The Rolling Pin – the mystery of the mound!

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Ever wondered what that mound surrounded by trees is?

The circular earth mound ringed by trees located in the Upper Park is known locally as the Rolling Pin. But what is it?
For many years it was thought to be a prehistoric bowl barrow and it was given a Scheduled Monument listing accordingly. It was also rumoured to be the location of Chesham’s long lost Windmill.

Others believed that the mound was the site of a seventeenth century smock mill. And yet more locals thought it may also have been used as a belvedere tower.

However, a 2012 investigation by the Chess Valley Archaeological & Historical Society (CVAHS) revealed that although it has a foundation of bricks, it was not strong enough to support a building so was maybe for a viewing platform. This then became a dumping ground for, amongst other things, 200 wine bottles C. 1800 so it is in fact a rubbish tip, albeit a rather old one!

Disappointing as this is, it’s a great place to visit. Children love to play on and around it and the view from this area of the Park extends out across Chesham town to the hills beyond and on to the Chilterns. There is a now an interpretation board nearby that tells you more about the town and surrounding area.

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Did Chesham have a Windmill?

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Lacey Green windmill is the oldest of its kind in the country. But do its origins lie here in Chesham?

Chesham windmill

Most references to the windmill at Lacey Green (picture above), near Princes Risborough, including the Chesham history books by Clive Birch and George Piggin, state categorically that it was built in 1650 at Chesham, and stood here for its first 170 years. Apparently it was dismantled and removed to Lacey Green in 1821 by order of the Duke of Buckingham. But where is the evidence for this removal?
In fact it seems that the details were first recorded in 1932 by Donald Smith in his book English Windmills – Volume 2. He also noted the numbered timbers in the tower, indicating that it was dismantled and reassembled. It is now widely recognised that all timber structures were prefabricated and often parts were numbered before their assembly.
The original site for the windmill is claimed to be the grounds of Chesham’s long-gone Bury Hill House, on a mound known locally as ‘the rolling pin’ (picture below).

The Rolling Pin

This is on the ridge at the top of Lowndes Park. The Chesham Town Picture, of c1760, shows a small structure on a mound at the top of the park (picture below). The painting uses much artistic licence, but it does look more like an architectural feature linked to the house.

A few years ago the Chess Valley Archaeological & Historical Society (CVAHS) carried out a survey of the mound as part of The Festival of British Archaeology Week. It is a scheduled monument, so only a geophysical survey using a resistivity meter (measuring moisture with electrical resistance) was allowed. CVAHS tells us that the survey results (picture below) show a circular structure 22 metres in diameter enclosed by a thin partially complete darker coloured ring. This is interpreted as a narrow ditch surrounding the mound. The mound itself is indistinctive except for an intriguing ‘D’ shaped feature on its crest. It does exhibit many of the characteristics of a bowl barrow dating from the Neolithic period to the early Bronze Age (2400 – 1500 BC). These barrows tend to be found on higher ground and it is known that many were reused for other functions, including foundations for windmills.

Why wind when we have water?

In the 19th century, Chesham had at least five watermills on the River Chess. Water power is more reliable than wind power, raising the question as to whether a windmill would have been necessary. It would also have been a major undertaking to cart the huge wooden and metal machinery over 10 miles from Chesham, but such removals certainly took place elsewhere in the country.

The windmill was dated to 1650 by leading authority Stanley Freese, based on the design features of the machinery within. This makes it the oldest surviving smock mill in England (the term derives from its resemblance to an old man wearing a smock). Freese (1902-1972) lived at South Heath, near Great Missenden, and cycled all over the UK sketching and photographing mills. Among the books that he wrote were In Search of English Windmills in 1931, and Windmills and Millwrighting in 1957.

From 1971 the windmill was restored from a state of almost total collapse by volunteers from The Chiltern Society. Michael Highfield, author of the Society’s guide to the windmill, refers to a 96-year-old lady who had lived in Lacey Green all her life and remembered being chased away from ‘Cheshums Mill’ as a child. The windmill was run by the Cheshire family from 1863 to 1915 and the Buckinghamshire dialect may have caused this confusion.

Furthermore, the will of Peter Tyler of Loosley Row, dated March 1808, strongly suggests an earlier windmill on the Lacey Green site, although in theory this could have been destroyed and replaced.
James Venn, a retired lecturer and an old friend of Stanley Freese, points out that because mills were taxed there would have been a record of its existence in Chesham.

It would appear that sadly we may no longer be able to stake a claim to this historic landmark.

This article first appeared in Chesham Towntalk No 41 Autumn/Winter 2009.
It appears here with the kind permission of the author, Peter Hawkes, of
Hawkes Design & Publishing Ltd
59a The Broadway
High Street
Chesham
Bucks
HP5 1BX
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A brief history of the park

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From the Middle Ages to the present day

At the very top of the park, near the Rolling Pin (the mound with the ring of trees) is an example of a local pudding stone, which gave the town its name. In the Middle Ages, Saxon settlers named their new hamlet Caesteles-hamm, meaning ‘the water meadow by the stone heap’, which has evolved into modern-day Chesham. Pudding stones were used in the Chilterns by Neolithic man to mark routes and important meeting places. They also form the foundations of the nearby 12th Century parish church of St. Mary.

Please take a look at our History page for more info and read on here too.

The first record of the land where the park is located is its ownership by the Sifrewast family in the 12th Century.

The Whichcotes acquired the land in the 17th Century and created the avenue (now known as the Rue de Houilles in honour of Houilles in France, with which Chesham is twinned) by planting a double row of elm trees. A mansion house, Bury Hill House, once stood in the area where the Guide Hall is now located.

William Lowndes bought the land in 1802, demolished Bury Hill House and added the land to the grounds of The Bury. The park was then let out for grazing. In 1845 the elm avenue was felled and replaced with a single row of elms. The avenue was gravelled in the 1890s.

During World War One, the park was used for training soldiers in bridge ;