England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Penn Holy Trinity

The Parish

The parish of Penn lies in southern Buckinghamshire not too far from its border with neighbouring Berkshire. Penn is located roughly 3 miles east of the industrial town of High Wycombe and stands on the B474, a linking road joining Beaconsfield with the A404 (High Wycombe to Amersham) road. Penn is something of a dispersed settlement, the main village is a straggle of properties along the B474 but the wider parish includes the much developed suburb of High Wycombe, Tyler's Green and small hamlets/villages in Penn Street, Winchmore Hill and Knotty Green. The parish sits on the southern edges of the Chiltern Hills, an area known for its extensive beech forests which serviced the local furniture making trade that once dominated High Wycombe. Penn's economy would have thus been a mixture of forest management together with normal southern arable farming tempered with patches of sheep pastures. Today this is a prosperous and picturesque part of the country with house prices matching its desirability and easy access to the capital. Such is the expansion of High Wycombe and Beaconsfield that they are almost contiguous with Penn. Sitting on porous strata there is very little surface drainage in Penn, most water makes its way sub-surface to the nearby River Wye and thus to the Thames to the south, after passing through London the North Sea is reached through the Thames' estuary. Penn has a hill-top location at around 160 metres above the sea, it is over-topped to the northeast where 170 metres is reached at nearby Coleshill but otherwise is the highest ground hereabouts. Penn pariah was extensive, at almost 3,900 acres it was twice the size of a normal southern rural parish, within its extensive coverage it would have supported a population of around 1,050 parishioners. Penn is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

Holy Trinity church sits on the southern side of the B474, here designated Church Road, at the junction with Pauls Hill. The church is a mixture of the later medieval styles of Decorated and Perpendicular together with the changes wrought by the usual later interventions, these came earlier than is normal and pre-date the usual Victorian work. The earliest portion of the church is the short western tower from the early 14th century and Decorated in style, a hark back to earlier times can be seen in its lancet window on the western face. Also from a similar period is the southern aisle arcade, here Pevsner alludes to it being made by breaking through a pre-existing wall of indeterminate date, perhaps genuinely Early English Gothic. Much else from the western end of the church was essentially complete by the turn of 14th into 15th century. The eastern end, including chancel, chancel arch and southern chapel all were rebuilt during the 18th century, an inscription carrying the initials of Sir Nathaniel Curzon who became lord of the manor in 1735 are indicative of the exact time this work was initiated. Victorian work of the 18th century is limited to the knapped flint east wall which was completed at that time. The 3 dormer-style windows  are 20th century embellishments. Pauls Hill is the quieter road for street parking and a small wooden gate grants access from the eastern side, a more formal lychgate graces Church Road as the main entry point. Once within there are few obstacles for the photographer, merely a tree at southwestern corner allowing unfettered angles.