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70

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.

C H EN IES,

divided am ong pensioners in the parish. In 1891 the
la te Duke of Bedford m ade a g ift to the funds of the
C h arity, by w hich the income was increased ^ 18 a year.
T h e Old Manor House, now occupied as a farm house, is
a portion only of the stru ctu re reared by the first E arl
of Bedford on the site of an old castle of the Plantagenet
kings, and consists of a single wing, which is so well
constructed and of m aterial so adm irable, that it looks
as if it had been recen tly com p leted; though b ut a
fragm ent, i t is a fine specim en or Tudor m asonry and its
high-pitched roofs and clusters of curiously twisted ch im ­
neys have evidently served as models for th e architecture
of the v illage.
The cou n try around is rich ly wooded.
Woodsdde House is the seat of Adeline, D uchess of
Bedford. The Duke of Bedford K .G . is lord of the m anor

[ k e l l y ’s

and principal landowner. T h e soil is gravel, flint and
c h a lk ; subsoil, gravel and chalk. Th e chief crops are
wheat and barley. The area is 1,749 acres of land and
10 of w a te r; rateable value, £ 3 ,2 15 ; the population in
1911 was 361.
P arish C lerk , A lfred G rover.
Post Office.— Miss E liza G race, sub-postm istress. L e t­
ters from Rickm answ orth (H erts) arrive at 7.30 a.m.
& 12 noon; dispatched at 10.5 a.m . & 5.40 p .m .; no
delivery on Sundays. Th e n earest m oney order &
telegraph office is at Latim er,
m iles distant
E lem entary School (m ixed), b uilt in 1845, for n o chil­
dren ; Thom as Jam es, schoolmaster
C arrier to London.— W illiam Brow n, from his house to
S tar street, E dgw are road, every thurs. return in g sat

PRIVATE RESIDENTS.

Brown W illiam , carrier
K in g G eorge,gam ekeeper to th e Duke
D arrell Jacob, farm er, M ount farm
of Bedford
Dickson John, head gardener to Ade M acG regor A lexander, estate bailiff
line Duchess of Bedford
to Duke of Bedford
G len ister Hannah (M iss), shopkeeper Salm on A lfred, baker
Goodson H erbert A rth u r,
Bedford Sm ith G eorge,farm forem an to James
A rm s P.H
I Woods esq. Lodge farm
G race Eliza & Caroline (M isses),shop­ ! Sm ith W illiam , farm forem an to Jas.
keepers, Post office
I Woods esq. L ittle Green S treet frm
Howell W illiam , blacksm ith
1 W estell W illiam , beer retailer
H
ughes
G
eorge,
b
utcher
&
assistant
Woods Jam es, farmeT, G reat Green
COMMERCIAL.
S treet farm
overseer
B oughton John, farm er, Manor house,
Kentish
Sarah
S.
(M
rs.),
grocer
Old house & Chenies M ill farm s

Bedford Adeline Duchess of, Woodside house
Blandford Marchioness of, Chenies ho
Dickson John
Fursdon Rev. Robert W . (B aptist)
M acLean Capt. Lachlan Frederick
Copland, Rose cottage
Shann Rev. Reginald M .A . (rector),
T h e Rectory

C H E P P I N G W Y C O M B E , see H igh W ycom be.
C H E S H A M , in Domesday “ C estreham ,” is a large
parish and m arket town, distant b y road from London 28
m iles, U xbridge 14 north-w est, A m ersham 3 north, A yle s­
b u ry 13 south-east and B uckin gh am 30, and has a te r­
m inal station controlled by the G reat C en tral and M etro­
politan Joint C o m m ittee; it is th e head of a petty
sessional division and county cou rt d istrict, in the Mid
division of the county, hundred of B urnham , union of
Am ersham , ru ra l deanery of A m ersham , archdeaconry
of B uckingham and diocese of Oxford. Chesham derives
its name from the river Chess, a feeder of the riv er
Colne, which flows throu gh th e town from two spring
heads, one in th e park of W illiam Lowndes esq. and the
other in H igham Mead.
The town was governed b y a local board of nine m em ­
bers from the year 1885, u n til the establishm ent
b y the “ L ocal G overnm ent A ct, 1894,” of an Urban Dis­
tr ic t C o u n c il; th e town is lig h ted w ith gas by a company
form ed in 1847. B y a system of drainage com pleted in
1887 th e sew age is conveyed by gravitation to a sewage
farm , near B roadw aters B ridge and is th ere treated
either b y broad irrigatio n or b y chem ical p recip ita tio n ;
the subsoil of the farm is all gravel and is under-drained
at a depth of 6 or 7 feet, the effluent bein g em ptied into
th e riv er Chess below Blackw ell H all. The town is sup­
plied w ith w ater obtained from an artesian well, bored
about 160 feet into th e chalk and lined w ith cast iron
cylinders to exclude all the upper springs. Th e w ater
is raised from th e well into a service reservoir about 120
feet above th e town, havin g a cap acity of about 200,000
g a llo n s : a constant supply is furnished d irect from the
m ains and every provision m ade to m eet em erg e n cies:
th e works are the prop erty of th e Urban D istrict Council.
T his place gives th e title of baron to a branch of the
C avendish fam ily. T he church of S t. M ary is a cru ci­
form buildin g chiefly in the E arly E n g lish and
Decorated styles, consisting of chancel, clerestoried
nave, aisles, south porch w ith parvise, transepts and
a central em battled tow er w ith recta n g u la r spire,
containing a clock, w ith C am bridge q u arter chim es,
6 fine-toned bells reca st in 1812, and a sanctus
bell, h un g in 1370 and reh u n g in 1790; th e curfew
is regu larly ru n g from th e first S un day after New
M ichaelm as day u n til the S aturd ay evening im m e­
dia tely p recedin g M arch 10 : th e earliest ex istin g p or­
tion is perhaps, a portion of the north transept,
retain in g half a Norm an window, the low er stage of the
tower, the arcades of the nave and a lan cet in the north
aisle are E arly E n glish , the Decorated porch has a
groined roof and upon it a parvise, reached by a turret
stair from the south aisle, and also Tetains a s to u p ;
the chancel is also of this period, but the clerestory
and m any of th e windows are P erp en d icu la r: th e south
transept was form erly th e b urial place of the Cavendishes
of L atim er, and contains a m onum ent to Sir John
Cavendish K .B . a younger son of the first E arl of Devon­
shire, 1618, and an altar tomb w ith a lo fty pyram idal struc­
ture above to M ary (B anks), w ife of S ir Francis W hichcote bart. 1728 : on the north side of the chancel is a
m onum ent, w ith effigy in the act of preaching, to
Richard W oodcock, a form er v icar, 1623; and one to

Richard Bowie, 1626; the tw o la tte r w ere restored in
1887 at a very considerable cost by W illiam Lowndes
esq. ; in the chancel are m em orials to N icholas Skottowe, 1798, by Bacon, and several inscribed stones to
m em bers of the Lowndes fa m ily : in th e north transept
is a brass, inscribed to G eorge, son of M ajor W illiam
W ade, 1738 ; a brass is also recorded to the fam ily of
E g g e r le v : the entire buildin g was restored in 1869,
under the direction of the la te Sir G eorge G ilb ert Scott
R.A . ; the chancel bein g renovated at the cost of the late
Duke of Bedford K .G . who likew ise gave £500 towards
the restoration ; the external walls were p artly refaced,
and in doing this m any fragm ents of worked stone,
proving the Norm an character of the building, w ere met
w ith ; th e area of th e north aisle was enlarged and the
nave roof cased in th e Perpendicular s t y le ; those of the
south aisle and transepts restored and a new roof of the
original p itch placed on th e c h an ce l; th e new font, in the
E arly E nglish style, was th e g ift of W illiam Lowndes
esq. of the B ury, and the lectern th at of the Misses
S utthery ; the organ, erected in 1852, was enlarged and
im proved in 1869 ; th e stained east window was presented
by the 9th Duke of B edford K .G . others b y the Misses
Nash and M rs. Lowndes ; there are m em orial windows
to Mrs. Morton, Miss AylwaTd, R ich ard C lare and Mary
his w ife, the Rev. A . F. A ylw ard, 25 years vicar of
Chesham , who fell a v ictim to a terrible epidem ic of
fever in the parish, Nov. 12, 1871, w hile v isitin g his
parishioners, and to the late W illiam Lowndes esq. of
The B u r y : a m ural brass, erected by th e poor of the
parish, has been placed above th e p u lp it: d u rin g the
restoration several ancient paintings were discovered on
the north and south walls and on the n orth-w est pier of
th e tow er, one of these being a colossal figure of St.
C h risto p h er; some fragm ents of the arm s of the Earls of
Bedford still rem ain in the clerestory windows : in 1898
an oak lobby was erected at a cost of £90 in commemo­
ration of the Diamond Jubilee of H er late Majesty
Queen V ic to ria : there are 800 sittin gs. Th e register
dates from the year 1538. Th e livin g is a vicarage, net
income £250, w ith residence, in th e g ift of the trustees
of the late Rev. A lfred Peache M .A. of Danmore, W im ­
bledon (d. 1900). and held since 1884 by the Rev.
Charles E ustace Boultbee M .A. of Corpus C h risti Col­
lege, C am bridge, and surrogate. Em m anuel C hurch, in
New Town, erected in 1887 a t a cost, in clu d in g site
(£345), of £ 1,2 13 , was fu rth er enlarged about 1898 at
a cost of £800, and w ill seat 200 persons.
The B aptist chapel in the B roadw ay was founded in
1706 and will seat 880 persons. T he H inton Baptist
chapel was erected in 1701 and reb u ilt in 1898 at a cost
of £3,300, and affords 520 sittin gs.
Zion Baptist
chapel, in Red Lion street, was b u ilt in 1868 and will
seat 500 p e rs o n s ; there is also a B ap tist chapel in
Townfield, erected in 1820, which affords 350 sittings,
and a B ap tist hall in connection w ith it, in Berkham sted road, b u ilt in 1914 for about 300 persons. The
C ongregational chapel, erected in 1724 and reb uilt in
1886 at a cost of £3,000, is of red brick and c u t flint
w ith stone dressings in the G o th ic style of the 13th
c e n tu r y ; the organ cost £500: there are sittings for