Repairs to stop rain getting into the Market House clock tower in Princes Risborough were approved on 6 October: new lead flashing and replacement oak.
Repairs to the clock tower on top of Princes Risborough’s Market House have been given the go-ahead. Rain has been getting in through the base of the tower and rotting its oak.
Buckinghamshire Council granted listed building consent on Tuesday 6 October. The application, PL/26/06674/HB, was made by Princes Risborough Town Council, which looks after the building. Consent was needed because the Market House is listed at Grade II*, the middle of the three grades, and stands at the centre of the town’s conservation area.
The decision was made by officers, not a committee. Nobody objected, and the town council made no comment on its own application.
What has gone wrong
The town council called in a building surveyor on 10 March, after reports of water coming in through the clock tower. Battram Associates, of Tring, found a fault that goes back decades.
According to its heritage, design and access statement, the clock tower now on the roof is a replacement, added earlier in the 20th century. It sits higher than the original. When it went up, it was set on top of the old timber sill around its base, and no new lead flashing was carried under it.
That left rainwater running down the face of the tower onto applied oak blocks and beads, which have rotted. The surveyor found:
- the sill decaying on all four sides, with open gaps at the corners
- the worst damage on the south side, facing the prevailing wind, where the leak gets in
- staining down the inside of the tower and onto the historic ceiling below
- the lead roof on top of the clock housing undulating, with the boarding beneath it starting to rot from condensation
- the oak cappings at the foot of the four posts holding up the bell canopy decaying
The south side is leaking now. The surveyor said the other sides were “weathering to an imminent failure soon”.
What the repairs involve
The approved works come in three parts:
- The sill. A carpenter cuts away the rotten front of the sill on all four sides and fits new hardwood, pinned and glued to the sound timber behind. The oak blocks and beads come off, and a leadworker fits a new lead skirt around the clock housing, dressed down over the repaired sill, with a small oak drip above it.
- The roof of the clock housing. The lead cap is lifted, the boarding underneath renewed with small gaps to let it breathe, and a vent fitted in a new lead sheet.
- The posts. New oak cappings around the feet of the four posts, to keep water out of them.
The surveyor said the clock housing could not be taken down altogether, so the detail has to change slightly to stop the problem coming back.
What the council said
The council’s heritage officer had already looked at the plans before they were submitted, in pre-application advice dated 3 July. In the officer’s report, the heritage officer said the works “represent an appropriate conservation-led approach” and “reflect best conservation practice”.
The report found no harm to the building or to the conservation area. It said the repairs deliver “a clear public benefit” by safeguarding “a highly significant and widely appreciated historic building for future generations”. Historic England was consulted and chose not to comment.
The consent comes with three conditions:
- work must start within three years
- outside materials must match those in the application
- any new or disturbed work must be finished in matching materials
A building with a long history
The Market House stands in the old market square at the heart of the town. The town council’s history page says John Grubb restored and enlarged it in 1824. The surveyor’s statement adds that it was substantially restored again in 1867.
The listing describes a square, two-storey red brick building with arches on the ground floor, a hipped slate roof and a timber clock turret with a bell-cote and weather vane. The war memorial is on its south side.
This is not the first repair job. Its planning history includes a new iron staircase approved in 2016 and structural reinforcement of the roof in 2017.
What it means for you
The clock tower is the most recognisable thing in the middle of Princes Risborough, and this is the repair that keeps it there. Approval now means the leak can be dealt with before the other three sides fail and the damage spreads into the building.
The town council has not published a start date or a cost for the work. The surveyor’s specification, written in July, said scaffolding had already been erected for the contractors. Expect work at roof level on the Market House when it goes ahead. We will add the timing when it is published.
For other applications in the town, see High Wycombe planning news, which covers Princes Risborough.
Sources
- Planning register entry for PL/26/06674/HB, Buckinghamshire Council, checked on 14 October 2026, for the proposal, the applicant, the validation date and the decision issued on 6 October 2026.
- Documents for PL/26/06674/HB, Buckinghamshire Council: the delegated case officer report of 6 October 2026, for the heritage officer’s view, Historic England’s response, the representations, the planning history and the conditions; the heritage, design and access statement by Battram Associates, July 2026, for the surveyor’s findings, the cause of the leak, the building’s history and the three areas of work; and the heritage pre-application advice of 3 July 2026.
- Buildings and Market House, Princes Risborough Town Council, for John Grubb’s 1824 restoration.
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