High St. Nos. 52 & 52a
This building could be medieval in origin and is timber framed but strangely in the deeds of 1659 for number 50 High Street, there is no building between it and the White Hart Inn. It has a late 18th or early 19th century painted brick front and this façade continues over the adjoining house No, 50. The roof is plain tile and there is a band above the first floor windows. The door openings are 19th century. The gates to the back yard at the south end remain and some exposed timbers can be seen.
There was a house in existence by 1671, owned by Seth Field and lived in by Francis Peddal, other inhabitants at this time include John Squire (1677), Rebecca Hill (1686) and John Hill (1701). It appears to have become an inn called "Tom of Bedlam" in the 1750’s. From 1773 until 1789, the Hill family appears to have returned to run it. In the 19th century, occupiers included John Marshall (1797-1825) William Marshall (1825-1834). It seems to have been the inn with the lowest tax assessment but was playing an important part in village life being, in 1809, 1836 and 1838 the registered address for the village Friendly Societies. The Pratt family ran the inn from 1870 until about 1900. In 1909 the inn and the cottage next door were bought for £586 by the Chesham Brewery Company. According to the sale documents the purchase consisted of a tap room, bar, cellar kitchen, lobby, two bedrooms, the way into the back yard was gated (as now) and contained a large cart shed stabling for two horses, a barn, earth closet and urinal. By 1933 the premises closed as an inn and became shops – a greengrocer’s and a shoe repairers (later a betting shop)
