Little Chalfont
| Little Chalfont | |
| Buckinghamshire | |
|---|---|
 Nightingales Corner, Little Chalfont | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU995975 |
| Location: | 51°40’1"N, -0°33’36"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 6,013 (2011) |
| Post town: | Amersham |
| Postcode: | HP6 |
| Dialling code: | 01494 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Buckinghamshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Chesham and Amersham |
Little Chalfont is a village in south-eastern Buckinghamshire, sitting at the edge of the Chilterns.
This is one of a group of villages known collectively as The Chalfonts which also include Chalfont St Giles and Chalfont St Peter. Despite its name, Little Chalfont is by far the biggest of the Chalfonts. Its origin is as 'Chalfont Station Village', a 'Metro-Land' development which grew up beside Chalfont and Latimer Station. It was renamed 'Little Chalfont' in 1925. Since then the village has grown massively.
Little Chalfont is to be found six miles north-west of Rickmansworth (up the line in Hertfordshire) and fifteen miles south-east of Buckinghamshire's county town, Aylesbury.
History
Little Chalfont is a 20th-century creation triggered by the coming of the Metropolitan Railway. A station called Chalfont Road was opened in 1889 at the northernmost point of Chalfont St Giles Parish where the three parishes of Amersham, Chenies, and Chalfont St Giles met. At that time, the area was remote from the centres of the villages and towns, and consisted of isolated farms and cottages, and did not have a specific name. The station was located simply as the closest the railway line came to the Chalfonts, Chenies and Latimer.
The coming of the railway eventually brought local housing development, and a community developed around the station, which was renamed 'Chalfont & Latimer Station' in 1915, a name which it retains today.
The name 'Little Chalfont' was created in 1925: on 15 January 1925, at a meeting of Chalfont St Giles Parish Council, Councillor Newton proposed a motion that the council accede to the request of the inhabitants of 'Chalfont Station' that it be renamed 'Little Chalfont'; this being approved, the name was established.[1]
For many years, Little Chalfont was split mainly in the Amersham Town Council area, and partly in Chalfont St Giles parish. Following a period of campaigning by local residents, the village was awarded separate civil parish status in 2007. Most of the population of the new parish had been under Chalfont St Giles, though by far the bulk of the area was taken from the Parish of Amersham.
The village
The village has a busy shopping parade with a range of local shops. Although it is primarily a commuter village, using the Metropolitan Line for London, Little Chalfont has business and industrial sites, with two industrial laboratories and an office development for GE Pharmaceuicals .
The large GE Pharmaceuticals site is opposite the shops. Part of GE Healthcare, it was originally the Radiochemical Centre, and then Amersham International.
Little Chalfont Farmers Market was launched in September 2009 with the support of the Parish Council and local regeneration groups. The Farmers Market takes place in the Village Hall car park on the second Saturday of each month.
Churches
- Church of England: St George's Church, on White Lion Road.
Little Chalfont is part of the Church of England parish of Chenies and Little Chalfont. In 1987, it joined with the neighbouring parishes of Latimer and Flaunden to form the Chenies Benefice.[2] The parish church of
- Methodist: Little Chalfont Methodist Church, on Chalfont Avenue. The original church building was opened in 1959 and the current church was opened in 1996 after a fire struck the original.[3]
- Roman Catholic: St Aidan's, on Finch Lane, opened in 1964
About the village
Beel House is a Grade II listed 16th-century house on the edge of Little Chalfont.[4] Originally owned by the Duke of Buckingham. It was the home of Mary Pennington whose daughter Gulielma Springett married William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania. Later residents include Dirk Bogarde, Ozzy Osbourne Robert Kilroy-Silk.[5]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Little Chalfont) |
- Little Chalfont Parish Council
- Little Chalfont Village
- Little Chalfont Community Library
- Pictures of Little Chalfont
- Little Chalfont Farmers Market
References
- ↑ Chalfont St Giles: A Brief History
- ↑ Chenies Benefice Parish Profile http://www.cheniesbenefice.org/home/parish-profile
- ↑ Little Chalfont Methodist Church
- ↑ Beel House - British Listed Buildings
- ↑ Amersham / Little Chalfont. Amersham.org.uk
"A History of Little Chalfont" Ivor White 1993 published by The Little Chalfont Rural Preservation Society (now the Little Chalfont Community Association), Bucks