Three miles north of Amersham along the Chess Valley, lies the town of Chesham with its pedestrianised centre.

Once famous for the manufacture of brushes and footwear, the old town has many attractive half-timbered cottages.

Chesham is 28 miles northwest of London, only 7 miles from J18 on the M25 and 9 miles from J8 on the M1. The town itself encloses some six square miles from Bois Mill up the Chess Valley to the hills around.

The town has a twice-weekly market; a monthly producer's market; a twice-yearly French Market; a visiting fair three times a year; a wealth of organisations and societies; churches of most denominations; a comprehensive selection of shops; a diversity of large and small scale industry; local restaurants and public houses both in town and in the surrounding villages.

Chesham Leisure Centre, located in the grounds of Chesham High School in White Hill has a modern, open-air heated swimming pool and adjoining multi-purpose recreational facilities on The Moor.

The Elgiva Theatre, situated in Elgiva Lane, is an exciting community arts venue with various entertainment including film, theatre and music.

HISTORY: Stone Age, Bronze Age and Roman remains have been found indicating Chesham was inhabited from earliest times.

The name Chesham comes from the Saxon 'Ceastelshamm' meaning pile of stones by the watermeadow.

St Mary's church has great puddingstones in its foundations and popular belief is these are the very stones from whence the town's name derives.

Queen Elgiva (after whom the film and theatre venue is named) built Chesham's first mill by diverting the Chess and so created the Moor. In her will in 970 she liberated her penal slaves working in the upland Chiltern hamlets.

The Normans shortened Caestaeleshamm to Cestreham and by the mid 13th century the name had become Chesham.

Over the following centuries Chesham developed as a small country town. Then in 1889 local industries flourished with the coming of the Metropolitan railway.

The Buckinghamshire town of Chesham is a successful combination of country town; industrial centre; commuter dormitory and bustling community. It still retains it's heritage and has integrated the needs of its businesses and residents, survived the developers and retained many of the hallmarks of its 1000 year history.