WYCOMBE, or CHIPPING-WYCOMBE (HIGH), a borough and market-town and parish, in the hundred of DESBOROUGH, county of BUCKINGHAM, 31 miles (S. S. E.) from Buckingham, and 29 (W. by N.) from London, containing 5599 inhabitants, of which number, 2864 are in the borough. This place, which is evidently of great antiquity, is by some supposed to have been occupied by the Romans. In the vicinity a tesselated pavement, nine feet square, was discovered in 1774; and among the numerous Roman coins that have been found were some of Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, and other Roman emperors. Of its occupation by the Saxons, the prefix to its name, "Cheaping," signifying a market, is an evident proof; and in the immediate neighbourhood of the town are the remains of a strong double intrenchment, called Desborough Castle, which was probably thrown up by that people to check the progress of the Danes. The only historical event connected with the place is a successful attack on the parliamentary troops quartered here, by Prince Rupert, after the battle of Reading. The town is pleasantly situated on a fine rivulet, called the Wycombe stream, which, after winding through the adjoining meadows, flows into the Thames below Marlow; it consists of one principal street, on the high road from London to Oxford, from which some smaller streets branch off in various directions. The houses are in general well built; many of them are spacious and handsome, and the town has a prepossessing appearance of cheerfulness and great respectability. On each side are some hills, richly wooded; the environs abound with pleasingly varied scenery, and the surrounding district is luxuriantly fertile, and in the highest state of cultivation. The manufacture of paper is carried on to a very considerable extent, for which there are not less than twelve mills on the banks of Wycombe stream, besides six flour-mills. That of lace affords employment to several of the inhabitants, and chairs are made in great numbers: there is a considerable trade in malt, and the town derives a great degree of traffic from its situation, being on the road to Bath, Bristol, &c. The market, which is extensively supplied with corn, is on Friday; and a fair is annually held on the Monday next before Michaelmas-day, which is also a statute fair. Wycombe, though governed by a mayor in the reign of Edward III., received its first regular charter of incorporation from Henry VI., which was confirmed and extended in the reigns of Elizabeth, James I., and Charles II., and vests the government in a mayor, recorder, two bailiffs, twelve aldermen, and an indefinite number of burgesses, assisted by a town clerk and other officers. The corporation hold occasional sessions for all offences not capital; and under their charter they have power to hold a court of record, for the re- covery of debts under £40, but no process has issued from it within the last fifty years. The town hall, erected in 1757, at the expense of the Earl of Shelburne, is a commodious and neat structure of brick, supported on stone pillars, and is well adapted to the business of the sessions, to the holding of public meetings, and to the uses of the corporation. The borough prison is a small, but well-arranged, building, capable of accommodating twelve prisoners; it is divided into four wards for their classification. The borough first exercised the elective franchise in the 28th of Edward I., since which time it has continued to return two members to parliament: the right of election is vested in the mayor, bailiffs, and burgesses not receiving alms; the mayor is the returning officer. ' The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Buckingham, and diocese of Lincoln, rated in the king's books at £23. 17. 1., endowed with £1000 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Marquis of Lansdowne. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is an ancient and venerable structure, in the early style of English architecture, with a square embattled tower, which has been subsequently ornamented and crowned with pinnacles. The interior consists of a nave, aisles, and chancel, the last of which is separated from the nave by an ancient oak screen: it contains several ancient and interesting monuments, among which are, one to the-memory of Henry Petty, Earl of Shelburne, who died in 1751; one to the lady of the late earl, and several to the families of Archdale, Llewellyn, and Bradshaw. There are two places of worship for Independents, and one each for Baptists and the Society of Friends. An ancient hospital for lepers, dedicated to St. Margaret and St. Giles, and another, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, for a master, brethren, and sisters, were founded here in the reign of Henry III.; the latter was granted by Elizabeth to the mayor and corporation, and the endowment, augmented by Mr. Bowden, who in 1790 gave £1000 to be vested in the funds, producing at present about £180 per annum, is appropriated to the maintenance of a grammar school, and an almshouse for eight aged widows. The master of the school receives a salary of £60 per annum, and has a house, garden, and an orchard of two acres; and the residue of the income is divided among the widows. A Lancasterian school for girls is supported by subscription; and there are several charitable bequests for distribution among the poor. Previously to the completion of the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, a department of that institution was established at Wycombe, which was, in 1802, removed to Great Marlow. Dr. Gamble, who wrote the Life of General Monk, and is supposed to have assisted him in effecting the restoration of Charles II., was vicar of this parish. The learned William Alley, Bishop of Exeter, and one of the translators of the Bible, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; and Charles Butler, author of a Treatise on Rhetoric, and other works, were natives of this town. Wycombe gives the titles of earl and baron to the Marquis of Lansdowne.