HIGH TOR 



3990 



HIGH WYCOMBE 



keeper of the peace, ministerial 

 officer of the superior courts of 

 justice, and bailiff of the sovereign. 

 In modern times his duties are 

 mainly performed by an under- 

 sheriff, who is usually a solicitor, 

 and the high sheriff "is the chief 

 personage of the county who 

 receives the judges on circuit, acts 

 as returning officer at elections, 

 executes civil judgements, and sees 

 to the due carrying out of the 

 death sentence. Sheriffs hold 

 office for a year, and no man who 

 has served "can be compelled to 

 serve again within three years. See 

 County; Sheriff. 



High Tor. Hill near Matlock, 

 Derbyshire. It is on the left bank 

 of the Derwent, between Matlock 

 and Matlock Bath, and is 380 ft. 

 high. On the other side of the 

 pass, which it helps to form, are 

 the Heights of Abraham. Beneath 

 the hiJl is the High Tor grotto, 

 famous for its crystallisations. 

 See Matlock. 



High Water. Term used for 

 the normally highest limit of the 

 rise of the tide in the sea or river, 

 and for the time of such rise. High 

 water at any particular place by the 

 sea happens on the average every 

 12 hrs. 25 mins., so that it becomes 

 50 mins. later each day. Successive 

 high waters are often not of the 

 same height, and vary consider- 

 ably at different times of the year 

 according to the lie of the land. 

 High water level in rivers is usually 

 the highest flood level. See River ; 

 Tides. 



Highwayman. Name given to 

 the mounted robbers who infested 

 the public roads in England from 

 the first half of the 17th century 

 until the early 19th. In literature 

 the highwayman was a familiar 

 figure, for which Falstaff suggested 

 such poetical designations as 

 "Diana's foresters, gentlemen of 

 the shade, minions of the moon." 



Among well-known knights of the 

 road are Claude Duval (1643-1670), 

 who is remembered by the episode 

 depicted in W. F. Frith's painting, 

 where he is dancing a coranto with 

 a lady, whose husband, after pay- 

 ing 100 for the entertainment, 

 was allowed by the gallant high- 

 wayman to keep the remaining 

 300 in his bag ; and Dick Turpin 

 (1706-1739). 



To these may be added John 

 or William Nevison (1639-1684), 

 nicknamed " Swift Nicks " by 

 Charles II ; John Cottington 

 (1611-1656), called " Mulled Sack " 

 from his favourite beverage, who 

 held up the army-pay wagon on 

 Shotover Hill and decamped with 

 4,000 , Jack Rann fd. 1774), the 

 dandy highwayman, nicknamed 

 " Sixteen-String Jack " from the 



bunches of ribbons at his knees ; 

 and Louis Jeremiah Abershaw or 

 Avershawe (c. 1773-1795), com- 

 monly known as Jerry Abershaw. 



Highways. Main roads from 

 one town to another open of right 

 to all passengers. In the United 

 Kingdom every parish is bound of 

 common right to keep in repair the 

 roads that go through it. A 

 statute of Philip and Mary enacted 

 that surveyors of the highways 



High Wycombe 

 arms 



High Tor, Derbyshire, seen from the banks of the river 

 Derwent 



should be appointed by the con- 

 stable and churchwardens of the 

 parish, and another statute of 

 William IV provided for their 

 appointment by the justices if not 

 elected by the inhabitants. 



These surveyors were superseded 

 by highway boards for highway 

 districts to which the parishes in 

 the district returned way wardens ; 

 and the highway boards in turn 

 were replaced by the urban au- 

 thorities constituted in 1875. 

 Finally in 1888 the Local Govern- 

 ment Act committed the main- 

 tenance of the highways to the 

 county councils, the powers of 

 rural sanitary and highway au- 

 thorities being afterwards (1894) 

 transferred to the district councils 

 of the rural districts. See Roads. 



High Willhays. Mt. of Devon, 

 England. It is 4 m. S.W. of Oke- 

 hampton, and is the highest point 

 on Dartmoor, 2,039 ft. 



High Wood. English name for 

 a wood of France, 

 Bois des Four- ' : 

 eaux, in the dept. 

 of Somme. ] t 

 stood on a hill 1 m. 

 N.E. of Bazentin- 

 le - Grand (q.v. ), 

 and became 

 prominent in 

 the Great War. 

 British cavalry 

 penetrated it on 

 July 14, 1916, 

 and it was after- 

 wards the scene 

 of a number of 

 attacks, notably 



one by the 33rd div. on July 20. 

 On Sept. 3 the 1st div. gained 

 the German switch line running 

 through it, but lost it soon after- 

 wards. The wood was carried by 

 the 47th div. on Sept. 15. During 

 the fierce fighting the wood was 

 completely destroyed. See Somme, 

 Battles of the. 



High Wycombe OB CHIPPING 

 WYCOMBE. Mun. bor. and market 

 town of Buckinghamshire. England. 

 .... Situated in a 

 valley, at the foot 

 of the Chiltern 

 Hills, 27 m. from 

 Paddington on the 

 G. W. and G. C. 

 joint rly., its 

 parish church, 

 the largest in the 

 co., was founded 

 in the llth cen- 

 tury, has 13-1 6th 

 century remains, 

 and was restored 

 in 1893. It has 

 a monument to 

 the 1st earl of 

 Shelburne, some 

 time owner of the 

 Wycombe Abbey estate, which 

 passed by purchase to the 1st Baron 

 Carrington in 1749. Wycombe 

 Abbey school for girls is in the 

 grounds of the earl of Shelburne's 

 house. Daws Hill Lodge is a resi- 

 dence of the mar- 

 quess of Lincoln- 

 shire. Each in- 

 habitant possesses 

 grazing rights on 

 a common called 

 The Rye. 



The Little 

 Market House 

 dates from 1604, 

 the town hall from 1757. Near 

 by are Hughenden, in 1839-81 

 the home of the earl of Beaconsfield, 

 and Penn, the supposed birthplace 

 of William Penn. High Wycombe 

 is a centre of furniture-making. 

 Paper is also made. It returns one 

 member to the House of Commons. 

 Pop. (1921) 21,952. See Beacons- 

 field, Earl of. 



High Wycombe. Guildhall and market place ol the 

 Buckinghamshire town 



