Chalfont St Peteer June 2006 Report of the Community Appraisal Steering Group and Action Plan for 2006. ...our village ...our voice Chalfont St Peter June 2006 Where is it?... LONDON Beaconsfield Rickmansw Chalfont St. Giles A355 Chalfont Maple Cross Seer Green Common Jordans Beaconsfield Chalfont St. Peter Harefield A412 Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire. Gerrards Cross Brief History of Chalfont St Peter - (by permission of Cllr Pam Bacon) Chalfont St Peter runs southwards from Chorleywood to Behind the main roadway of the village was Swan’s farm whose Gerrards Cross, along the A413 and within a few miles of the land stretched up the hillside of the present Chalfont Heights. A40 and M40 to London and the M25 ring road, yet is The only remaining building is the wooden barn, converted into surrounded with woods and farmland and is within the the Youth Club in the 1940s. Chilterns, an area of outstanding beauty. It is the third The most important estate within the village was the Grange, largest parish in the Chiltern District and includes the originally where Missenden Abbey held its ecclesiastical court for ancient villages of Chalfont St Peter, Chalfont Common, the village, then granted to Edmund Brudenell in the 16th century Austenwood Common and the hamlet of Horn Hill, all and then passing into the Drury family who remained Lords of the mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1087. Manor until 1626 when hard times forced them to relinquish lands Palaeolithic flint stone implements along the valley of the River in the village to Henry Bulstrode, already owner of Bulstrode Park Misbourne suggest Stone Age settlements and Roman coins of the and Hedgerley. The next owner was Isaac Pennington, Lord Mayor 2nd and 3rd centuries were found in a field off Welders Lane. of London. His son, Isaac became a Quaker and the Grange became their meeting place. The Penningtons were evicted from The name “Chalfont” derived from “Ceadeles funta” or the “spring the Grange in Charles II’s reign and the house passed to an uncle of of Ceadeles”, a common name in British or Celtic times. The Manor Judge Jefferys. Judge Jeffreys stayed there while his new acquisition of Chalfont was held by Leofwin in the 11th century from his of Bulstrode Park was being renovated after a fire. In 1929 the brother, King Harold who was killed by William the Conqueror at Grange was sold to an order of Catholic teaching nuns and became the Battle of Hastings in 1066. William granted the the Holy Cross Convent School for Girls. Manor to this half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux. At this time “Ceadeles” had The Estate of Chalfont Park was bought by Thomas Hibbert in 1794 changed to “Celfunde”. In the 12th whose descendants were responsible for many charitable bequests century Henry II granted the in the village. In the mid 19th century John Hibbert bought land Manor to his Treasurer, on Gold Hill Lane (now Market Place) as allotments for the villages, Ranulf de Brito, who was endowed two almshouses and an infants’ school and set up the responsible for first Cottage Hospital of six beds on the present site. In 1921 land establishing a weekly on Chalfont Park was set aside as a golf course. Chalfont Park market in the village became a hotel, later a convalescent home for servicemen during and the annual fair to the Second World War and the headquarters of British Alcan. mark the feast day of The first independent chapel was built on Gold Hill Common in SS Peter and Paul in 1792 and had its first Baptist minister in 1800. June – a custom still honoured to this day. With the building of the railway in 1906 in Gerrards Cross the whole area grew in size. In Chalfont St Peter, Market Place was The village and its lands built up, Gold Hill Lane in the 1920s, a memorial hall was built after then passed into the the First World War, later turned into a picture house and ownership of the Turvilles subsequently demolished to make way for the row of shops at the who were responsible for bottom of Market Place. building the Church in 1196. Very soon the lands passed to the Abbot and In 1913 the Community of Carmelite Friars came to live in a house monks of Missenden Abbey and the first vicar of on Austenwood Common calling it “The Priory”. Within two years Chalfunde Sancti Petri was installed in 1224. The they had completed the first part of a Gothic style church in the dissolution of the monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII in 1540 grounds dedicated to St Joseph. By the 1960s they had enlarged meant the end of Missenden Abbey and the lands were either the church, built a social club and two new schools on Priory Road. sold or granted to lay owners. worth The biggest and most fatal change came in the 1960s with the The Greyhound Inn was rapidly becoming important as a demolition of the centre of the old village opposite the Greyhound hostelry for the increasing numbers of coach travellers to replace it with the shopping and residential precinct to cope between London, Aylesbury, Bicester and the Midlands. with a huge population rise to over 12,000 and the construction of Traffic so increased in the 17th century that the the by pass and roundabout in 1968 necessitating further overflow of travellers slept in the George or other demolition of medieval cottages, inns and the forge. inns which sprang up over the village. Preservation orders and a heightened awareness of Chalfont St Behind the present day St Peter’s Court was a Peter’s history now ensure that the old buildings along the High d square of 17th century cottages known as Barrack Street are preserved and renovated where possible making the Yard, said to be where James II stationed his troops. village a living, vibrant area but still owing much to its past. June 2006 2006... Parts of the village are designated areas of special character; In some of our buildings are listed but we need to try to preserve more of our heritage. There are many shops and businesses in the village creating employment both for our own residents and many who come from outside the village to work here. We have many churches for all faiths, all of which have adopted a strong community role within the village. Leisure pursuits are well catered for. We have a leisure centre, golf, football and tennis clubs and numerous clubs and societies for all ages. We have pubs and restaurants providing a variety of food. There is a strong sense of community and belonging and village events are always extremely well supported. Although densely populated, Chalfont St Peter still identifies as a “leafy” village with tree lined streets, two areas of common land in Gold Hill and Austenwood and its Green Belt surrounds. Perceived Threats 1. The main threat to our village comes from developers. As we have already outlined, Chalfont St Peter is a very desirable Chalfont St Peter in 2006 place to live and because the village is surrounded by Green Belt, developers are looking at back garden development and Chalfont St Peter is the nearest village in Chiltern to London. large old houses are being destroyed to make way for flats. With a population of approximately 13,000 it is probably the largest village in Buckinghamshire and is the third largest 2. What is going to happen to the sites of the Holy Cross populated centre in Chiltern. The village is divided into four Convent, Newlands Park and the National Society for areas – Chalfont Common, Chalfont Central, Gold Hill and Epilepsy (NSE)? Austenwood all distinctly different in character. 3. Will the Tesco store at Gerrards Cross be built? This could It has excellent transport links – the M40, M25, A40, Chiltern affect our local shops which we need to retain our village Railways from Gerrards Cross and easy access to all the main centre. Residents without transport also rely heavily on airports of Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton – all make Chalfont St local shops. Peter a very desirable place to live. 4. Chalfont Community college has already expanded to a size Transport links within the village itself, however, are extremely poor which the village can hardly accommodate. Further growth of with few buses linking to other parts of Chiltern and only one the College would place unacceptable strain on the service taking passengers out of the area to Slough. No buses run at community and its infrastructure. all evenings and weekends. 5. The village has already suffered from a serious reduction in The main centre sits in a valley with the River Misbourne running bus services in recent years. Any further deterioration would through it, although for most of the time the river bed is now dry. be detrimental to many residents without their own The most populated parts are built around roads leading up from transport. this centre. 6. We need to restrict the amount of eating establishments and A large percentage of the village is in the Green Belt, part in the resist these changes of use which will also destroy our village Colne Valley Park, both of which help to restrict development. centre if we lose our shops. The Chalfont St Peter Community Appraisal Executive Summary In the summer of 2003 we asked for your views on what you None of this work would have been possible without a number of value and wish to preserve in our village and suggestions for residents, local authority officers and others who have made it their short and long term improvements.With the support of the business to get involved and work closely together for the future Parish Council a village appraisal process was established.