Amersham: Guide

Amersham (previously Agmondesham) is a market town 27 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills, England. It is part of the London commuter belt.

Amersham is widely known because of a multinational pharmacology|pharmaceutical company, Amersham plc (previously known as Amersham International and originally known as The Radiochemical Centre, and acquired in 2004 by the American company General Electric), that took its name from the town.

Amersham is split into two distinct areas: Amersham on the Hill (also known as Top Amersham), which is close to the Amersham station|railway station, and Old Amersham, which contains St. Mary's, a 13th century church, and several old inns.

History

Records of Amersham date back to pre-Saxon people|Saxon times, when it was known as Egmondesham, and by the time that the Domesday book was written at around 1086 it became known as Elmodesham. The Domesday entry is as follows:

:Geoffrey de Mandeville holds Amersham. It answers for 7 1/2 hides. Land for 16 ploughs; in lordship 2 hides; 3 ploughs there. 14 villagers with 4 smallholders have 9 ploughs; a further 4 possible. 7 slaves; meadow for 16 ploughs; woodland 400 pigs. The total value is and was £9; before 1066 £16. Queen Edith held this manor.

Queen Edith was the wife of Edward the Confessor and sister of king Harold Godwinson|Harold, and after her death in 1075 the land passed to William the Conqueror who granted it to Geoffrey de Mandeville.

Amersham is linked to London by the Metropolitan Line of London Underground and is the last Amersham station|station on its branch of this line. Much of this line is shared with the mainline railway service, which runs from Marylebone to Aylesbury.

Amersham sent two Member of Parliament|MPs to the unreformed House of Commons from 1625, and was considered a rotten borough until the Reform Act 1832 stripped it of its representation. See Amersham (UK Parliament constituency) for more details.

Educational establishments

Primary Schools in the town include Chestnut Lane Primary, Elangeni School, Chesham Bois Church of England School, St. Mary's Church of England School, St. George's Church of England School and Woodside Junior School.

Secondary schools in the town include Dr Challoner's Grammar School and the Amersham School.

Amersham & Wycombe College is the only Further Education establishment in Amersham.

Geography

Amersham is located at (51.6667,
-0.6333)World_gazetteer|¹.

Sport and recreation

Amersham has a List of King George V Playing Fields (Buckinghamshire)|King George's Field in memorial to George V of the United Kingdom|King George V.
Near the playing field is the "Chiltern Pools", one of the three venues used by the Amersham Swimming Club.

See also

Amersham Museum, in the High Street
River Misbourne, which passes through the town
Shardeloes, a local 18th century country house
Roger Moore, attended Dr Challoner's Grammar School
Tim Rice, born in Amersham

External links

: in the Diocese of Oxford

References