The Gables: Looking back at the grand mansion that stood in High Wycombe town centre

It was seen necessary to do this for two reasons: to re-route through-traffic in order to overcome Wycombe’s reputation as the Town That Nearly Died of Traffic; and to remove the slum areas which existed, particularly in the western sector of the town centre.

The area known as Newlands, then slums, now the site of the Eden Shopping Mall, was undoubtedly top of the list.

But next on that list seems to have been St Mary Street. This was not the road we now know as St Mary Street, but a much longer and grander street that ran from the bottom of Marlow Hill all the way to the southern end of Pauls Row, a distance of some 200 metres.

The buildings either side of the street were not dilapidated, but included a mansion, The Gables, and St Mary’s Cottage.

This week we take a look at The Gables. If any readers remember visiting the building when it was used as a Health Clinic, then by the YMCA, I would love to hear from you, email me at deweymiked@aol.com, or phone 01494 755070.

Here we are looking north along St Mary’s St from the bottom of Marlow Hill in May 1960. In the left foreground we can see that the demolition of St Mary’s Cottage on the corner with Queen Alexandra Rd has already started, with most of the rest of the street destined to follow shortly afterwards:

The Gables

This picture shows the mansion The Gables, and to its right the entrance to Lily’s Walk, June 1959. The Technical College towers over these buildings in St Mary’s St. In the 1930 and 40s The Gables was used as a Health Clinic, then by the YMCA:

The Gables

A marble fireplace-surround in one of the rooms in The Gables shortly before the building was demolished, 1960:

The Gables

The staircase in The Gables shortly before the building was demolished, 1960:

The Gables

A Sunday School outing group are assembled for this photograph in the garden behind The Gables, c.1900: