Chesham
Encyclopedia
Chesham is a market town
in the Chiltern Hills
, Buckinghamshire
, England
. It is located 11 miles south-east of the county town of Aylesbury
. Chesham is also a civil parish designated a town council
within Chiltern district
. It is situated in the Chess Valley
and surrounded by farmland, as well as being bordered on one side by Amersham
and Chesham Bois
. The earliest records of Chesham as a settlement are from the second half of the 10th century although there is archaeological evidence of people in the area from around 8000 BC.
The town is known for its four Bs, usually quoted as:- boot
s, beer
, brush
es and Baptists. Chesham's prosperity grew significantly during the 18th and 19th centuries with the development of manufacturing industry.
In the face of fierce competition from both home and abroad all these traditional industries rapidly declined. The ready availability of skilled labour encouraged new industries to the town both before and after the end of the Second World War. Today employment in the town is provided by mainly small business engaged in light industry, technology and professional services.
From the early part of the 20th century onwards there has been a considerable expansion of the town with new housing developments and civic infrastructure. Increasingly Chesham has also become a commuter town
with improved connection to London
via the Underground
and road networks. The town centre has been progressively redeveloped since the 1960s and was pedestrianised in the 1990s. The population of the town has increased to slightly over 20,000 but further growth has been restricted because the area forms part of the Metropolitan Green Belt
.
period around 5000 BC in East Street, Chesham where a large quantity of Flint tools were found. The earliest farming evidence from the Neolithic
era around 2500 BC. Bronze Age
tribes settled in the valley around 1800 BC and they were succeeded by Iron Age
Belgic people of the Catuvellauni
tribe around 500 BC. Between 150-400 AD there is evidence of Romano-British
farming and nearby at Latimer
there is archaeological evidence of a Roman
villa
and the planting of grapevines. However the area was then deserted until the Saxon period
around the 7th century'.
Contrary to popular belief, the town is not named after the river; rather, the river is named after the town. The first recorded reference to Chesham is under the Old English
name Cæstæleshamm meaning "the river-meadow at the pile of stones around 970 in the will of Lady Ælfgifu, who has been identified with the former wife of King Eadwig. She held an estate here which she bequeathed to Abingdon Abbey
.
Prior to 1066
there were three adjacent estates which comprised Caestreham which are briefly recorded in the Domesday Book
as being of 1½, 4 and 8½ hides
, having four mills. The most important of these manors was held by Queen Edith
, the widow of Edward the Confessor
. Other land having been returned to the Crown it was in the hands of Harold Godwinson
and his brother Leofwine Godwinson
. Part of these of these later became Chesham Bois
parish. After 1066 Edith kept her lands and William the Conqueror divided royal lands between his half brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and Hugh de Bolbec.
granted the town a royal charter for a weekly market in 1257. During the 13th and 14th centuries the manor
of Great Chesham was a part of the lands held by the Earls of Oxford
and Surrey
. The earliest habitation was in the area close by the present St Mary's Church
in an area called the Nap where are found remaining the oldest buildings of the present-day town in Church Street. During the 16th century it was owned by the Seymour family
who disposed of it to the Cavendish family the Earls and later Dukes of Devonshire who held it into the first part of the 19th century. Meanwhile adjacent land in and around the town was owned by the Lowndes family. William Lowndes was an influential politician and Secretary to the Treasury
during the reign of William III
and Queen Anne
. He had the original Bury and manor house
of Great Chesham, rebuilt in 1712. The Lowndes family settled in Chesham and over the next 200 years became equally influential both nationally through politics and the law and locally within the town as its principle benefactors. Another family, the Scottowes, also controlled estate lands within and outside the town and later on, the Duke of Bedford
also.
to escape social stigma in the middle of the century. In 1532 Thomas Harding
was burnt at the stake in the town for being a Lollard and heretic
. From the 17th century Chesham was a focus for those dissenting from mainstream religion
. Quakers met in the late 17th century in Chesham and in 1798 they built the current meeting house
. The first Baptists' meeting dates back to about 1640 and a place was registered for services in 1706. The first chapel was opened in 1712, one of many to be built for the various Baptist groups during the 18th and 19th centuries. John Wesley
preached in Chesham in the 1760s and a Methodist society existed in the town. In more recent time a Wesleyan Methodist
chapel was opened in 1897. The Christian Brethren which date back in Chesham to 1876, opened their Gospel Hall in 1895, which closed in December 2008.
including in 1643 John Winthrop's fleet. In 1630 Aquila Chase left Chesham to join the colony, settling first at Hampton (now New Hampshire), then Newbury, Massachusetts
. Descendants of Aquila became influential in shaping political, legislative and commercial matters from the colonial period until after the Declaration of Independence
. For example Salmon P. Chase
was the United States Treasury Secretary and Chief Justice in the 1870s and after whom the Chase Manhattan Bank
is named although Chase did not have any connection with the bank.
), grew rapidly between 1530 and 1730 and became the major industry in the town prior to a period of rapid decline. Between 1740 to 1798 mills were converted to produce paper (pulp) responding to London's insatiable demand for paper. However, technological developments in paper-making elsewhere rendered the mills unprofitable and they reverted to flour production in the 1850s.
New industries emerged from the 16th century onwards. The woodlands had been a source of firewood for London during the medievil period. A small-scale woodenware industry; making shovels, brooms, spoons and chairs, began around 1538 and its expansion was accompanied by the planting of beechwoods between 17th and 19th centuries. Straw plaiting was seen as home-based work for the wives and daughters of labourers from the 18th century. Straw was also imported from Italy
to produce the superior 'Tuscan plait' traded at a Saturday market for the Luton
and Dunstable
hat trade and remained the major cottage industry until around 1860, providing employment for women and girls some of whom attended a 'plait-school' in Waterside
. Lace
making developed in the 16th century as a cottage industry and was valued for its quality. Chesham specialised in black lace. The industry declined in the 1850s due to mechinisation in Nottingham
. Between 1838 and 1864 silk
-spinning, powered by a steam-driven mill in Waterside was started to make use of unemployed lace workers. This trend was relatively short-lived as changes in fashion and the growth of the railways resulted in competition from elsewhere for the valuable London markets. However one exception was the firm of George Tutill, which specialised in high-quality banners
and was responsible for three-quarters of those made for trade union
s. The firm is still a going concern still specialising in flags and banners.
Three of the four Bs that have shaped Chesham's history relate to its industries. Brush making was introduced around 1829 to make use of the off-cuts from woodworking. Boot and shoe making which started as a cottage industry later expanding through small workshops thrived following the opening of tanneries around 1792 which also supplied leather for saddle
making and glove. By the mid-19th century both brushmaking and footwear manufacture became major industries in the town with production concentrated in large factories. The industry declined in the early-20th century as the market for heavy boots declined. Beer brewing grew rapidly around the town centre in the 19th century again declining at the start of the 20th century. These traditional industries were succeeded by smaller but more commercial enterprises which took advantage of the available skilled labour. For example in 1908 the Chiltern Toy Works was opened by Joseph Eisenmann on Bellingdon Road, later moving to the 'new' industrial estate in Waterside, making high quality teddy bears. The works finally closed in 1960. Post Second World War industry has ranged from the manufacture of glue (Industrial Adhesives
) to aluminium
-based packaging (Alcan
), Aluminium/Bronze Casting (Draycast) and balloon
s (B-Loony).
in 1066 en route to London. Henry VIII
imposed a tax on the town to pay for his wars against Scotland and France.
In common with the majority of communities in Buckinghamshire, Chesham's Lollard heritage and puritan
traditions ensured it would vehemently resist King Charles I demand for Ship Money
a tax on tradesmen and landowners. In 1635 the townsfolk of Chesham protested to the Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, Sir Peter Temple who was reluctantly enforcing a writ requiring payment of a levy to the King. Not surprisingly given the local allegiances to John Hampden
the towns' people largely sided with the Parliamentarians at the outbreak of the English Civil War
. There is evidence of skirmishes in the area and Influential Parliamentarians such as John Pym
were headquartered along with large numbers of troops for a period.
The records of the Posse Comitatus
for Chesham in 1798 recorded over 800 men between the ages of 16-60 enrolled in a militia to defend the town in the event of invasion by Napoleon I
or to deal with civil unrest. Less than 50 years later, in 1846 a similar register of 22 able-bodied men had been assembled to form the Chesham troop of the Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry
which coincided with the billeting of troops from the Queen's Own 7th Hussars passing through the town on their way to Ireland.
During the First World War 188 servicemen from Chesham lost their lives (see Landmarks). Alfred Burt
a corporal in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment
from Chesham received the Victoria Cross
for his actions in September 1915. The town were temporary quarters for several regiments including the Kings Royal Rifles
and the Royal Engineers
honed their bridge building skills in local parks. Over the duration of the Second World War 80 servicemen lost their lives. Air raid shelters were built by the Council in 1940 although the official view was that the not being a strategic location the town was unlikely to be targeted. In fact at the end of the war it was estimated that 45 bombs fell in the Chesham area and it is known that nine people were killed.
for 90 paupers was operating in Germain Street as early as 1777. New legislation transferred the control of the Chesham institution to Amersham Poor Law Union
in 1835. However there were long-standing rivalries between the locals of both towns and in July that year violence broke out when an order was given to remove the paupers to Amersham. The Riot Act
was read out to an angry crowd of 500 and arrests followed.
Publicly-funded education started with the opening of a British School
in 1825 followed by a National School
in 1845, an Infants' Schoo
l in 1851 and the first Elementary School
for girls in 1864. Chesham Building Society
, opened for business in 1845 and continued to operate until June 2010 when it was taken over by the Skipton Building Society
. Other public institutions also started at this time with the Fire Brigade coming in 1846, the first cemetery in 1858 and the Police Station
built in 1861.
Chesham cottage hospital
, built for £865 17s 11d on land provided by Lord Chesham
, opened in October 1869 and just ahead of an outbreak of typhoid in 1871. Despite a local campaign to save the hospital it closed in 2005. In September 2010 the derelict hospital building was severely damaged by fire caused by arsonists according to police reports. The Council commissioned a waterworks
to be built in 1875 in Alma Road and mains drainage
in the town and a sewage works
was opened adjacent to the Chess, downstream in 1887. A gasworks
was constructed on the southern part of the town in 1847.
Transport connections have always come late to the town. The Metropolitan Railway
eventually reached Chesham in July 1889. Electrification was not to come until the 1960s. Between the two world wars and in the 1950s and 60s there was much expansion in the town with new public housing developments along the Missenden Road, at Pond Park
and at Botley
.
The first public viewings of cinema
films in Chesham were provided by travelling showmen around 1900 and attracted large crowds. The first purpose-built cinema, The Empire Picture Hall, opened in Station Road in 1912 and in 1914 The Chesham Palace started up in The Broadway. Both showed silent films. By 1920 the Empire had closed. In 1930 the Chesham Palace was refurbished to show the new 'talkies' and reopened as The Astoria which remained in business until 1959 when the arrival of television forced it to close. The Embassy in Germain Street opened in 1935 and survived until 1982, closing due to competition from cinemas in nearby towns. The Elgiva Theatre, completed in 1976 beside St Mary's Way, was equipped to show films and on moving to a new site just across the road in 1998 state of the art projection equipment was installed in the new theatre (see image below).
and is situated 25 miles (40 km) north west of central London. It is the fifth largest town in the ceremonial county
of Buckinghamshire and the largest in Chiltern District, with a population
of some 20,343 people behind Milton Keynes
with 184,500, High Wycombe
with 118,200, Aylesbury
with 69,200 and Amersham
the nearest town with 21,400.
and from its lowest point of 295 feet above sea level rises up valley sides. It lies at the confluence of four dry valleys formed by the meltwater
at the end of the last ice age
which deposited onto the bed rock of chalk, alluvial gravels, silts, on which the town now sits. Subsequent periods of subsidence and submergence deposited clays and flints. The River Chess
is a chalk-stream which rises from three springs; to the north-west along the Pednor Vale at Frogmoor, at Higham Mead to the north of the town, and to the west near the Amersham Road which converge in the town near to East Street. Prior to the 19th century the Chess was known as the Isene relating to the iron-charged spring waters feeding it. Today the streams are culvert
ed and conducted below street level before emerging at Waterside and flowing in a south easterly direction towards Latimer. From there it flows to the north of Chenies
and on towards Rickmansworth
after which it joins the River Colne
.
. it includes a number of impressive residential, institutional and commercial buildings that largely survived Victorian 'improvement'. The 12th century St Mary's Church, which underwent refurbishment and redesign by George Gilbert Scott
in the 19th century. 'The Bury', a Queen Anne town house was built in 1712 for William Lowndes Secretary to the Treasury
. Chesham had two workhouse
s, both buildings survived and are located in Germain Street. In June 2009 the Chesham town centre and old town conservation area was placed on the English Heritage
Conservation Areas at Risk register which the District Council commented was due to the misinterpretation of its responses to the conservation body's questionnaire. Due to the pattern of the town's expansion there are several centres of employment which are interspersed with residential housing. Industrial buildings on the north side of the town have been redeveloped into offices in recent years.
The population more than doubled from 4000 to 9000 during the 19th century. As a consequence the centre of the town shifted to the east as shops, workshops and cottages sprung up along the High Street and Berkhampstead Road. In the period after the Second World War the town centre was progressively redeveloped. In the 1960s St Mary's Way was constructed, rerouting the A416 around the congested High Street which avoided the need to widen the street, conserved its character and allowed for its pedestrianisation during the 1990s. Industrial development became centred on two areas. At the southern end of the town at Waterside
which was the site of the first mills and factories in the 18th and 19th centuries there is a mixture of original and newly constructed industrial units and at the northern end along the Asheridge Vale there is a further development of generally small commercial business units.
Compared to other towns in south Buckinghamshire, there are fewer detached and owner-occupied houses and a higher proportion of social rental accommodation. Expansion in housing has occurred in several phases mainly to the east of the old town where artisan
's housing sprung up along Berkhamsted Road and subsequently along the many steep valley sides. Initially this development was as a consequence of the extension of the railway to the town in the 1880s, subsequently the promotion of Metroland
during the 1920s and the electrification of the Metropolitan Line
in the 1960s. Pond Park estate was built in the 1930s. The population grew fast after the Second World War as workers followed employers who moved out from London. The population in 1951 was 11,500 leading to the building of the Chessmount and Hilltop estates by speculative developers in the 1950s and 60s. By 1971 the population had reached 20,000 since when it has only increased slightly. The growing popularity of the Chilterns as a place to live from the latter part of the 20th century onwards led to restrictions on housing and industrial development in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
and has sustained the demand for further house building in the town. Today an increasing number of those in employment find work outside the town, commuting by car or train as well as an increasing number who are home or office-based using technology to make a living.
(Köppen climate classification
Cfb) similar to almost all of the United Kingdom, although the lower parts of the valley have significant frost hollow characteristics - being several degrees colder than surrounding areas on clear, calm nights and so have much lower average minimum temperatures than shown in the table. The lowest recorded temperature in Chesham was -19.6°C on the 20 December 2010 at a private weather station, which was also the coldest place in the UK.
constructed in 1992 stands in Market Square on the site of Chesham’s 18th century town hall demolished in 1965. The turret is a reconstruction of the one built onto the original town hall in the 19th century and features the original glass-dialled clock face and clock mechanism from the mid 19th century. (see info box).
stands in a landscaped garden in the Broadway. It depicts an infantryman with his rifle inverted and commemorates those who fell during the First World War
and Second World Wars. it was unveiled in 1921. The inscription reads:- To The Glorious Memory Of The Men Of The Town Who Gave Their Lives And To Honour: All Who Served Or Suffered In Cause Of God King And Country Their Deeds Live After Them Faithful Unto Death.
records Chesham with sufficient arable land to support four water-powered
corn mills on the River Chess producing a surplus of flour exported to London. There was woodland to feed over 1600 pigs and supply timber for local manufacturing of farm tools (ploughshares). Field enclosure
started in the early 16th century and although almost completed by the mid 19th century the productivity of Chesham farms provided work for over 450 agricultural labourers. Sheep that grazed on the hillside fields around Chesham provided wool for the cloth making and dying cottage industry which, due to the town's proximity to London, thrived until the 18th century when Yorkshire mills out-competed them.
woods established Chesham as one of a number local centres in the Chilterns for the production of turned furniture
components and other wooden items often called bodging
, in local workshops. Mills along the Chess concerned with papermaking
and silk weaving
continued to operate until the middle of the 19th century as did 'outworkers' engaged in lace making
and straw plaiting whose employment was impacted on by changes in fashion, by mechanization
and from cheaper imports from the continent. The mineral-laden unpolluted water of the Chess made it ideal for growing watercress
and this industry flourished in Chesham in the Victorian era
and beds extended along the Chess towards Latimer
, which continued in operation until after the Second World War.
trade workers moved to a newly opened Barnes Boot factory and the Britannia Boot and Shoe Works towards the end of the 19th century by which time there were eight major manufacturers and many small workshops. In 1829 Beechwoods brush
making factory was opened. At its height there were around 12 factories specialising in brush made from locally grown beech with bristles imported mainly from across Asia. The adoption of nylon
for brushes was the cause of the downturn with only one manufacturer remaining today. Russell's Brushes still make brushes in Chesham. Nash's Chesham Brewery opened in the High Street in 1841. Two other notable rivals were Darvell's Brewery and Sarah Howe and Sons. Competition led to amalgamations around the turn of the 20th century although brewing continued at Chesham Brewery until the 1950s.
on Wednesdays and Saturdays and a now defunct monthly 'farmer's market'. This individuality was recognised in a survey of town 'high streets' which gave Chesham good marks for its distinctiveness. There are two of the 'big five' supermarkets present which have impacted on the town's independent stores and all retail outlets have also to compete with other nearby town centres, at Amersham, Berkhamsted
and Tring
as well as the large shopping centres in High Wycombe
, Watford
and Milton Keynes.
Chesham has been in the Chesham & Amersham constituency. The current constituency is solidly Conservative
, and has never returned a non-Tory candidate. The current MP is Cheryl Gillan
. The Conservative Party again won the constituency at the 2010 general election with a 60.4% share of the vote; the next most popular party were the Liberal Democrats
, represented by Tim Starkey, with 28.5% of the vote and Labour
, Anthony Gajadharsingh with 5.6%. Local turnout at the last election was 74.6%.
under the Local Government Act 1894
. When the Local Government Act 1972
came into effect on April 1, 1974 the urban district was abolished in favour of the Chiltern district
and the civil parish was given town council
status. At town council level, Chesham is divided into 9 electoral wards and 19 councillors. The political composition of the council as at May 2011 was: Liberal Democrat 10; Conservative 7; and Independent 2. A town mayor is elected by the council on an annual basis.
The buck's head is borrowed from the arms of The Cavendish family, which owned most of the parish lands. The motto is from the Epistle to the Galatians, Chapter V, Verse 13.
supplies drinking water
to the town extracted from the River Chess and Misbourne
and from aquifers in the Chiltern Hills. Thames Water
undertakes waste water treatment and has a sewage treatment works
beside the River Chess on Latimer Road to the south of the town. Chiltern District Council is responsible for waste management
and collection and disposal is currently carried out on its behalf by Verdant Group plc. EDF Energy
provides electricity supply
for the town.
(PCT) has overall responsibility for provision of health services to the local community. Since the closure of the town's cottage hospital in 2004 the nearest hospitals are Amersham Hospital
, Wycombe General Hospital
and Stoke Mandeville Hospital
the latter providing accident and emergency services. After several years of uncertainty, in 2008 the PCT confirmed it was proceeding with the Chesham Healthzone Project. Planning approval was granted by the District Council in June 2009 for the purpose-built health facility comprising, two GP practices, a pharmacy, consulting, clinical and treatment rooms. Originally scheduled to open in 2010, phase 1 is planned to open in November 2011.
headquartered in Kidlington
, Oxfordshire
is accountable for delivery of policing through the town's three neighbourhood policing teams. Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service
based in Aylesbury oversees the town's fire and rescue services. There is a fire station
located in Bellingdon Road which is supplemented by services from the station at Amersham and other nearby towns. Ambulance
services are managed by South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust
based in Bicester
, Oxford
. The nearest ambulance station
for the town is located in Amersham.
which dates from at least the 12th century. Chesham has a long history of religious dissent
, such as the persecuted Lollards
, followers of the John Wycliffe
tradition. One of them Thomas Harding
was martyred on White Hill, near Dungrove Farm, in 1532. There is a memorial to local Lollards in Amersham
, and memorials to Thomas Harding in the churchyard and on White Hill. The 17th, 18th and 19th centuries saw the rapid growth of non-conformism especially Baptists. Broadway Baptist Church dates back to 1706 and had its 300th anniversary celebrations in Chesham in 2006. Its roots are in the Chesham and Berkhamsted Baptist Church which dates back to 1640.
In the present day, Chesham has four Baptist churches (Broadway Baptist, Trinity Baptist, Newtown Baptist and Hivings Free Church) and three Anglican churches (St Mary's, Christ Church in Waterside and Emmanuel in Newtown).
There is a United Reformed Church
, formerly called the Congregational Church, in The Broadway, there was a Gospel Hall in Station Road (which closed at the end of 2008), a Roman Catholic church (St Columba's) in Berkhampstead Road (built in 1960), a Methodist chapel
in Bellingdon Road, a Salvation Army
Citadel in Broad St, Hiving's Free Church in Upper Belmont Road, an historic Quaker Friends Meeting House
in Bellingdon Road, The King's Church charismatic fellowship which meets at Chesham Park Community College. Most of the churches of Chesham work collectively as part of the Churches Together for Chesham (CTfC) group. Other religious groups include Chesham Spiritualist Church
in Higham Road and the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses off Berkhampstead Road.
During the Second World War the first recorded Jewish congregation was founded on families evacuated from London who used to meet at the cricket pavilion and continued until 1968. This was succeeded by a Liberal Judaism community formed in 1990 which now meets at Chesham Grammar School.
During the second half of the 20th century a Muslim
community became established in the town. Chesham Mosque
the first purpose-built mosque
was completed in 2005 and is located in Bellingdon Road.
Demographics
based on 2001 census for the population of Chesham
† prior to boundary changes in 1974 reducing size of Chesham Town area
. The A416 now runs through the town, from Amersham to Berkhamsted
, and connects the town to the more recently upgraded A41
. The A416 was diverted around the High Street and later upgraded to be dual-lane. Although these improvements enable more through traffic, traffic congestion has increased. Chesham's High Street was pedestrianised in 1990 and the benefits to the High Street have been felt ever since. Whilst some of the previous bustle has been lost, the impact of pedestrianisation has generally been positive.
Chesham tube station
, close to the town centre, is the terminus for the Chesham branch
, a single track spur off the London Underground
Metropolitan Line
connecting to Chalfont and Latimer station. It was opened in July 1889. The original plan involved the extension of the line from the station to the LNWR at Berkhamsted, but the idea was abandoned as the Metropolitan Line reached Amersham and thence Aylesbury
. There were some sizeable goods yards beyond the station, which were closed and now function as Waitrose
's car park except for one portion occupied by a coal merchants.
In 1959 electrification of the Metropolitan Line
to Chesham provided a more reliable connection to London. Following the abolition of London Underground
services to Aylesbury
in 1961 and the closure of Ongar tube station
in 1994, Chesham has become the furthest location served from central London, in terms of both distance and travelling time. Prior to December 2010, apart from a few direct trains to London at peak times, a shuttle service operated to and from Chalfont and Latimer station. Since then the town has benefited from direct trains to London all day.
The nearest National Rail
connections are Amersham station
, although the LU line also connects directly to Chalfont & Latimer station
, from where the Metropolitan Line
and National Rail Chiltern Railways
provide a joint service with Metropolitan Line
trains travelling to Baker Street
station and Chiltern Railways
trains travelling to Marylebone station
. There is also access to London via Berkhamsted railway station
on the West Coast Main Line
.
, Carousel Buses
, Woottens
and Redline.
Residential areas of the town are connected with the central shopping area. Chesham is also connected by services to nearby Amersham, and further afield to High Wycombe
, Hemel Hempstead
, St Albans
, Heathrow Airport and Uxbridge. Less frequent services run to Aylesbury
and Watford
, and to surrounding villages.
car parks in the town, managed by Chiltern District Council. This demand for parking reflects the relatively high car usage, a result of both affluence and the limited public transport provision in rural areas. As a consequence
Chiltern District has the 4th highest carbon footprint
of all local authorities.
is directly above the town.
provision in Chesham as elsewhere in the county was organised into First
(ages 4–8) and Middle
(ages 8 – 12) with some Combined
Schools taking pupils across the whole age range (4 -12). In 1996 the arrangements were modified and the age of transfer to Secondary education
was changed to age 11. Today, the schools still retain some elements of the previous arrangement reflected also in their names. There are six Primary Schools within Chesham with catchment areas based on post codes: - Elmtree First School, Newtown Infant School, Brushwood Junior School, Thomas Harding Junior School, Little Spring Primary School, Waterside Combined School. Attendance by Chesham children at some of the village schools close to the town is also popular.
or Secondary Modern School (also known locally as an Upper School). Two Secondary School
s are located in the town: - Chiltern Hills Academy, a co-educational Church of England Academy, previously known as Chesham Park Community College which was formed from the merger of Lowndes School and Cestreham School) and Chesham Grammar School, a co-educational grammar school, which until May 2010 was called Chesham High School. Chesham also falls within the catchment areas of two further grammar schools, Dr Challoner's Grammar School
for boys' in Amersham and Dr Challoner's High School
for girls in Little Chalfont
.
there are also a number of independent fee-paying schools providing education between ages 4–13 and up to age 18. Chesham Preparatory School is an Independent school
which opened in 1938 in the town and shortly after relocated to the outskirts of Chesham, at Orchard Leigh
providing fee-paying and scholarship supported education.
A Further education
college Amersham & Wycombe College
was founded in 1973 and has one of its four campuses in the town on the former Cestreham Senior Boys School at Lycrome Road. The collage caters for a range of student cohorts with 2000 students on full-time courses and 5000 on a part-time bases.
Adult learning comprising a range of provision including academic, vocational and leisure
courses, is provided a four sites in the town. Chesham Adult Learning Centre in Charteridge Lane, ElmTree School, ElmTree Hill, The Douglas McMinn Centre in East Street and The White Hill Centre White Hill.
The Chess Valley section of the Chiltern University of the Third Age
(U3A) was formed in October 2008 in response to increasing demand for activities in the area and meets at St Mary's Church.
The Elgiva Hall opened on its original location in 1976. In 1998, having made way for an enlarged supermarket development the Elgiva was rebuilt as a purpose-built theatre on its current site and reopened as the New Elgiva. Now rebranded The Elgiva it is a 300 seated/400 standing capacity theatre, with a Dolby Digital 35mm cinema and is owned and managed by Chesham Town Council. The Elgiva presents a wide-ranging programme of professional and amateur theatre productions, musicals, comedy, dance, one night shows and concerts, pantomimes, films, exhibitions and other public and private events by both professional and community organisations. The Little Theatre by the Park is a facility owned by the Town Council and leased to the Little Theatre Trustees. It is the home to the Chesham Bois Catholic Players and used by other local theatre companies and is used for dance and exercise groups.
Chesham Museum
is a newly established museum for the town and surrounding area which opened in 2004 having first been conceived back in 1981. Initially it was housed in temporary premises at The Stables behind the Gamekeeper's Lodge Pub in Bellingdon Road. Since October 2009 is has been located at 15 Market Square. There is also an annual Schools of Chesham carnival, Beer festival and bi-annual Chesham festival.
Chesham Library
opened in Chesham in 1923 in a room at Cemetery Lodge on Berkhamsted Road. In 1927, it moved into new premises at 33 High Street on the Broadway which it shared with Chesham Urban District Council. After the war it expanded. A children's section was added in 1952. In 1971 the library moved to Elgiva Lane, a site it shared with the Elgive Theatre prior to the latter's relocation to new premises. Since then it has been updated to provide better access and improved internal facilities including the evolution of the reference library into a Study Centre. It also houses a special collection of Victorian era
children's books including some previously owned by Florence Nightingale
.
The White Hill Centre, the site of an old school, is run by Chesham and District Community Association and since 1976 has provided educational, recreational social activities and facilities for societies and the local community to meet.
Opposite the town centre is Lowndes Park, a large park with playgrounds and formerly an open air paddling pool. There is a large pond in the park, known as Skottowe's Pond. Lowndes Park was donated to the town of Chesham in 1953. Prior to this it was part of the garden that belonged to the Lowndes family. The Moor, originally an island created by the diversion of the Chess to power mills is today an open space used for recreation and the location for traveling fairs which moved from their traditional location in the town centre in 1938. There are two public swimming pool
s in the town: a heated open air pool in Waterside (Chesham Moor — Gym & Swim: outdoor swimming pool
and fitness centre), and a roofed pool (and leisure centre
) next to Chesham Grammar School at the top of White Hill. The Town Council manages 227 allotments
spread across three sites. There are 135 footpaths in the Chesham area and in May 2010 the town became the first in the Chilterns to be recognised as a "Walkers are Welcome Town".
is the local football club which plays in the Southern League
. At the end of the 2009-2010 season it was promoted to the Premier Division. It was formed in 1917 through the merger of Chesham Generals (the team of the Chesham General Baptist church now called Broadway Baptist Church), which was founded in 1887, and Chesham Town FC (started as the football team of Christ Church, Waterside), a founding member of the Southern League which started out in 1894 as Chesham FC. The club's most successful period was during the 1967-68 season when it reached the final of the FA Amateur Cup
at Wembley but lost out to Leytonstone F.C.
1-0 in front of a crowd of 54,000. The club has struggled financially and performance-wise over recent years but has recently had a cash injection from a new financial backer.
Chesham cricket club
was founded in 1848 and is one of the oldest clubs in the Thames Valley Cricket League
. Its home ground is at Amy Lane. In addition to four senior Saturday XIs it also runs two Sunday XIs and a women's side. Chesham also has a Junior section, which competes in Buckinghamshire and national competitions.
Chesham Rugby union
Club ('The Stags'), was founded in 1980 and play their rugby at Chesham Park Community College. The club fields three men's teams, a women's team and a number of mini and junior sides.
with three towns in other countries. It is organised by the Chesham Town Twinning Association. The first link-up was in 1980 with Friedrichsdorf
, at the foot of the Taunus
Hills near Frankfurt
, Germany. Next followed the association with Houilles
, a commune
of Paris, France, in 1986 and thirdly, in 1995 a tie-up with Archena
, in the Murcia
region of Spain.
Emmanuel Church is linked with a church in Prague, Czech Republic and the British Legion is linked with its Canadian equivalent in Buckingham, Quebec.
covering Chesham and the surrounding area, although it no longer has an office based in the town, is the Buckinghamshire Examiner
founded in 1889. Another Buckinghamshire newspaper with a circulation area covering Chesham is the Bucks Free Press
. The non-commercial community news blog
dedicated to Chesham and nearby villages is Chiltern Voice.
There is also a community website www.cheshampeople.co.uk where you can discuss local issues.
reception in Chesham can be poor and the town now has its own TV mast. In the 1970s, Chesham was one of the last towns in the south east to receive BBC2
, and parts of it still cannot receive Channel 5. Houses taking their TV reception from the Chesham transmitter have vertically polarised aerials, whilst those in a good enough position receive their signal from the Crystal Palace Transmitter
in London with horizontally polarised aerials — they always could receive BBC2 (and indeed Channel 4 & Channel 5). Digital terrestrial television
coverage is patchy for much the same reason. Mobile phone
reception can be poor in the steeper parts of Chesham and outlying villages.
Nearby towns, villages and hamlets
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
in the Chiltern Hills
Chiltern Hills
The Chiltern Hills form a chalk escarpment in South East England. They are known locally as "the Chilterns". A large portion of the hills was designated officially as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1965.-Location:...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is located 11 miles south-east of the county town of Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
. Chesham is also a civil parish designated a town council
Town council
A town council is a democratically elected form of government for small municipalities or civil parishes. A council may serve as both the representative and executive branch....
within Chiltern district
Chiltern (district)
Chiltern is one of four local government districts of Buckinghamshire in south central England. It is named after the Chiltern Hills on which the region sits.The main towns in the district are Amersham and Chesham...
. It is situated in the Chess Valley
River Chess
The River Chess is a chalk stream which springs from Chesham, Buckinghamshire and runs through Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, in south-eastern England. The Chess, along with the Colne and Gade, gives rise to the name of the district of Three Rivers, in which it forms its confluence with the...
and surrounded by farmland, as well as being bordered on one side by Amersham
Amersham
Amersham is a market town and civil parish within Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire, England, 27 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills. It is part of the London commuter belt....
and Chesham Bois
Chesham Bois
Chesham Bois is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, adjacent to both Amersham and Chesham.-History:...
. The earliest records of Chesham as a settlement are from the second half of the 10th century although there is archaeological evidence of people in the area from around 8000 BC.
The town is known for its four Bs, usually quoted as:- boot
Boot
A boot is a type of footwear but they are not shoes. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle and extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the sole, even if the two are made of one piece....
s, beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
, brush
Brush
A brush is a tool with bristles, wire or other filaments, used for cleaning, grooming hair, make up, painting, surface finishing and for many other purposes. It is one of the most basic and versatile tools known to mankind, and the average household may contain several dozen varieties...
es and Baptists. Chesham's prosperity grew significantly during the 18th and 19th centuries with the development of manufacturing industry.
In the face of fierce competition from both home and abroad all these traditional industries rapidly declined. The ready availability of skilled labour encouraged new industries to the town both before and after the end of the Second World War. Today employment in the town is provided by mainly small business engaged in light industry, technology and professional services.
From the early part of the 20th century onwards there has been a considerable expansion of the town with new housing developments and civic infrastructure. Increasingly Chesham has also become a commuter town
Commuter town
A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential, from which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Many commuter towns act as suburbs of a nearby metropolis that workers travel to daily, and many suburbs are commuter towns...
with improved connection to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
via the Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
and road networks. The town centre has been progressively redeveloped since the 1960s and was pedestrianised in the 1990s. The population of the town has increased to slightly over 20,000 but further growth has been restricted because the area forms part of the Metropolitan Green Belt
Metropolitan Green Belt
The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It includes designated parts of Greater London and the surrounding counties of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey in the South East and East of England regions.-History:The...
.
Early history
There is archaeological evidence of the earliest settlement during the Late MesolithicMesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
period around 5000 BC in East Street, Chesham where a large quantity of Flint tools were found. The earliest farming evidence from the Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
era around 2500 BC. Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
tribes settled in the valley around 1800 BC and they were succeeded by Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
Belgic people of the Catuvellauni
Catuvellauni
The Catuvellauni were a tribe or state of south-eastern Britain before the Roman conquest.The fortunes of the Catuvellauni and their kings before the conquest can be traced through numismatic evidence and scattered references in classical histories. They are mentioned by Dio Cassius, who implies...
tribe around 500 BC. Between 150-400 AD there is evidence of Romano-British
Romano-British
Romano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a people of Celtic language and...
farming and nearby at Latimer
Latimer, Buckinghamshire
Latimer is a village and civil parish that sits on the border between Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, in England. The parish forms part of the Buckinghamshire district of Chiltern. Latimer parish includes the villages of Latimer, Ley Hill and Tyler's Hill.Latimer was originally joined with the...
there is archaeological evidence of a Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
and the planting of grapevines. However the area was then deserted until the Saxon period
History of Anglo-Saxon England
Anglo-Saxon England refers to the period of the history of that part of Britain, that became known as England, lasting from the end of Roman occupation and establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th century until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror...
around the 7th century'.
Contrary to popular belief, the town is not named after the river; rather, the river is named after the town. The first recorded reference to Chesham is under the Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
name Cæstæleshamm meaning "the river-meadow at the pile of stones around 970 in the will of Lady Ælfgifu, who has been identified with the former wife of King Eadwig. She held an estate here which she bequeathed to Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey was a Benedictine monastery also known as St Mary's Abbey located in Abingdon, historically in the county of Berkshire but now in Oxfordshire, England.-History:...
.
Prior to 1066
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
there were three adjacent estates which comprised Caestreham which are briefly recorded in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
as being of 1½, 4 and 8½ hides
Hides
A hide is an animal skin treated for human use. Hides include leather from cattle and other livestock animals, alligator skins, snake skins for shoes and fashion accessories and furs from wild cats, mink and bears. In some areas, leather is produced on a domestic or small industrial scale, but most...
, having four mills. The most important of these manors was held by Queen Edith
Edith of Wessex
Edith of Wessex married King Edward the Confessor of England on 23 January 1045. Unlike most wives of kings of England in the tenth and eleventh centuries, she was crowned queen, but the marriage produced no children...
, the widow of Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
. Other land having been returned to the Crown it was in the hands of Harold Godwinson
Harold Godwinson
Harold Godwinson was the last Anglo-Saxon King of England.It could be argued that Edgar the Atheling, who was proclaimed as king by the witan but never crowned, was really the last Anglo-Saxon king...
and his brother Leofwine Godwinson
Leofwine Godwinson
Leofwine Godwinson was a younger brother of Harold II of England, the fifth son of Earl Godwin.When the Godwin family was exiled from England in 1051 he went with Harold to Ireland...
. Part of these of these later became Chesham Bois
Chesham Bois
Chesham Bois is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, adjacent to both Amersham and Chesham.-History:...
parish. After 1066 Edith kept her lands and William the Conqueror divided royal lands between his half brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and Hugh de Bolbec.
The land owners of Chesham
Henry IIIHenry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
granted the town a royal charter for a weekly market in 1257. During the 13th and 14th centuries the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Great Chesham was a part of the lands held by the Earls of Oxford
Earl of Oxford
Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, held for several centuries by the de Vere family from 1141 until the death of the 20th earl in 1703. The Veres were also hereditary holders of the office of master or Lord Great Chamberlain from 1133 until the death of the 18th Earl in 1625...
and Surrey
Earl of Surrey
The Earl of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of England, and has been created five times. It was first created for William de Warenne, a close companion of William the Conqueror...
. The earliest habitation was in the area close by the present St Mary's Church
St. Mary's Church, Chesham
St. Mary's Church is a Grade A listed Anglican church in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, and is part of the Diocese of Oxford. Built on the site of a Bronze Age stone circle of puddingstones, parts of the church building date to the 12th century. Remodelled in the 15th and 17th centuries, the church is...
in an area called the Nap where are found remaining the oldest buildings of the present-day town in Church Street. During the 16th century it was owned by the Seymour family
Seymour family
Seymour, or St. Maur, is the name of an English family in which several titles of nobility have from time to time been created, and of which the Duke of Somerset is the head.-Origins:...
who disposed of it to the Cavendish family the Earls and later Dukes of Devonshire who held it into the first part of the 19th century. Meanwhile adjacent land in and around the town was owned by the Lowndes family. William Lowndes was an influential politician and Secretary to the Treasury
Secretary to the Treasury
In the United Kingdom, there are several Secretaries to the Treasury, who are junior Treasury ministers nominally acting as secretaries to HM Treasury. The origins of the office are unclear, although it probably originated during Lord Burghley's tenure as Lord Treasurer in the 16th century. The...
during the reign of William III
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
and Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
. He had the original Bury and manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
of Great Chesham, rebuilt in 1712. The Lowndes family settled in Chesham and over the next 200 years became equally influential both nationally through politics and the law and locally within the town as its principle benefactors. Another family, the Scottowes, also controlled estate lands within and outside the town and later on, the Duke of Bedford
Duke of Bedford
thumb|right|240px|William Russell, 1st Duke of BedfordDuke of Bedford is a title that has been created five times in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1414 in favour of Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of France. He was made Earl of Kendal at the same time...
also.
Religious dissent and nonconformity
Chesham is noted for the religious unrest which dominated the town from the 16th century and for the migration of the prosperous and respectable few to LincolnshireLincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
to escape social stigma in the middle of the century. In 1532 Thomas Harding
Thomas Harding
Thomas Harding was a sixteenth century English religious dissident who, whilst waiting to be burnt at the stake as a Lollard in 1532, was hit on the head by a piece of firewood which killed him instantly....
was burnt at the stake in the town for being a Lollard and heretic
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
. From the 17th century Chesham was a focus for those dissenting from mainstream religion
English Dissenters
English Dissenters were Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.They originally agitated for a wide reaching Protestant Reformation of the Established Church, and triumphed briefly under Oliver Cromwell....
. Quakers met in the late 17th century in Chesham and in 1798 they built the current meeting house
Friends meeting house
A Friends meeting house is a meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends , where meeting for worship may be held.-History:Quakers do not believe that meeting for worship should take place in any special place. They believe that "where two or three meet together in my name, I am there among...
. The first Baptists' meeting dates back to about 1640 and a place was registered for services in 1706. The first chapel was opened in 1712, one of many to be built for the various Baptist groups during the 18th and 19th centuries. John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
preached in Chesham in the 1760s and a Methodist society existed in the town. In more recent time a Wesleyan Methodist
Methodist Church of Great Britain
The Methodist Church of Great Britain is the largest Wesleyan Methodist body in the United Kingdom, with congregations across Great Britain . It is the United Kingdom's fourth largest Christian denomination, with around 300,000 members and 6,000 churches...
chapel was opened in 1897. The Christian Brethren which date back in Chesham to 1876, opened their Gospel Hall in 1895, which closed in December 2008.
Emigration to the American colonies
In the 1630s and '40s, increasing numbers of these dissenters left Chesham and the surrounding district to join the English colonies in MassachusettsMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
including in 1643 John Winthrop's fleet. In 1630 Aquila Chase left Chesham to join the colony, settling first at Hampton (now New Hampshire), then Newbury, Massachusetts
Newbury, Massachusetts
Newbury is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,666 at the 2010 census. Newbury includes the villages of Old Town , Plum Island and Byfield, home of The Governor's Academy , a private preparatory school.- History :Newbury Plantation was settled and incorporated...
. Descendants of Aquila became influential in shaping political, legislative and commercial matters from the colonial period until after the Declaration of Independence
Declaration of independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...
. For example Salmon P. Chase
Salmon P. Chase
Salmon Portland Chase was an American politician and jurist who served as U.S. Senator from Ohio and the 23rd Governor of Ohio; as U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Abraham Lincoln; and as the sixth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.Chase was one of the most prominent members...
was the United States Treasury Secretary and Chief Justice in the 1870s and after whom the Chase Manhattan Bank
Chase Manhattan Bank
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is a national bank that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of financial services firm JPMorgan Chase. The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000...
is named although Chase did not have any connection with the bank.
Industrial development
The primary industries of the town in medieval times were flour production, woodworking and weaving of wool. There were four mills built along the Chess which was diverted to generate sufficient power. Surplus flour was supplied to London. The number of clothworkers, including spinners and those associated with dying (fullersFullers
Fullers may refer to:* Fuller's Brewery, a British regional brewing company* Fullers Bridge, a bridge in Sydney* Fullers Ferries, a ferry company in New Zealand...
), grew rapidly between 1530 and 1730 and became the major industry in the town prior to a period of rapid decline. Between 1740 to 1798 mills were converted to produce paper (pulp) responding to London's insatiable demand for paper. However, technological developments in paper-making elsewhere rendered the mills unprofitable and they reverted to flour production in the 1850s.
New industries emerged from the 16th century onwards. The woodlands had been a source of firewood for London during the medievil period. A small-scale woodenware industry; making shovels, brooms, spoons and chairs, began around 1538 and its expansion was accompanied by the planting of beechwoods between 17th and 19th centuries. Straw plaiting was seen as home-based work for the wives and daughters of labourers from the 18th century. Straw was also imported from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
to produce the superior 'Tuscan plait' traded at a Saturday market for the Luton
Luton
Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....
and Dunstable
Dunstable
Dunstable is a market town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills, 30 miles north of London. These geographical features form several steep chalk escarpments most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north.-Etymology:In...
hat trade and remained the major cottage industry until around 1860, providing employment for women and girls some of whom attended a 'plait-school' in Waterside
Waterside, Buckinghamshire
Waterside is a hamlet in the parish of Chesham, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the town itself, though anciently referred to the group of dwellings next to the River Chess in Chesham....
. Lace
Lace
Lace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was...
making developed in the 16th century as a cottage industry and was valued for its quality. Chesham specialised in black lace. The industry declined in the 1850s due to mechinisation in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
. Between 1838 and 1864 silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
-spinning, powered by a steam-driven mill in Waterside was started to make use of unemployed lace workers. This trend was relatively short-lived as changes in fashion and the growth of the railways resulted in competition from elsewhere for the valuable London markets. However one exception was the firm of George Tutill, which specialised in high-quality banners
Banner-making
Banner-making is the ancient art or craft of sewing banners. Techniques used include applique, embroidery, fabric painting, patchwork and others.-Trade union banners:...
and was responsible for three-quarters of those made for trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s. The firm is still a going concern still specialising in flags and banners.
Three of the four Bs that have shaped Chesham's history relate to its industries. Brush making was introduced around 1829 to make use of the off-cuts from woodworking. Boot and shoe making which started as a cottage industry later expanding through small workshops thrived following the opening of tanneries around 1792 which also supplied leather for saddle
Saddle
A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider or other load, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is the equestrian saddle designed for a horse, but specialized saddles have been created for camels and other creatures...
making and glove. By the mid-19th century both brushmaking and footwear manufacture became major industries in the town with production concentrated in large factories. The industry declined in the early-20th century as the market for heavy boots declined. Beer brewing grew rapidly around the town centre in the 19th century again declining at the start of the 20th century. These traditional industries were succeeded by smaller but more commercial enterprises which took advantage of the available skilled labour. For example in 1908 the Chiltern Toy Works was opened by Joseph Eisenmann on Bellingdon Road, later moving to the 'new' industrial estate in Waterside, making high quality teddy bears. The works finally closed in 1960. Post Second World War industry has ranged from the manufacture of glue (Industrial Adhesives
Adhesive
An adhesive, or glue, is a mixture in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adheres or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or synthetic sources. The types of materials that can be bonded are vast but they are especially useful for bonding thin materials...
) to aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
-based packaging (Alcan
Alcan
Rio Tinto Alcan Inc. is a Canadian company based in Montreal. It was created on November 15, 2007 as the result of the merger between Rio Tinto PLC's Canadian subsidiary, Rio Tinto Canada Holding Inc., and Canadian company Alcan Inc. On the same date, Alcan Inc. was renamed Rio Tinto Alcan Inc..Rio...
), Aluminium/Bronze Casting (Draycast) and balloon
Balloon
A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig...
s (B-Loony).
The town in times of war
William the Conqueror paused at nearby BerkhamstedBerkhamsted
-Climate:Berkhamsted experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Castle:...
in 1066 en route to London. Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
imposed a tax on the town to pay for his wars against Scotland and France.
In common with the majority of communities in Buckinghamshire, Chesham's Lollard heritage and puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
traditions ensured it would vehemently resist King Charles I demand for Ship Money
Ship money
Ship money refers to a tax that Charles I of England tried to levy without the consent of Parliament. This tax, which was only applied to coastal towns during a time of war, was intended to offset the cost of defending that part of the coast, and could be paid in actual ships or the equivalent value...
a tax on tradesmen and landowners. In 1635 the townsfolk of Chesham protested to the Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, Sir Peter Temple who was reluctantly enforcing a writ requiring payment of a levy to the King. Not surprisingly given the local allegiances to John Hampden
John Hampden
John Hampden was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643) was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643)...
the towns' people largely sided with the Parliamentarians at the outbreak of the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. There is evidence of skirmishes in the area and Influential Parliamentarians such as John Pym
John Pym
John Pym was an English parliamentarian, leader of the Long Parliament and a prominent critic of James I and then Charles I.- Early life and education :...
were headquartered along with large numbers of troops for a period.
The records of the Posse Comitatus
Posse comitatus (common law)
Posse comitatus or sheriff's posse is the common-law or statute law authority of a county sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied males to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the "hue and cry"...
for Chesham in 1798 recorded over 800 men between the ages of 16-60 enrolled in a militia to defend the town in the event of invasion by Napoleon I
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
or to deal with civil unrest. Less than 50 years later, in 1846 a similar register of 22 able-bodied men had been assembled to form the Chesham troop of the Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry
Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry
The Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry was formed in 1794, when King George III was on the throne and William Pitt the Younger was the Prime Minister, of Great Britain. Across the English Channel, Britain was faced by a French nation which had recently guillotined its King and which possessed a...
which coincided with the billeting of troops from the Queen's Own 7th Hussars passing through the town on their way to Ireland.
During the First World War 188 servicemen from Chesham lost their lives (see Landmarks). Alfred Burt
Alfred Alexander Burt
Alfred Alexander Burt was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:...
a corporal in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment
The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was the final title of an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army originally formed in 1688...
from Chesham received the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
for his actions in September 1915. The town were temporary quarters for several regiments including the Kings Royal Rifles
King's Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...
and the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
honed their bridge building skills in local parks. Over the duration of the Second World War 80 servicemen lost their lives. Air raid shelters were built by the Council in 1940 although the official view was that the not being a strategic location the town was unlikely to be targeted. In fact at the end of the war it was estimated that 45 bombs fell in the Chesham area and it is known that nine people were killed.
Social history
A Chesham workhouseWorkhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
for 90 paupers was operating in Germain Street as early as 1777. New legislation transferred the control of the Chesham institution to Amersham Poor Law Union
Poor Law Union
A Poor Law Union was a unit used for local government in the United Kingdom from the 19th century. The administration of the Poor Law was the responsibility of parishes, which varied wildly in their size, populations, financial resources, rateable values and requirements...
in 1835. However there were long-standing rivalries between the locals of both towns and in July that year violence broke out when an order was given to remove the paupers to Amersham. The Riot Act
Riot Act
The Riot Act was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that authorised local authorities to declare any group of twelve or more people to be unlawfully assembled, and thus have to disperse or face punitive action...
was read out to an angry crowd of 500 and arrests followed.
Publicly-funded education started with the opening of a British School
British and Foreign School Society
The British and Foreign School Society offers charitable aid to educational projects in the UK and around the world by funding schools, other charities and educational bodies...
in 1825 followed by a National School
National school (England and Wales)
A national school was a school founded in 19th century England and Wales by the National Society for Promoting Religious Education.These schools provided elementary education, in accordance with the teaching of the Church of England, to the children of the poor.Together with the less numerous...
in 1845, an Infants' Schoo
Infant school
An Infant school is a term used primarily in the United Kingdom for school for children between the ages of four and seven years. It is usually a small school serving a particular locality....
l in 1851 and the first Elementary School
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
for girls in 1864. Chesham Building Society
Chesham Building Society
The Chesham Building Society was a building society based in the market town of Chesham in Buckinghamshire, England which merged with the Skipton Building Society on 1 June 2010. Prior to the merger it was the 37th largest building society in the United Kingdom based on its total assets of £231...
, opened for business in 1845 and continued to operate until June 2010 when it was taken over by the Skipton Building Society
Skipton Building Society
The Skipton Building Society is a building society in the United Kingdom . It is a member of the Building Societies Association....
. Other public institutions also started at this time with the Fire Brigade coming in 1846, the first cemetery in 1858 and the Police Station
Police Station
Police Station is a American TV series that aired in syndication in 1959. Stories were taken from actual files.- Cast :*Baynes Barron as Sergeant White*Larry Kerr as Detective Chuck Mitchell*Henry Beckman as Detective Stan Abramson...
built in 1861.
Chesham cottage hospital
Cottage Hospital
The original concept of a cottage hospital was a small rural hospital having up to 25 beds. One advantage of such a hospital in villages was the familiarity the local physician might have with their patient that may affect their treatment...
, built for £865 17s 11d on land provided by Lord Chesham
Baron Chesham
Baron Chesham, of Chesham in the County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1858 for the Hon. Charles Cavendish, who had earlier represented Aylesbury, Newtown, East Sussex, Youghal and Buckinghamshire in the House of Commons as a Liberal...
, opened in October 1869 and just ahead of an outbreak of typhoid in 1871. Despite a local campaign to save the hospital it closed in 2005. In September 2010 the derelict hospital building was severely damaged by fire caused by arsonists according to police reports. The Council commissioned a waterworks
WaterWorks
WaterWorks is a water park owned by Cedar Fair, located at the back of Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. When it debuted in 1992, it was originally named Hurricane Reef...
to be built in 1875 in Alma Road and mains drainage
Sewage collection and disposal
Sewage collection and disposal systems transport sewage through cities and other inhabited areas to sewage treatment plants to protect public health and prevent disease. Sewage is treated to control water pollution before discharge to surface waters....
in the town and a sewage works
Sewage treatment
Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...
was opened adjacent to the Chess, downstream in 1887. A gasworks
Gasworks
A gasworks or gas house is a factory for the manufacture of gas. The use of natural gas has made many redundant in the developed world, however they are often still used for storage.- Early gasworks :...
was constructed on the southern part of the town in 1847.
Transport connections have always come late to the town. The Metropolitan Railway
Metropolitan railway
Metropolitan Railway can refer to:* Metropolitan line, part of the London Underground* Metropolitan Railway, the first underground railway to be built in London...
eventually reached Chesham in July 1889. Electrification was not to come until the 1960s. Between the two world wars and in the 1950s and 60s there was much expansion in the town with new public housing developments along the Missenden Road, at Pond Park
Pond Park
Pond Park is an area of Chesham in Buckinghamshire, England, built on the hills to the north of the town starting in 1929. Pond Park also has a number of recreation grounds...
and at Botley
Botley
Botley is the name of several places in the United Kingdom:*Botley, Buckinghamshire*Botley, Hampshire*Botley, OxfordshireOther*Botley the Robot is a fictional robot featured in Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart Adventures 3rd Grade: Mystery Mountain...
.
The first public viewings of cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
films in Chesham were provided by travelling showmen around 1900 and attracted large crowds. The first purpose-built cinema, The Empire Picture Hall, opened in Station Road in 1912 and in 1914 The Chesham Palace started up in The Broadway. Both showed silent films. By 1920 the Empire had closed. In 1930 the Chesham Palace was refurbished to show the new 'talkies' and reopened as The Astoria which remained in business until 1959 when the arrival of television forced it to close. The Embassy in Germain Street opened in 1935 and survived until 1982, closing due to competition from cinemas in nearby towns. The Elgiva Theatre, completed in 1976 beside St Mary's Way, was equipped to show films and on moving to a new site just across the road in 1998 state of the art projection equipment was installed in the new theatre (see image below).
Geography
The town is located in the Chess Valley and is 11 miles south-east of the county town of AylesburyAylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
and is situated 25 miles (40 km) north west of central London. It is the fifth largest town in the ceremonial county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
of Buckinghamshire and the largest in Chiltern District, with a population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
of some 20,343 people behind Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
with 184,500, High Wycombe
High Wycombe
High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...
with 118,200, Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
with 69,200 and Amersham
Amersham
Amersham is a market town and civil parish within Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire, England, 27 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills. It is part of the London commuter belt....
the nearest town with 21,400.
Topography and geology
Chesham is located in the Chiltern HillsChiltern Hills
The Chiltern Hills form a chalk escarpment in South East England. They are known locally as "the Chilterns". A large portion of the hills was designated officially as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1965.-Location:...
and from its lowest point of 295 feet above sea level rises up valley sides. It lies at the confluence of four dry valleys formed by the meltwater
Meltwater
Meltwater is the water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glacial ice and ice shelfs over oceans. Meltwater is often found in the ablation zone of glaciers, where the rate of snow cover is reducing...
at the end of the last ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
which deposited onto the bed rock of chalk, alluvial gravels, silts, on which the town now sits. Subsequent periods of subsidence and submergence deposited clays and flints. The River Chess
River Chess
The River Chess is a chalk stream which springs from Chesham, Buckinghamshire and runs through Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, in south-eastern England. The Chess, along with the Colne and Gade, gives rise to the name of the district of Three Rivers, in which it forms its confluence with the...
is a chalk-stream which rises from three springs; to the north-west along the Pednor Vale at Frogmoor, at Higham Mead to the north of the town, and to the west near the Amersham Road which converge in the town near to East Street. Prior to the 19th century the Chess was known as the Isene relating to the iron-charged spring waters feeding it. Today the streams are culvert
Culvert
A culvert is a device used to channel water. It may be used to allow water to pass underneath a road, railway, or embankment. Culverts can be made of many different materials; steel, polyvinyl chloride and concrete are the most common...
ed and conducted below street level before emerging at Waterside and flowing in a south easterly direction towards Latimer. From there it flows to the north of Chenies
Chenies
Chenies is a village in the very eastern part of south Buckinghamshire, England, near the border with Hertfordshire. It is situated to the east of Chesham and the Chalfonts. Chenies is also a civil parish within Chiltern district....
and on towards Rickmansworth
Rickmansworth
Rickmansworth is a town in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England, 4¼ miles west of Watford.The town has a population of around 15,000 people and lies on the Grand Union Canal and the River Colne, at the northern end of the Colne Valley regional park.Rickmansworth is a small town in...
after which it joins the River Colne
River Colne, Hertfordshire
The Colne is a river in England which is a tributary of the River Thames. It flows mainly through Hertfordshire and forms the boundary between the South Bucks district of Buckinghamshire and the London Borough of Hillingdon...
.
Built environment and social geography
Chesham developed as a market town which prospered through its manufacturing industries fuelled by a series of mills which sprung up along the River Chess. Until the 19th century the town was centred to the south-eastern end of the present High Street. Most of the present-day town centre's development took place during Victorian times. The 'old town', particularly Church and Germain Street, has been well-preserved and now designated a conservation areaConservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
. it includes a number of impressive residential, institutional and commercial buildings that largely survived Victorian 'improvement'. The 12th century St Mary's Church, which underwent refurbishment and redesign by George Gilbert Scott
George Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott was an English architect of the Victorian Age, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches, cathedrals and workhouses...
in the 19th century. 'The Bury', a Queen Anne town house was built in 1712 for William Lowndes Secretary to the Treasury
Secretary to the Treasury
In the United Kingdom, there are several Secretaries to the Treasury, who are junior Treasury ministers nominally acting as secretaries to HM Treasury. The origins of the office are unclear, although it probably originated during Lord Burghley's tenure as Lord Treasurer in the 16th century. The...
. Chesham had two workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
s, both buildings survived and are located in Germain Street. In June 2009 the Chesham town centre and old town conservation area was placed on the English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
Conservation Areas at Risk register which the District Council commented was due to the misinterpretation of its responses to the conservation body's questionnaire. Due to the pattern of the town's expansion there are several centres of employment which are interspersed with residential housing. Industrial buildings on the north side of the town have been redeveloped into offices in recent years.
Waterside
-Placenames:Canada:*Waterside, New BrunswickUnited Kingdom:*Waterside, Aberdeen*Waterside, South Ayrshire*Waterside, East Ayrshire*Waterside, Buckinghamshire*Waterside, Cumbria*Waterside, Derry*Waterside, East Dunbartonshire*Waterside, Lancashire...
which was the site of the first mills and factories in the 18th and 19th centuries there is a mixture of original and newly constructed industrial units and at the northern end along the Asheridge Vale there is a further development of generally small commercial business units.
Compared to other towns in south Buckinghamshire, there are fewer detached and owner-occupied houses and a higher proportion of social rental accommodation. Expansion in housing has occurred in several phases mainly to the east of the old town where artisan
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
's housing sprung up along Berkhamsted Road and subsequently along the many steep valley sides. Initially this development was as a consequence of the extension of the railway to the town in the 1880s, subsequently the promotion of Metroland
Metro-land
Metro-land is a name given to the suburban areas that were built to the north west of London in the counties of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Middlesex in the early part of the 20th century, and were served by the Metropolitan Railway, an independent company until absorbed by the London...
during the 1920s and the electrification of the Metropolitan Line
Metropolitan Line
The Metropolitan line is part of the London Underground. It is coloured in Transport for London's Corporate Magenta on the Tube map and in other branding. It was the first underground railway in the world, opening as the Metropolitan Railway on 10 January 1863...
in the 1960s. Pond Park estate was built in the 1930s. The population grew fast after the Second World War as workers followed employers who moved out from London. The population in 1951 was 11,500 leading to the building of the Chessmount and Hilltop estates by speculative developers in the 1950s and 60s. By 1971 the population had reached 20,000 since when it has only increased slightly. The growing popularity of the Chilterns as a place to live from the latter part of the 20th century onwards led to restrictions on housing and industrial development in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside considered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has been specially designated by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the United Kingdom government; the Countryside Council for Wales on...
and has sustained the demand for further house building in the town. Today an increasing number of those in employment find work outside the town, commuting by car or train as well as an increasing number who are home or office-based using technology to make a living.
Climate
Chesham experiences an oceanic climateOceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...
(Köppen climate classification
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
Cfb) similar to almost all of the United Kingdom, although the lower parts of the valley have significant frost hollow characteristics - being several degrees colder than surrounding areas on clear, calm nights and so have much lower average minimum temperatures than shown in the table. The lowest recorded temperature in Chesham was -19.6°C on the 20 December 2010 at a private weather station, which was also the coldest place in the UK.
Neighbourhoods
The town comprises a number of districts and communities:- Asheridge Vale, stretches along Asheridge Road on the north-west edge of the town. The large housing development was built during the mid 20th century along with an industrial estate comprising manufacturing and light industrial units which has since undergone diversification into offices and small businesses.
- BotleyBotley, BuckinghamshireBotley is a hamlet in the civil parish of Chesham, in Buckinghamshire, England.The hamlet name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means Botta's Clearing....
, a hamletHamlet (place)A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
located to the east of the town of Chesham between Lye Green and Ley HillLey HillFor the area in Birmingham, England see Ley Hill, BirminghamLey Hill is a Chiltern village on the Bucks/Herts border near the town of Chesham in the south-east England. It is part of the civil parish of Latimer, and comes under Chiltern District Council in the County of Buckinghamshire. Ley Hill...
(the latter in Latimer parishLatimer, BuckinghamshireLatimer is a village and civil parish that sits on the border between Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, in England. The parish forms part of the Buckinghamshire district of Chiltern. Latimer parish includes the villages of Latimer, Ley Hill and Tyler's Hill.Latimer was originally joined with the...
). - Chesham ValeChesham ValeChesham Vale is a small area of Chesham in Buckinghamshire, England, covering several roads. It is located in the north of Chesham towards the villages of Hawridge and Cholesbury. Part of Chesham Vale is located in the bottom of the valley with several roads leading up the hill towards Pond Park.-...
, an area of the town of Chesham itself. It is located to the north of Chesham between Pond Park and the villages of HawridgeHawridgeHawridge, is a small village in the Chilterns in the county of Buckinghamshire, England and bordering the county boundary with Hertfordshire. It is from Chesham, from both Tring and Berkhamsted....
and CholesburyCholesburyCholesbury is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, on the border with Hertfordshire. It is situated in the Chiltern Hills, about east of Wendover, north of Chesham and from Berkhamsted....
. - Chessmount, an area to the east of the town centre.
- Codmore, an ancient hamlet located to the north-east of the town centre, at the junction between the roads to Lye Green and Botley.
- Great Hivings, an area to the north of Chesham on the road to BellingdonBellingdonBellingdon the name deriving from the Anglo Saxon Bellingdenu or Bella's Valley is a village in the parish of Chartridge, in Buckinghamshire, England...
(the latter in Chartridge parishChartridgeChartridge is a village in Buckinghamshire, England situated 2 miles North West of Chesham.Chartridge is also the name of a civil parish in Chiltern District which also includes the village of Bellingdon and the hamlets of Pednor, Hundridge and Asheridge...
). - Hilltop, is a district to the north-east of the town built on steeply sloping ground. The estate, built in 1958 after the arrival of the Metropolitan line, consists primarily of steel framed bungalows, many of which were originally purchased by west Londoners.
- Lye GreenLye GreenLye Green is a hamlet in the parish of Chesham in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located north east of Chesham....
, a hamlet located to the north east of the main town. - Newtown, a late victorian housing development to the north of the town, now incorporated into the enlarged townscape.
- Old Town, until the arrival of the Metropolitan Railway in the 19th century was the town's centre. Today, St Mary's Church, the historic houses and streetscape are part of a designated Conservation Area lying to the south of the present town centre
- Orchard LeighOrchard LeighOrchard Leigh is a hamlet in the parish of Chesham in Buckinghamshire, England.- External links :*...
, a hamlet located to the north east of the main town, between Lye Green and Whelpley HillWhelpley HillWhelpley Hill is a hamlet in the parish of Ashley Green in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located to the east of Chesham, near the border with Hertfordshire and is the site of an Iron Age hillfort....
(the latter in Ashley Green parishAshley GreenAshley Green is a village and civil parish in Chiltern district of Buckinghamshire, England. The parish is on the boundary with Hertfordshire, midway between Chesham and Berkhamsted....
). - Pednormead End, an area to the west of the main town, along Missenden Road.
- Pond ParkPond ParkPond Park is an area of Chesham in Buckinghamshire, England, built on the hills to the north of the town starting in 1929. Pond Park also has a number of recreation grounds...
, an area to the north of the town of Chesham itself. - WatersideWaterside, BuckinghamshireWaterside is a hamlet in the parish of Chesham, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the town itself, though anciently referred to the group of dwellings next to the River Chess in Chesham....
, once a hamlet located just south of the town centre. Several mills sprung up along the River Chess which flows through the area as well as factories. It still retains a distinct character with a large open space known as the Moor.
Clock tower
A clock towerClock tower
A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Some clock towers are not true clock towers having had their clock faces added to an already existing building...
constructed in 1992 stands in Market Square on the site of Chesham’s 18th century town hall demolished in 1965. The turret is a reconstruction of the one built onto the original town hall in the 19th century and features the original glass-dialled clock face and clock mechanism from the mid 19th century. (see info box).
War memorial
Chesham war memorialWar memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or to commemorate those who died or were injured in war.-Historic usage:...
stands in a landscaped garden in the Broadway. It depicts an infantryman with his rifle inverted and commemorates those who fell during the First World War
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one.First or 1st may also refer to:* First , minor summit below the Schwarzhorn in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland* First , mountain in Bernese Alps in Switzerland...
and Second World Wars. it was unveiled in 1921. The inscription reads:- To The Glorious Memory Of The Men Of The Town Who Gave Their Lives And To Honour: All Who Served Or Suffered In Cause Of God King And Country Their Deeds Live After Them Faithful Unto Death.
Agriculture
There is evidence during the pre-Norman period of common fields divided into parcels and strips of land. The Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
records Chesham with sufficient arable land to support four water-powered
Water wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of free-flowing or falling water into useful forms of power. A water wheel consists of a large wooden or metal wheel, with a number of blades or buckets arranged on the outside rim forming the driving surface...
corn mills on the River Chess producing a surplus of flour exported to London. There was woodland to feed over 1600 pigs and supply timber for local manufacturing of farm tools (ploughshares). Field enclosure
Enclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...
started in the early 16th century and although almost completed by the mid 19th century the productivity of Chesham farms provided work for over 450 agricultural labourers. Sheep that grazed on the hillside fields around Chesham provided wool for the cloth making and dying cottage industry which, due to the town's proximity to London, thrived until the 18th century when Yorkshire mills out-competed them.
Industrial Revolution
Until the 18th century the economic activity of Chesham had remained largely unchanged since the granting of its town charter in 1257. The commercial planting of beechBeech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
woods established Chesham as one of a number local centres in the Chilterns for the production of turned furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
components and other wooden items often called bodging
Bodging
Bodging is a traditional wood-turning craft, using green wood to create cylindrical wooden woodturning via a traditional wooden-bed, polelathe, most commonly chair legs and stretcher poles, historically for the Windsor chair manufacturing industry.-Etymology:The origins of the term are obscure...
, in local workshops. Mills along the Chess concerned with papermaking
Papermaking
Papermaking is the process of making paper, a substance which is used universally today for writing and packaging.In papermaking a dilute suspension of fibres in water is drained through a screen, so that a mat of randomly interwoven fibres is laid down. Water is removed from this mat of fibres by...
and silk weaving
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
continued to operate until the middle of the 19th century as did 'outworkers' engaged in lace making
Lace
Lace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was...
and straw plaiting whose employment was impacted on by changes in fashion, by mechanization
Mechanization
Mechanization or mechanisation is providing human operators with machinery that assists them with the muscular requirements of work or displaces muscular work. In some fields, mechanization includes the use of hand tools...
and from cheaper imports from the continent. The mineral-laden unpolluted water of the Chess made it ideal for growing watercress
Watercress
Watercresses are fast-growing, aquatic or semi-aquatic, perennial plants native from Europe to central Asia, and one of the oldest known leaf vegetables consumed by human beings...
and this industry flourished in Chesham in the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
and beds extended along the Chess towards Latimer
Latimer, Buckinghamshire
Latimer is a village and civil parish that sits on the border between Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, in England. The parish forms part of the Buckinghamshire district of Chiltern. Latimer parish includes the villages of Latimer, Ley Hill and Tyler's Hill.Latimer was originally joined with the...
, which continued in operation until after the Second World War.
Manufacturing and brewing
In the 18th century home-based leatherLeather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
trade workers moved to a newly opened Barnes Boot factory and the Britannia Boot and Shoe Works towards the end of the 19th century by which time there were eight major manufacturers and many small workshops. In 1829 Beechwoods brush
Brush
A brush is a tool with bristles, wire or other filaments, used for cleaning, grooming hair, make up, painting, surface finishing and for many other purposes. It is one of the most basic and versatile tools known to mankind, and the average household may contain several dozen varieties...
making factory was opened. At its height there were around 12 factories specialising in brush made from locally grown beech with bristles imported mainly from across Asia. The adoption of nylon
Nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides, first produced on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station...
for brushes was the cause of the downturn with only one manufacturer remaining today. Russell's Brushes still make brushes in Chesham. Nash's Chesham Brewery opened in the High Street in 1841. Two other notable rivals were Darvell's Brewery and Sarah Howe and Sons. Competition led to amalgamations around the turn of the 20th century although brewing continued at Chesham Brewery until the 1950s.
Commerce today
Today Chesham has a diverse economic base comprising many typically small-medim sized enterprises representing all business sectors. Within the two industrial parks light engineering and fabrication industry is to be found alongside printers and graphic designers or other technology-based firms, wholesalers, distribution and courier businesses. As elsewhere there has been an expansion of professional business services and consultancies. The pedestrianised High Street retains some of the character of the old market town with some long-established traditional family retailers and also features a street marketStreet market
A street market is an outdoor market such as traditionally held in a market square or in a market town, and often held only on particular days of the week...
on Wednesdays and Saturdays and a now defunct monthly 'farmer's market'. This individuality was recognised in a survey of town 'high streets' which gave Chesham good marks for its distinctiveness. There are two of the 'big five' supermarkets present which have impacted on the town's independent stores and all retail outlets have also to compete with other nearby town centres, at Amersham, Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted
-Climate:Berkhamsted experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Castle:...
and Tring
Tring
Tring is a small market town and also a civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in Hertfordshire, England. Situated north-west of London and linked to London by the old Roman road of Akeman Street, by the modern A41, by the Grand Union Canal and by rail lines to Euston Station, Tring is now largely a...
as well as the large shopping centres in High Wycombe
High Wycombe
High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...
, Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
and Milton Keynes.
Parliamentary representation
From 1950 to 1974 the town was part of South Buckinghamshire constituency; since boundary changes made ahead of the February 1974 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
Chesham has been in the Chesham & Amersham constituency. The current constituency is solidly Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, and has never returned a non-Tory candidate. The current MP is Cheryl Gillan
Cheryl Gillan
Cheryl Elise Kendall Gillan is a British Conservative Party politician. She is currently the Secretary of State for Wales, and the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Chesham and Amersham in Buckinghamshire....
. The Conservative Party again won the constituency at the 2010 general election with a 60.4% share of the vote; the next most popular party were the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
, represented by Tim Starkey, with 28.5% of the vote and Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
, Anthony Gajadharsingh with 5.6%. Local turnout at the last election was 74.6%.
Local Government
Chesham formed part of Amersham Poor Law Union from 1835 and Amersham Rural Sanitary District from 1875. From 1884 the town was administered by the Chesham Local Government District, which was succeeded in 1894 by Chesham Urban DistrictChesham Urban District
Chesham Urban District was from 1894 to 1974 a local government district in the administrative county of Buckinghamshire, England. The urban district took over the responsibilities of the disbanded Chesham Local Government District....
under the Local Government Act 1894
Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level under the Local Government Act 1888...
. When the Local Government Act 1972
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
came into effect on April 1, 1974 the urban district was abolished in favour of the Chiltern district
Chiltern (district)
Chiltern is one of four local government districts of Buckinghamshire in south central England. It is named after the Chiltern Hills on which the region sits.The main towns in the district are Amersham and Chesham...
and the civil parish was given town council
Town council
A town council is a democratically elected form of government for small municipalities or civil parishes. A council may serve as both the representative and executive branch....
status. At town council level, Chesham is divided into 9 electoral wards and 19 councillors. The political composition of the council as at May 2011 was: Liberal Democrat 10; Conservative 7; and Independent 2. A town mayor is elected by the council on an annual basis.
Town crest
The various colours of the Chesham Town crest, created in 1974, are the same as those of Buckinghamshire County arms. The Chiltern woodlands are denoted by two beech trees. The river Chess is recognised in the black and white chequers and rooks. The swan is inherited from the Dukes of Buckingham. The lilies relate to St Mary, patron saint of the parish church.The buck's head is borrowed from the arms of The Cavendish family, which owned most of the parish lands. The motto is from the Epistle to the Galatians, Chapter V, Verse 13.
Utilities
Three Valleys WaterThree Valleys Water
Veolia Water Central is a privately owned company supplying water to Hertfordshire and parts of Surrey, North London and Bedfordshire, in England....
supplies drinking water
Drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...
to the town extracted from the River Chess and Misbourne
River Misbourne
The River Misbourne rises in a field on the outskirts of Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, and flows down the Misbourne valley to join the River Colne just north of where the latter is crossed by the A40 Western Avenue....
and from aquifers in the Chiltern Hills. Thames Water
Thames Water
Thames Water Utilities Ltd, known as Thames Water, is the private utility company responsible for the public water supply and waste water treatment in large parts of Greater London, the Thames Valley, Surrey, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Kent, and some other areas of in the United Kingdom...
undertakes waste water treatment and has a sewage treatment works
Sewage treatment
Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...
beside the River Chess on Latimer Road to the south of the town. Chiltern District Council is responsible for waste management
Waste management
Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal,managing and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and the process is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics...
and collection and disposal is currently carried out on its behalf by Verdant Group plc. EDF Energy
EDF Energy
EDF Energy is an integrated energy company in the United Kingdom, with operations spanning electricity generation and the sale of gas and electricity to homes and businesses throughout the United Kingdom...
provides electricity supply
Distribution Network Operator
Distribution network operators are companies licensed to distribute electricity in Great Britain by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets....
for the town.
Health services
Buckinghamshire NHS Primary Care TrustNHS Primary Care Trust
An NHS primary care trust is a type of NHS trust, part of the National Health Service in England. PCTs commission primary, community and secondary care from providers. Until 31 may2011 they also provided community services directly. Collectively PCT are responsible for spending around 80% of the...
(PCT) has overall responsibility for provision of health services to the local community. Since the closure of the town's cottage hospital in 2004 the nearest hospitals are Amersham Hospital
Amersham Hospital
Amersham Hospital is located in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. It is one of three hospitals in the Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust, the other two being Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Wycombe General Hospital....
, Wycombe General Hospital
Wycombe General Hospital
Wycombe General Hospital is located in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. It is one of three hospitals in the Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, the other two being Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Amersham Hospital....
and Stoke Mandeville Hospital
Stoke Mandeville Hospital
Stoke Mandeville Hospital is a large National Health Service hospital within Aylesbury Urban Area to the south of the town of Aylesbury, near the village of Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire...
the latter providing accident and emergency services. After several years of uncertainty, in 2008 the PCT confirmed it was proceeding with the Chesham Healthzone Project. Planning approval was granted by the District Council in June 2009 for the purpose-built health facility comprising, two GP practices, a pharmacy, consulting, clinical and treatment rooms. Originally scheduled to open in 2010, phase 1 is planned to open in November 2011.
Emergency services
Thames Valley PoliceThames Valley Police
Thames Valley Police, formerly known as Thames Valley Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley area covered by the ceremonial counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire....
headquartered in Kidlington
Kidlington
Kidlington is a large village and civil parish between the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and southwest of Bicester.-History:...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
is accountable for delivery of policing through the town's three neighbourhood policing teams. Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service
Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service
Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, is the Local Authority Fire Service serving the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire. It comprises the four districts of Buckinghamshire – Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern, South Bucks and Wycombe – and the unitary authority of Milton Keynes.Some 550 firefighters...
based in Aylesbury oversees the town's fire and rescue services. There is a fire station
Fire station
A fire station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus , personal protective equipment, fire hose, fire extinguishers, and other fire extinguishing equipment...
located in Bellingdon Road which is supplemented by services from the station at Amersham and other nearby towns. Ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
services are managed by South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust
South Central Ambulance Service
The South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust is the authority responsible for providing NHS ambulance services in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire in the South East England region...
based in Bicester
Bicester
Bicester is a town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in England.This historic market centre is one of the fastest growing towns in Oxfordshire Development has been favoured by its proximity to junction 9 of the M40 motorway linking it to London, Birmingham and...
, Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. The nearest ambulance station
Ambulance station
An ambulance station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of ambulance vehicles, medical equipment, personal protective equipment, and other medical supplies. Most stations are made up of garage bays or a parking area, normally undercover...
for the town is located in Amersham.
Religion
The oldest church building in Chesham is St. Mary's ChurchSt. Mary's Church, Chesham
St. Mary's Church is a Grade A listed Anglican church in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, and is part of the Diocese of Oxford. Built on the site of a Bronze Age stone circle of puddingstones, parts of the church building date to the 12th century. Remodelled in the 15th and 17th centuries, the church is...
which dates from at least the 12th century. Chesham has a long history of religious dissent
Dissent
Dissent is a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or an entity...
, such as the persecuted Lollards
Lollardy
Lollardy was a political and religious movement that existed from the mid-14th century to the English Reformation. The term "Lollard" refers to the followers of John Wycliffe, a prominent theologian who was dismissed from the University of Oxford in 1381 for criticism of the Church, especially his...
, followers of the John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe was an English Scholastic philosopher, theologian, lay preacher, translator, reformer and university teacher who was known as an early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. His followers were known as Lollards, a somewhat rebellious movement, which preached...
tradition. One of them Thomas Harding
Thomas Harding
Thomas Harding was a sixteenth century English religious dissident who, whilst waiting to be burnt at the stake as a Lollard in 1532, was hit on the head by a piece of firewood which killed him instantly....
was martyred on White Hill, near Dungrove Farm, in 1532. There is a memorial to local Lollards in Amersham
Amersham
Amersham is a market town and civil parish within Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire, England, 27 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills. It is part of the London commuter belt....
, and memorials to Thomas Harding in the churchyard and on White Hill. The 17th, 18th and 19th centuries saw the rapid growth of non-conformism especially Baptists. Broadway Baptist Church dates back to 1706 and had its 300th anniversary celebrations in Chesham in 2006. Its roots are in the Chesham and Berkhamsted Baptist Church which dates back to 1640.
In the present day, Chesham has four Baptist churches (Broadway Baptist, Trinity Baptist, Newtown Baptist and Hivings Free Church) and three Anglican churches (St Mary's, Christ Church in Waterside and Emmanuel in Newtown).
United Reformed Church
The United Reformed Church is a Christian church in the United Kingdom. It has approximately 68,000 members in 1,500 congregations with some 700 ministers.-Origins and history:...
, formerly called the Congregational Church, in The Broadway, there was a Gospel Hall in Station Road (which closed at the end of 2008), a Roman Catholic church (St Columba's) in Berkhampstead Road (built in 1960), a Methodist chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
in Bellingdon Road, a Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
Citadel in Broad St, Hiving's Free Church in Upper Belmont Road, an historic Quaker Friends Meeting House
Friends meeting house
A Friends meeting house is a meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends , where meeting for worship may be held.-History:Quakers do not believe that meeting for worship should take place in any special place. They believe that "where two or three meet together in my name, I am there among...
in Bellingdon Road, The King's Church charismatic fellowship which meets at Chesham Park Community College. Most of the churches of Chesham work collectively as part of the Churches Together for Chesham (CTfC) group. Other religious groups include Chesham Spiritualist Church
Spiritualist Church
A Spiritualist church is a church affiliated with the informal Spiritualist movement which began in the United States of America in the 1840s. Spiritualist churches are now found around the world, but are most common in English-speaking countries, while in Latin America, where a form of...
in Higham Road and the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses off Berkhampstead Road.
During the Second World War the first recorded Jewish congregation was founded on families evacuated from London who used to meet at the cricket pavilion and continued until 1968. This was succeeded by a Liberal Judaism community formed in 1990 which now meets at Chesham Grammar School.
During the second half of the 20th century a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
community became established in the town. Chesham Mosque
Chesham Mosque
Chesham Mosque is a mosque in Chesham, England. Completed in July 2005 but officially opened on 14 August 2005, Chesham Mosque is located on Bellingdon Road. The Imam of the mosque is Arif Hussain. The plot that the mosque is built on cost £331,000 to buy but the total cost of the mosque after...
the first purpose-built mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
was completed in 2005 and is located in Bellingdon Road.
Demography
| Religion | % |
|---|---|
| Buddhist Buddhism Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th... |
0.18 |
| Christian Christianity Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings... |
67.87 |
| Hindu Hinduism Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions... |
0.30 |
| Jewish Judaism Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people... |
0.30 |
| Muslim Islam Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~... |
6.28 |
| No religion | 17.65 |
| Other | 0.40 |
| Sikh Sikhism Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing... |
0.02 |
| Not stated | 7.05 |
| Age | % |
|---|---|
| 0–9 | 15.42 |
| 10–19 | 12.10 |
| 20–29 | 11.70 |
| 30–44 | 22.45 |
| 45–59 | 16.86 |
| 60–74 | 13.53 |
| 75–89 | 6.08 |
| 90+ | 1.86 |
| Ethnicity | % |
|---|---|
| White British White British White British was an ethnicity classification used in the 2001 United Kingdom Census. As a result of the census, 50,366,497 people in the United Kingdom were classified as White British. In Scotland the classification was broken down into two different categories: White Scottish and Other White... |
87.8 |
| White Other | 3.4 |
| Mixed origin | 1.2 |
| Indian Non-resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin A Non-Resident Indian is an Indian citizen who has migrated to another country, a person of Indian origin who is born outside India, or a person of Indian origin who resides permanently outside India. Other terms with the same meaning are overseas Indian and expatriate Indian... |
0.4 |
| Pakistani Pakistani Briton British Pakistanis are British citizens whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes people who were born in the United Kingdom and are of Pakistani descent or Pakistani-born people who migrated to the country... |
5.9 |
| Bangladeshi British Asian British Asian is a term used to describe British citizens who descended from mainly South Asia, also known as South Asians in the United Kingdom... |
0.2 |
| Black Caribbean British African-Caribbean community The British African Caribbean communities are residents of the United Kingdom who are of West Indian background and whose ancestors were primarily indigenous to Africa... |
0.2 |
| Black African | 0.1 |
| Chinese British Chinese British Chinese , including British-born Chinese are people of Chinese ancestry who were born in, or have migrated to, the United Kingdom. They are part of the Chinese diaspora, or overseas Chinese... |
0.3 |
| Other | 0.5 |
| Population | Total |
|---|---|
| 1801 | 3969 |
| 1831 | 5388 |
| 1851 | 6098 |
| 1871 | 6488 |
| 1901 | 7245 |
| 1931 | 8812 |
| 1951 | 11433 |
| 1961 | 16297 |
| 1971 † | 20466 |
| 1981 | 20447 |
| 1990 | 20214 |
| 2001 | 20358 |
Demographics
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...
based on 2001 census for the population of Chesham
- Population of town in 2001 comprised 9,920 male and 10,438 female
- Status = 55.5% Married, 9.5% Co-habiting, 35% Single (incl widowed, divorced etc.)
- Housing = 72.1% owner occ'd, 0.6% shared ownership, 20.3% rented (pub) 7% rented (private)
- Car ownership = 83% of households in the town own a car.
- Work/studying = 57% employed, 10.6% self-employed, 2.3% Studying,
- Not working = 12.4% retired, 2.0% unemployed, 7.1% caring for family, 5.9% = unable to work
- Travel to work = 73% car, 9.5% train, 1.9% bus, 1.6% bicycle, 0.8% on foot, 11.5% at home.>
† prior to boundary changes in 1974 reducing size of Chesham Town area
Roads
In contrast to other towns in south Buckinghamshire, Chesham historically was not well served by road transport links. The stage coach bypassed the town and, unlike Amersham, there were no turnpikes and consequently roads were poorly maintained. Significant change occurred in the post Second World War period with the opening of the M1 motorwayM1 motorway
The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
. The A416 now runs through the town, from Amersham to Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted
-Climate:Berkhamsted experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Castle:...
, and connects the town to the more recently upgraded A41
A41 road
The A41 is a formerly-major trunk road in England that links London and Birkenhead, although it has now largely been superseded by motorways. It passes through or near various towns and cities including Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton,...
. The A416 was diverted around the High Street and later upgraded to be dual-lane. Although these improvements enable more through traffic, traffic congestion has increased. Chesham's High Street was pedestrianised in 1990 and the benefits to the High Street have been felt ever since. Whilst some of the previous bustle has been lost, the impact of pedestrianisation has generally been positive.
Rail
Chesham tube station
Chesham lies at the end of the Metropolitan Line Chesham branch, and opened on 8 July 1889 as the original northern terminus of the Metropolitan Railway from . The station is a Grade II listed building. There is no station starter signal at Chesham. The branch has no intermediate stations...
, close to the town centre, is the terminus for the Chesham branch
Chesham branch
The Chesham branch is a short single-track railway branch line in Buckinghamshire, England. Although no part of it is within London and it runs entirely above ground, it is owned and operated by the London Underground...
, a single track spur off the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
Metropolitan Line
Metropolitan Line
The Metropolitan line is part of the London Underground. It is coloured in Transport for London's Corporate Magenta on the Tube map and in other branding. It was the first underground railway in the world, opening as the Metropolitan Railway on 10 January 1863...
connecting to Chalfont and Latimer station. It was opened in July 1889. The original plan involved the extension of the line from the station to the LNWR at Berkhamsted, but the idea was abandoned as the Metropolitan Line reached Amersham and thence Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
. There were some sizeable goods yards beyond the station, which were closed and now function as Waitrose
Waitrose
Waitrose Limited is an upmarket chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom and is the food division of the British retailer and worker co-operative the John Lewis Partnership. Its head office is in Bracknell, Berkshire, England...
's car park except for one portion occupied by a coal merchants.
In 1959 electrification of the Metropolitan Line
Metropolitan Line
The Metropolitan line is part of the London Underground. It is coloured in Transport for London's Corporate Magenta on the Tube map and in other branding. It was the first underground railway in the world, opening as the Metropolitan Railway on 10 January 1863...
to Chesham provided a more reliable connection to London. Following the abolition of London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
services to Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
in 1961 and the closure of Ongar tube station
Ongar tube station
Ongar tube station is a former London Underground station in the town of Chipping Ongar, Essex. Until its closure in 1994, it was the easternmost point of the Central line, and from 1961 until closure, it held the distinction of being the London Underground station farthest from Central...
in 1994, Chesham has become the furthest location served from central London, in terms of both distance and travelling time. Prior to December 2010, apart from a few direct trains to London at peak times, a shuttle service operated to and from Chalfont and Latimer station. Since then the town has benefited from direct trains to London all day.
The nearest National Rail
National Rail
National Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...
connections are Amersham station
Amersham station
Amersham station is a London Underground and National Rail station in the town of Amersham, in the Chiltern district of Buckinghamshire, England.Amersham station is a terminus of the London Underground's Metropolitan Line...
, although the LU line also connects directly to Chalfont & Latimer station
Chalfont & Latimer station
Chalfont & Latimer station is a London Underground and National Rail station in Travelcard Zone 8 on the Metropolitan Line, in Buckinghamshire. It is the junction between the through service to and a shuttle service every half an hour to...
, from where the Metropolitan Line
Metropolitan Line
The Metropolitan line is part of the London Underground. It is coloured in Transport for London's Corporate Magenta on the Tube map and in other branding. It was the first underground railway in the world, opening as the Metropolitan Railway on 10 January 1863...
and National Rail Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways is a British train operating company. It was set up at the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, and operates local passenger trains from Marylebone station in London to Aylesbury and main-line trains on the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Snow Hill with its associated branches...
provide a joint service with Metropolitan Line
Metropolitan Line
The Metropolitan line is part of the London Underground. It is coloured in Transport for London's Corporate Magenta on the Tube map and in other branding. It was the first underground railway in the world, opening as the Metropolitan Railway on 10 January 1863...
trains travelling to Baker Street
Baker Street
Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid the street out in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, who lived at a fictional 221B...
station and Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways is a British train operating company. It was set up at the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, and operates local passenger trains from Marylebone station in London to Aylesbury and main-line trains on the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Snow Hill with its associated branches...
trains travelling to Marylebone station
Marylebone station
Marylebone station , also known as London Marylebone, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. It stands midway between the mainline stations at Euston and Paddington, about 1 mile from each...
. There is also access to London via Berkhamsted railway station
Berkhamsted railway station
Berkhamsted railway station is in the town of Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, in the United Kingdom. It is located just beside Berkhamsted Castle, overlooking the Grand Junction Canal. The station is north west of London Euston on the West Coast Main Line...
on the West Coast Main Line
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
.
Bus services
The principal bus companies running local services are ArrivaArriva Shires & Essex
Arriva Shires & Essex is a division of Arriva, with operations in Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and London. It is one of many private operators of London Buses. Until 2002 its operations included Colchester...
, Carousel Buses
Carousel Buses
Carousel Buses is an independent bus company based in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England which operates a network of local and inter-urban bus services.-History:Carousel Buses was formed in 2000...
, Woottens
Woottens Luxury Travel
Woottens Luxury Travel are a coach company in Buckinghamshire, England and the surrounding counties. They run local bus services under the name Tiger Line.-History:...
and Redline.
Residential areas of the town are connected with the central shopping area. Chesham is also connected by services to nearby Amersham, and further afield to High Wycombe
High Wycombe
High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...
, Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead is a town in Hertfordshire in the East of England, to the north west of London and part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2001 Census was 81,143 ....
, St Albans
St Albans
St Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...
, Heathrow Airport and Uxbridge. Less frequent services run to Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
and Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
, and to surrounding villages.
Car usage and parking
There are six pay and displayPay and display
Pay and display machines are a subset of ticket machines used for regulating parking in urban areas or in car parks. It relies on a customer purchasing a ticket from a machine and displaying the ticket on the dashboard, or windscreen or passenger window of the vehicle...
car parks in the town, managed by Chiltern District Council. This demand for parking reflects the relatively high car usage, a result of both affluence and the limited public transport provision in rural areas. As a consequence
Chiltern District has the 4th highest carbon footprint
Carbon footprint
A carbon footprint has historically been defined as "the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, event, product or person.". However, calculating a carbon footprint which conforms to this definition is often impracticable due to the large amount of data required, which is...
of all local authorities.
Cycling
There is limited provision for cycle use within the town. The town is one setting off point for exploring the Chilterns and cycling heritage trails have been developed by the district authority, two of which are centred on countryside around Chesham.Air transport
Luton airport is 15 miles away and Heathrow airport 22 miles away. The Bovingdon stackBovingdon stack
The Bovingdon stack is a section of airspace to the north west of London where inbound planes to London Heathrow Airport, which is 20 miles to the south, are held. It is a busy example of a hold. It extends above the village of Bovingdon and the town of Chesham, and requires the VOR navigational...
is directly above the town.
Primary education
Between 1960s and the mid 1990s Primary educationPrimary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
provision in Chesham as elsewhere in the county was organised into First
First School
First school and lower school are terms used in some areas of the United Kingdom to describe the first stage of primary education. Some English Local Education Authorities have introduced First Schools since the 1960s...
(ages 4–8) and Middle
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
(ages 8 – 12) with some Combined
Combined school
Combined School is a term used in the United Kingdom which has begun to lose its original meaning.When, in 1967, the Plowden Report recommended a change in the structure of primary education in England, it proposed an arrangement of first and middle schools, catering for pupils aged 4–8 and 8-12...
Schools taking pupils across the whole age range (4 -12). In 1996 the arrangements were modified and the age of transfer to Secondary education
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
was changed to age 11. Today, the schools still retain some elements of the previous arrangement reflected also in their names. There are six Primary Schools within Chesham with catchment areas based on post codes: - Elmtree First School, Newtown Infant School, Brushwood Junior School, Thomas Harding Junior School, Little Spring Primary School, Waterside Combined School. Attendance by Chesham children at some of the village schools close to the town is also popular.
Secondary education
At secondary level Buckinghamshire continues to operate a system of selective education with pupils sitting the eleven plus exam to determine entry to either a Grammar SchoolGrammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
or Secondary Modern School (also known locally as an Upper School). Two Secondary School
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
s are located in the town: - Chiltern Hills Academy, a co-educational Church of England Academy, previously known as Chesham Park Community College which was formed from the merger of Lowndes School and Cestreham School) and Chesham Grammar School, a co-educational grammar school, which until May 2010 was called Chesham High School. Chesham also falls within the catchment areas of two further grammar schools, Dr Challoner's Grammar School
Dr Challoner's Grammar School
Dr Challoner's Grammar School, often abbreviated to DCGS, is an Academy Grammar School of approximately 1,300 boys located in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England....
for boys' in Amersham and Dr Challoner's High School
Dr Challoner's High School
Dr Challoner's High School, abbreviated to DCHS, is a grammar school for girls between the ages of 11 and 18, located in Buckinghamshire, England. In August 2011 the school became an Academy....
for girls in Little Chalfont
Little Chalfont
Little Chalfont is a village and civil parish in Chiltern district in south east Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated in a small group of villages called The Chalfonts which also consists of Chalfont St Giles and Chalfont St Peter...
.
Independent schools
In the Chiltern and South Bucks area around Chesham and over the county border in HertfordshireHertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
there are also a number of independent fee-paying schools providing education between ages 4–13 and up to age 18. Chesham Preparatory School is an Independent school
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
which opened in 1938 in the town and shortly after relocated to the outskirts of Chesham, at Orchard Leigh
Orchard Leigh
Orchard Leigh is a hamlet in the parish of Chesham in Buckinghamshire, England.- External links :*...
providing fee-paying and scholarship supported education.
Special, further and adult education provision
Chesham is the location of a nationally renowned Special school, Heritage House School which first opened in April 1968 and caters for pupils between the ages of 2 to 19 with severe learning difficulties.A Further education
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
college Amersham & Wycombe College
Amersham & Wycombe College
Amersham & Wycombe College is a further education college situated in Buckinghamshire, England.The college consists of three campuses; the primary site being located in Amersham, with two smaller additional campuses located in neighbouring towns of High Wycombe and Chesham.A training centre also...
was founded in 1973 and has one of its four campuses in the town on the former Cestreham Senior Boys School at Lycrome Road. The collage caters for a range of student cohorts with 2000 students on full-time courses and 5000 on a part-time bases.
Adult learning comprising a range of provision including academic, vocational and leisure
Leisure
Leisure, or free time, is time spent away from business, work, and domestic chores. It is also the periods of time before or after necessary activities such as eating, sleeping and, where it is compulsory, education....
courses, is provided a four sites in the town. Chesham Adult Learning Centre in Charteridge Lane, ElmTree School, ElmTree Hill, The Douglas McMinn Centre in East Street and The White Hill Centre White Hill.
The Chess Valley section of the Chiltern University of the Third Age
University of the Third Age
The University of the Third Age is an international organisation whose aims are the education and stimulation of retired members of the community - those in the third 'age' of life. It is commonly referred to as U3A.- France :...
(U3A) was formed in October 2008 in response to increasing demand for activities in the area and meets at St Mary's Church.
Community facilities
Chesham Museum
Chesham Museum
Chesham Museum is based in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England. The museum, which is run by volunteers, first opened in 2004 housed in temporary premises known as 'The Stables'. The museum relocated to its present site, in the town's Market Square, in October 2009...
is a newly established museum for the town and surrounding area which opened in 2004 having first been conceived back in 1981. Initially it was housed in temporary premises at The Stables behind the Gamekeeper's Lodge Pub in Bellingdon Road. Since October 2009 is has been located at 15 Market Square. There is also an annual Schools of Chesham carnival, Beer festival and bi-annual Chesham festival.
Chesham Library
Chesham Library is a public library in the centre of Chesham, Buckinghamshire. It provides books, magazines, audio-visual items and local information.It is located between Lowndes Park, Sainsbury's supermarket and the main high street....
opened in Chesham in 1923 in a room at Cemetery Lodge on Berkhamsted Road. In 1927, it moved into new premises at 33 High Street on the Broadway which it shared with Chesham Urban District Council. After the war it expanded. A children's section was added in 1952. In 1971 the library moved to Elgiva Lane, a site it shared with the Elgive Theatre prior to the latter's relocation to new premises. Since then it has been updated to provide better access and improved internal facilities including the evolution of the reference library into a Study Centre. It also houses a special collection of Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
children's books including some previously owned by Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...
.
The White Hill Centre, the site of an old school, is run by Chesham and District Community Association and since 1976 has provided educational, recreational social activities and facilities for societies and the local community to meet.
Opposite the town centre is Lowndes Park, a large park with playgrounds and formerly an open air paddling pool. There is a large pond in the park, known as Skottowe's Pond. Lowndes Park was donated to the town of Chesham in 1953. Prior to this it was part of the garden that belonged to the Lowndes family. The Moor, originally an island created by the diversion of the Chess to power mills is today an open space used for recreation and the location for traveling fairs which moved from their traditional location in the town centre in 1938. There are two public swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
s in the town: a heated open air pool in Waterside (Chesham Moor — Gym & Swim: outdoor swimming pool
Lido
The Lido is an 11 km long sandbar located in Venice, northern Italy, home to about 20,000 residents. The Venice Film Festival takes place at the Lido every September.-Geography:...
and fitness centre), and a roofed pool (and leisure centre
Leisure centre
A leisure centre in the UK and Canada is a purpose built building or site, usually owned and operated by the city, borough council or municipal district council, where people go to keep fit or relax through using the facilities.- Typical Facilities :...
) next to Chesham Grammar School at the top of White Hill. The Town Council manages 227 allotments
Allotment (gardening)
An allotment garden, often called simply an allotment, is a plot of land made available for individual, non-professional gardening. Such plots are formed by subdividing a piece of land into a few or up to several hundreds of land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families...
spread across three sites. There are 135 footpaths in the Chesham area and in May 2010 the town became the first in the Chilterns to be recognised as a "Walkers are Welcome Town".
Sport
Chesham United F.C.Chesham United F.C.
Chesham United is an English football club based in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, currently playing in the Southern League. They are nicknamed "The Generals" because they were once the football team of the General Baptist Church in Chesham. Chesham Generals merged with Chesham Town to form United...
is the local football club which plays in the Southern League
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
. At the end of the 2009-2010 season it was promoted to the Premier Division. It was formed in 1917 through the merger of Chesham Generals (the team of the Chesham General Baptist church now called Broadway Baptist Church), which was founded in 1887, and Chesham Town FC (started as the football team of Christ Church, Waterside), a founding member of the Southern League which started out in 1894 as Chesham FC. The club's most successful period was during the 1967-68 season when it reached the final of the FA Amateur Cup
FA Amateur Cup
The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when The Football Association abolished official amateur status.-History:...
at Wembley but lost out to Leytonstone F.C.
Leytonstone F.C.
Leytonstone F.C. was an English football club based in Leytonstone, Greater London. Founded in 1886, the club ceased to exist in 1979 when it merged with Ilford to form Leytonstone-Ilford, which later became Redbridge Forest after also absorbing Walthamstow Avenue...
1-0 in front of a crowd of 54,000. The club has struggled financially and performance-wise over recent years but has recently had a cash injection from a new financial backer.
Chesham cricket club
Chesham cricket club
Chesham Cricket Club is a cricket club, based in Chesham, which plays in the Thames Valley Cricket League. The club enters 4 sides in the Thames Valley League, with the first team playing in Division 2B, the 2nds in 4A, the 3rds in 6A and the 4th team in 8B...
was founded in 1848 and is one of the oldest clubs in the Thames Valley Cricket League
Thames Valley Cricket League
The Thames Valley Cricket League is a mostly amateur cricket league, catering to clubs geographically to the west of London, with clubs coming from Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Oxfordshire and Surrey, though most are from Berkshire and Buckinghamshire...
. Its home ground is at Amy Lane. In addition to four senior Saturday XIs it also runs two Sunday XIs and a women's side. Chesham also has a Junior section, which competes in Buckinghamshire and national competitions.
Chesham Rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
Club ('The Stags'), was founded in 1980 and play their rugby at Chesham Park Community College. The club fields three men's teams, a women's team and a number of mini and junior sides.
Town twinning and cultural exchanges
Chesham has twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with three towns in other countries. It is organised by the Chesham Town Twinning Association. The first link-up was in 1980 with Friedrichsdorf
Friedrichsdorf
Friedrichsdorf is a town of the Hochtaunuskreis, some north of Frankfurt am Main in Hesse, Germany.-Location: Friedrichsdorf is located in the Taunus area, ranking third among the Hochtaunuskreis boroughs after Bad Homburg vor der Höhe and Oberursel...
, at the foot of the Taunus
Taunus
The Taunus is a low mountain range in Hesse, Germany that composes part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. It is bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. On the opposite side of the Rhine, the mountains are continued by the Hunsrück...
Hills near Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Germany. Next followed the association with Houilles
Houilles
Houilles is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located from the center of Paris.-Transport:...
, a commune
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
of Paris, France, in 1986 and thirdly, in 1995 a tie-up with Archena
Archena
Archena is a municipality of Spain in the autonomous community and province of Murcia. It has a population of 16,707 and an area of 16.5 km². It is 24 km from the provincial capital, Murcia....
, in the Murcia
Region of Murcia
The Region of Murcia is an autonomous community of Spain located in the southeast of the country, between Andalusia and Valencian Community, on the Mediterranean coast....
region of Spain.
Emmanuel Church is linked with a church in Prague, Czech Republic and the British Legion is linked with its Canadian equivalent in Buckingham, Quebec.
Local news media
The local newspaperNewspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
covering Chesham and the surrounding area, although it no longer has an office based in the town, is the Buckinghamshire Examiner
Buckinghamshire Examiner
The Buckinghamshire Examiner more usually known as the Bucks Examiner is a weekly newspaper, published on Wednesdays and distributed in the towns of Amersham, Chesham, and the surrounding villages in the Chiltern area of Buckinghamshire, England. It is published by Trinity MirrorIt was first...
founded in 1889. Another Buckinghamshire newspaper with a circulation area covering Chesham is the Bucks Free Press
Bucks Free Press
The Bucks Free Press is a weekly local newspaper, published every Friday and covering the area surrounding High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. It was first published on 19 December 1856. Despite its title, it covers local news for the High Wycombe region only.The paper covers local news,...
. The non-commercial community news blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
dedicated to Chesham and nearby villages is Chiltern Voice.
There is also a community website www.cheshampeople.co.uk where you can discuss local issues.
TV and mobile phone signals
Due to its position in a fold in the hill, TV and radioRadio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
reception in Chesham can be poor and the town now has its own TV mast. In the 1970s, Chesham was one of the last towns in the south east to receive BBC2
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
, and parts of it still cannot receive Channel 5. Houses taking their TV reception from the Chesham transmitter have vertically polarised aerials, whilst those in a good enough position receive their signal from the Crystal Palace Transmitter
Crystal Palace Transmitter
The Crystal Palace transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications site in the Crystal Palace area of the London Borough of Bromley, England .Its tower is the third-tallest structure in London...
in London with horizontally polarised aerials — they always could receive BBC2 (and indeed Channel 4 & Channel 5). Digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals...
coverage is patchy for much the same reason. Mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
reception can be poor in the steeper parts of Chesham and outlying villages.
Filmography
The following TV series and episodes were filmed in Chesham's Old Town and pedestrianised High Street:- The ProfessionalsThe Professionals (TV series)The Professionals was a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mk1 Productions and London Weekend Television that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon...
Close Quarters (1978) - Hundridge Manor - Hammer House of HorrorHammer House of HorrorIn 1980, Hammer Films created a series for British television, the Hammer House of Horror, which ran for 13 episodes with 51 minutes per episode...
: Carpathian Eagle (1980) - Lowndes Park: The Silent Scream (1980) - 68 Broad Street - Inspector MorseInspector Morse (TV series)Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis. Dexter makes a cameo appearance in all but three of the episodes....
The Day of the Devil (1993) - High Street - Midsomer MurdersMidsomer MurdersMidsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...
: The Axeman Cometh (2007) - Market Sq; Written in Blood (1997) - High St and Old Town; Sins of Commission — High St; Things that Go Bump in the Night (2004) - Market Sq; The Black Book - 15 Market Sq (2009) - Nuzzle and ScratchNuzzle and ScratchNuzzle and Scratch is a British children's television programme, shown on CBeebies.It stars two eponymous puppet alpacas created and developed by Barry Quinn and Alan Robinson and written by various writers.-Information:...
(2009) - CBeebiesCBeebiesCBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at children 6 years and under. It is used as a themed strand in the UK on terrestrial television, as a separate free-to-air domestic British channel and used for international varients supported by advertising, subscription or both...
programme, Toy Shop episode filmed on the high street outside Harvey Johns - Scoop (2009) - High Street and Town
- ChucklevisionChuckleVisionChuckleVision is a popular British television series shown mainly on CBBC. New episodes are always first aired on BBC One, and occasionally episodes are shown on BBC Two. The first episode was shown on 26 September 1987. It follows the adventures of the Chuckle Brothers & the Patton Brothers, who...
Well Suited (2000) - High Street (opening scene)
Notable people
- Aneurin "Nye" BevanAneurin BevanAneurin "Nye" Bevan was a British Labour Party politician who was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1959 until his death in 1960. The son of a coal miner, Bevan was a lifelong champion of social justice and the rights of working people...
, LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician and father of the National Health ServiceNational Health ServiceThe National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
moved to Asheridge Farm near Chesham, where he died July 6, 1960. - Lewis CarrollLewis CarrollCharles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
is supposed to have based his "Mad HatterMad HatterHatta, the Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the story's sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. He is often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Carroll...
" character from Alice in Wonderland on Roger CrabRoger CrabRoger Crab was an English soldier, haberdasher, herbal doctor and writer who is best known for his ascetic lifestyle which included Christian vegetarianism. Crab fought in the Parliamentary Army in the English Civil War before becoming a haberdasher in Chesham. He later became a hermit and worked...
, who lived in what is now The Drawingroom Art Gallery and Restaurant, in Francis Yard. - Andrew DavisAndrew Davis (conductor)Sir Andrew Frank Davis CBE is a British conductor.Born in Ashridge, Hertfordshire to Robert J. Davis and his wife Florence J. née Badminton, Davis grew up in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, and in Watford. Davis attended Watford Boys' Grammar School, where he studied classics in his sixth form years...
b.1944 is British Conductor who was born in nearby AsheridgeAsheridgeAsheridge is a small hamlet in the parish of Chartridge, in Buckinghamshire, England. Prior to 1898 it was part of Chesham parish...
and grew up in the town. - Stephen FryStephen FryStephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
spent part of his childhood in Chesham, attending Chesham Prep School as detailed in his autobiography Moab is my Washpot. He lived in Stanley Avenue. - Thomas HardingThomas HardingThomas Harding was a sixteenth century English religious dissident who, whilst waiting to be burnt at the stake as a Lollard in 1532, was hit on the head by a piece of firewood which killed him instantly....
, 16th-century English religious dissident. He was from Chesham and was executed as a Lollard in 1532. He fought for the right to read the scriptures in English. He was accused of heresyHeresyHeresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
and interrogated in Chesham parish churchParish churchA parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
. He was found guilty and was burnt at the stake in 1532, at Chesham in the Pell, near Botley. - Charles Townsend HarrisonCharles Townsend HarrisonCharles Townsend Harrison , BA Hons , MA , PhD was a prominent UK art historian who taught Art History for many years and was Emeritus Professor of History and Theory of Art at the Open University....
art historian and critic was born in Chesham in 1942. - Mary InghamMary InghamMary Ingham is an English author and freelance journalist.She was born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England and studied Social Science at the University of Liverpool.-Bibliography:* Now We are Thirty, Eyre Methuen, 1982...
, author was born in the town in 1947. - D. H. LawrenceD. H. LawrenceDavid Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
, (1885–1930) the novelist and poet, rented a cottage at Bellingdon near Chesham, while he was working on The Rainbow from 1914-1915. - Arthur Lasenby LibertyArthur Lasenby LibertySir Arthur Lasenby Liberty was a London merchant, and the founder of Liberty & Co.Born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England, the son of a draper, he began work at sixteen with his uncle who sold lace, and later, another uncle who sold wine...
, founder of the famous Liberty storeLiberty (department store)Liberty is a long-established department store in Regent Street in Central London, England, in the West End shopping district.-Early years:...
in London, lived in a house next to the George & Dragon in the High Street. - William Lowndes (1652–1724) British Politician and Secretary to the TreasurySecretary to the TreasuryIn the United Kingdom, there are several Secretaries to the Treasury, who are junior Treasury ministers nominally acting as secretaries to HM Treasury. The origins of the office are unclear, although it probably originated during Lord Burghley's tenure as Lord Treasurer in the 16th century. The...
who built and lived at Bury House as did many of his relatives and descendants - Margaret MeeMargaret MeeMargaret Ursula Mee, MBE was a British botanical artist who specialized in plants from the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. She was also one of the first environmentalists to draw attention to the impact of large-scale mining and deforestation on the Amazon Basin.-Early life:Margaret Ursula Brown was...
, (1909–1988) born in the town and attended Dr Challoner's Grammar School, Amersham. Studied art, and with her husband, Greville Mee moved to BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
where she taught art and became a renowned botanical artist, particularly the floraFloraFlora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
of the Amazon rainforestAmazon RainforestThe Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...
. - Earl Mountbatten of BurmaLouis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of BurmaAdmiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC, FRS , was a British statesman and naval officer, and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
used to stay, as a child, with his family for summer holidays in Germains House in Fullers Hill. - Arthur T. F. ReynoldsArthur T. F. ReynoldsArthur Reynolds was a British Protestant Christian missionary in China and Japan under the auspices of the China Inland Mission, which later became the Overseas Missionary Fellowship...
(1909–2001) was born in the town and later became a Protestant missionaryMissionaryA missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
in China and Japan. He was the author or translator of a number of books. - Milton RosmerMilton RosmerMilton Rosmer was a British actor, film director and screenwriter. He was born in Southport, Lancashire on 4 November 1881. He made his screen debut in the 1916 film The Mystery of a Hansom Cab and continued to act in film and television until 1956...
film actor, director and screenwriter was living in the town at the time of his death in 1971. - Ghayasuddin SiddiquiGhayasuddin SiddiquiGhayasuddin Siddiqui is an academic and political activist. He was born in Delhi, India, migrated to Pakistan in late 1947 and moved to the UK in 1964....
, leading IslamIslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic intellectual and community leader. Founder and director of the Muslim Institute and of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain. Lives in Chesham. Dr Siddiqui is a leading Islamic intellectual and community leader. - Francis WilsonFrancis Wilson (meteorologist)Francis Wilson, CMet , is an English weather forecaster who was a presenter and the Head of Weather on Sky News, from 1993 until 2010.-Career:...
, TV weatherman. Used to live in Chesham. - Guy SinerGuy SinerGuy Siner is an American-born English actor known for his role as Lieutenant Hubert Gruber in the British television series Allo 'Allo!.-Early life:...
who starred in 'Allo 'Allo!'Allo 'Allo!'Allo 'Allo! is a British sitcom broadcast on BBC One from 1982 to 1992 comprising eighty-five episodes. It is a parody of another BBC programme, the wartime drama Secret Army, and was created by David Croft, who also wrote the theme music, and Jeremy Lloyd. Lloyd and Croft wrote the first 6...
currently resides in Chesham. - Captain Richard SpratlyRichard SpratlyCaptain Richard Spratly was master of the British whaler, the Cyrus South Seaman. from at least 1836 until 1844. He is notable for being the namesake of Spratly Island and the group of islands and reefs in the area known as the Spratly Islands.-Early life:...
, namesake of Spratly IslandSpratly IslandSpratly Island may refer to:* Spratly Islands, a chain of islands, reefs and shoals in South China Sea that is disputed by the Philippines, People's Republic of China, Republic of China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei....
and the Spratly IslandsSpratly IslandsThe Spratly Islands are a group of more than 750 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea. The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines and Malaysia , about one third of the way from there to southern Vietnam. They comprise less than four square kilometers of land...
region, hailed from Chesham. - Alex HorneAlex HorneAlex Horne is a British comedian.He was educated at Lancing College and the University of Cambridge, where he was a member of Footlights.-Career:...
, standup comedian currently lives in Chesham
See also
- Lord CheshamBaron CheshamBaron Chesham, of Chesham in the County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1858 for the Hon. Charles Cavendish, who had earlier represented Aylesbury, Newtown, East Sussex, Youghal and Buckinghamshire in the House of Commons as a Liberal...
Nearby towns, villages and hamlets
- AmershamAmershamAmersham is a market town and civil parish within Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire, England, 27 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills. It is part of the London commuter belt....
- AsheridgeAsheridgeAsheridge is a small hamlet in the parish of Chartridge, in Buckinghamshire, England. Prior to 1898 it was part of Chesham parish...
- BellingdonBellingdonBellingdon the name deriving from the Anglo Saxon Bellingdenu or Bella's Valley is a village in the parish of Chartridge, in Buckinghamshire, England...
- ChartridgeChartridgeChartridge is a village in Buckinghamshire, England situated 2 miles North West of Chesham.Chartridge is also the name of a civil parish in Chiltern District which also includes the village of Bellingdon and the hamlets of Pednor, Hundridge and Asheridge...
- Chesham BoisChesham BoisChesham Bois is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, adjacent to both Amersham and Chesham.-History:...
- CholesburyCholesburyCholesbury is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, on the border with Hertfordshire. It is situated in the Chiltern Hills, about east of Wendover, north of Chesham and from Berkhamsted....
- HawridgeHawridgeHawridge, is a small village in the Chilterns in the county of Buckinghamshire, England and bordering the county boundary with Hertfordshire. It is from Chesham, from both Tring and Berkhamsted....
- Ley HillLey HillFor the area in Birmingham, England see Ley Hill, BirminghamLey Hill is a Chiltern village on the Bucks/Herts border near the town of Chesham in the south-east England. It is part of the civil parish of Latimer, and comes under Chiltern District Council in the County of Buckinghamshire. Ley Hill...
- PednorPednorPednor is a hamlet in the parish of Chartridge, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills two miles northwest of Chesham and seven miles southeast of Wendover.The hamlet name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'Pedda's slope'....
External links
- Broadway Baptist Church
- Chesham 1879 Tennis and Squash Club
- Chesham Camera Club
- Chesham Cricket Club
- The Chesham Elgiva
- Chesham Fairtrade organisation
- Chesham Grammar School
- Chesham Museum
- Chesham Rugby Club
- The Chesham Society
- Chesham tourism guide
- Chesham Town Council
- Chesham United Football Club
- The King's Church Chesham