The Archaeology of Downley Common was made possible with funding from the Local Heritage Initiative (LHI) and the Chilterns Conservation Board together with an army of volunteers. The project was launched in February 2005 and was completed in December 2007.

  The aim of the project was to record and trace the history of human settlement in and around this part of the Chiltern Hills from the end of the Ice Age (10,000 years ago) to the present day. However, the emphasis was on the earlier period – the Palaeolithic to Anglo-Saxon archaeology as well as the potential kiln site - thought to date from the mid-1700s. A geological survey was a necessary pre-requisite for such a study as the landscape is intimately related to the underlying geology. People have exploited the natural resources of this area, which were provided by geological processes, e.g. clays for brick-making, water and soils.

Location: Downley Common is situated northeast of High Wycombe and is part of the West Wycombe Estates. The Hughendon Estate lies to the east and it forms part of the high ground between the Hughenden and Saunderton Valleys (Figures 1.2 and 1.3 in Chapter 1). The area is a mixture of grassland, scrub and young woodland that is managed by the Downley Common Preservation Society. The Common is registered Common land, and has been in such use since Anglo-Saxon times (only becoming wooded since the 1940s).

For anyone interested in the project a book has been published entitled

  Archaeology of Downley Common: 100 million years to the present.

The book contains the full account in full colour and 100 pages.

This book is now out of print, but copies of it have been placed in various Buckinghamshire libraries.