, amongst other things, was
used to make an early form of cement and to condition soil. Flint, which occurs widely distributed in the chalk, has also been “mined” over the years and used to make road beds. There are 3 old chalk pits on Hill Road, another on the Gooseneck (The Stone Ground), another on the Plain at the top of
the sunken way to Wainhill and more beside the Upper Icknield Way where the path drops to Wainhill. Most are really only now identifiable as depressions in the ground with one or more steep side. In addition, many more smaller examples can be identified on the old maps. Westdown Steps/100 Steps/Jacobs ladder Much of the area on the hill on both sides of Hill Road is private and inaccessible to the public although there is one particular footpath, accessed by a series of steps originally called Westdown Step, but now known locally as the “100 steps” or ”Jacob’s Ladder”. The steps and footpath start from a point on Hill Road just above the chalk pit and opposite the old Chinnor Hill Kennels site, and the path runs through a section of sunken way to emerge at the corner of Hilltop Lane and Red Lane. This certainly serves to cut off the Goose Neck corner for walkers but is still a very steep climb. The steps certainly existed at the turn of the 20th century and are still in fairly good condition to this
day, although their exact origin is obscure. Bledlow Cross Bledlow Cross is very obvious from old photos of the hills but, although it still exists, it has become
grassed over and is now fully obscured by trees. Its origins lie in the mists of time but it is one of four Scheduled Ancient Monuments on “our” part of the hill. It is, in fact, just in Buckinghamshire by about 100m as the County boundary runs down the sunken way towards Bledlow village. It is a simple, but sizeable, square chalk cross, measuring about 70ft (23m) from end to end, and has been scraped out of the hillside to expose the white chalk. There are suggestions that cleaning (or “scouring”) over the years, means that it is now about twice as big as it was in 1827. From past photographs it was obviously maintained on a regular basis and was clearly designed to be a prominent white mark on the Hillside. This possibly marked an access Route up to the Barrows on the Ridge, but it has obviously now been neglected for quite a long time. It is still fairly easily accessible from the holloway near the Old Leather Bottle on the Icknield Way although now almost invisible until you are on top of it.
Maurice Pullen
Aston Rowant & Chilterns Spring Line Villages 