Chesham Bois (traditionally , but now more commonly ) is a village in the Chiltern Hills, in Buckinghamshire, England, adjacent to both Amersham and Chesham.

History

Initially a hamlet in the parish of Chesham, the manor was assessed at 1½ hides in the reign of King Edward the Confessor. The village gets its name from the de Bosco family (the French version of which was "de Bois") and by 1213 in the reign of King John a William du Bois was holding the manor. Chesham Bois House, the site of the manor, was the subject of an archaeological excavation by television programme Time Team, which was broadcast in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 in March 2007.

During the 1920s and 30s, the Metropolitan Railway’s Amersham station was named “Amersham and Chesham Bois”.

Notable people

Notable people born in Chesham Bois include the crime writer and composer Edmund Crispin; Lieutenant Commander Peter Scawen Watkinson Roberts, who was awarded the Victoria Cross during World War II; and Mervyn King, former governor of the Bank of England. Chesham Bois was for a time, home to artist William Monk, and The Grange, Bois Common (now demolished) was the long-time home of his father-in-law, the glass merchant Jules Wuidart.

Today

The village contains two churches: the Anglican church of St. Leonard's (started in the 12th century) and the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour (built in 1915 and extended in 1953), which also houses the traditionalist Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter. Chesham Bois C of E School (1893) today some of Chesham Bois merges into Amersham-on-the-Hill.

References

  • Pictures of Chesham Bois
  • Amersham Museum