An American Trail Through South Bucks

2025-12-08T08:28:48Z

Written by Willie from High Wycombe Society for The Bucks Guide

Where the Idea Began

When our treasurer, Steve Strutt, mentioned that a quarter of visitors to the High Wycombe Society website were from the United States, it sparked an unexpected curiosity. What were Americans hoping to discover here? Shortly afterwards, fellow trustee Tony Mealing returned from Ireland having seen an established “American Trail” there, and the idea took shape: could South Buckinghamshire offer something similar?

Early Transatlantic Links in High Wycombe

Having led historical walks around High Wycombe for almost a decade, it was clear that the American story was already woven into the area.

One of the earliest links lies with William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Prime Minister in 1782–83, who lived for a time at Loakes Manor (now Wycombe Abbey). He played a key role in drafting the Treaty of Paris, through which Great Britain formally recognised the United States as a sovereign nation.

In a striking historical contrast, Wycombe Abbey later became the wartime base of the United States Eighth Air Force Bomber Command in 1942. Working alongside RAF Bomber Command at Naphill, it helped secure Britain’s freedom and played a decisive part in the Allied victory during the Second World War. Even the High Wycombe furniture industry carries its own transatlantic connections.

Benjamin Franklin and West Wycombe

No American trail would be complete without Benjamin Franklin. As London representative for the Pennsylvanian Assembly, and later American Minister to France, Franklin was also closely involved in the Treaty of Paris. Author, inventor, diplomat and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, he was a close friend of Sir Francis Dashwood and a frequent visitor to West Wycombe Park, which he famously described as “Paradise”.

William Penn and the Quaker Legacy

Living in this part of the country, it is impossible not to encounter the name William Penn and the Quaker Meeting House at Jordans, dating back to 1688. Penn was the guiding force behind the founding of Pennsylvania.

In 1672, he married Gulielma Springett at King John’s Farm in Chorleywood, where the house — and even the room where the ceremony took place — remains largely unchanged. For the next five years, the couple lived at what is now Basing House in Rickmansworth, today the site of the Three Rivers Museum, where information about Penn can still be found.

Penn’s “Holy Experiment” in Pennsylvania, grounded in religious tolerance and civic virtue, was shaped by principles he had developed here in Buckinghamshire — ideas that would later influence the United States Constitution. Nearby, the Pennsylvanian pub in the High Street offers further insight into the life of this remarkable Quaker. Penn died in 1718 and is buried at Jordans alongside his two wives and several of his children.

His legacy is also commemorated in a stained-glass window in the Oak Room of High Wycombe Town Hall.

Two Williams at the Heart of the Story

By this point, the idea of an American Trail felt not only possible, but compelling. Remarkably, it would centre around two almost identical names: William Penn and William Petty.

A Trail for a Significant Anniversary

The timing could not be more fitting. With the United States preparing to mark 250 years since the Declaration of Independence in 1776, many Americans may feel drawn to explore their historical links with what was once the ‘mother country’.

The Route

The American Trail runs for approximately 18 miles, beginning in Rickmansworth, continuing to King John’s Farm in Chorleywood and on to Jordans, before moving through High Wycombe and finishing at West Wycombe.

Click here to learn more about the walk

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