Chorleywood
| Chorleywood | |
|---|---|
| Population | 11,286 (2011 Census)[1] |
| OS grid reference | TQ025965 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | RICKMANSWORTH |
| Postcode district | WD3 |
| Dialling code | 01923 01927 |
| Police | Hertfordshire |
| Fire | Hertfordshire |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
Chorleywood is a village and civil parish in Three Rivers District, Hertfordshire. It is situated in the far south-west of Hertfordshire on the border with Buckinghamshire approximately 32 kilometres (20 mi) north-west of Charing Cross. It is part of the London commuter belt and included in the government-defined Greater London Urban Area. Chorleywood as a parish was created in 1845 from part of the parish of Rickmansworth.
The parish had a population of 11,286 people at the 2011 census. In a 2004 survey of neighbourhoods carried out by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Chorleywood was found to be the neighbourhood in England with the highest quality of life. Of the 32,482 neighbourhoods surveyed, Chorleywood came out top using thirty-seven criteria.[2]
History
Chorleywood Common
Settlement at Chorleywood dates to the Paleolithic era when the plentiful flint supply led to swift development of tools by man. The Romans built a village on the ancient site complete with a mill and brewery.[3]
A large influx of Saxon settlers called it 'Cerola Leah', meaning a meadow in a clearing.[3] Through Chorleywood runs the line that once divided the Kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex and now divides the counties of Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Edward the Confessor gave Chorleywood to the Monastery of St Albans.[3]
By 1278, it was known as 'Bosco de Cherle' or 'Churl's Wood', Norman for 'Peasant's Wood'.[3] Upon the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it passed to the Bishopric of London, being renamed 'Charleywoode'. It became Crown property during the reign of Elizabeth I. The Turnpike Act (1663) gave Chorleywood a chance to exploit its strategic position, allowing locals the opportunity to charge civilians to use the road from Hatfield to Reading.[3]
Chorleywood is most famous for its Quakers. Non-conformists flocked to Chorleywood, promised sanctuary by the locals. William Penn founded the Pennsylvania Colony with settlers from Chorleywood, Rickmansworth and nearby towns in southern Buckinghamshire, having lived and married in Chorleywood.[3]
Chorleywood House, a Regency mansion, was built in 1822 by John Barnes, replacing an earlier house. John Saunders Gilliat, the Governor of the Bank of England in 1883-1885, lived in it. In 1892, the house was bought by Lady Ela Sackville Russell, eldest daughter of the 9th Duke of Bedford. She modified and enlarged the house, turning the grounds into a model estate with market gardens.
The population was 1,500 in 1897; two years later the railway was extended to Chorleywood on 8 July 1889.
When the Local Government Act 1894 created districts as subdivisions of the newly created county councils, Chorleywood became part of the Watford Rural District, which encircled Watford. In 1913, the town was separated from Watford Rural District to become Chorleywood Urban District.
In the early 1960s, researchers at the British Baking Industries Research Association in Chorleywood improved upon an earlier American bread making process. This resulted in the Chorleywood Bread Process which is now used in over 80% of commercial bread production throughout the UK.[4]
In the 1973 BBC Television documentary, Metro-land, Sir John Betjeman described Chorleywood as "essential Metro-land".[5]
In 1974, the Urban District, along with Rickmansworth Urban District and most of Watford Rural District were merged to form the Three Rivers non-metropolitan district.
Transport
Chorleywood has grown remarkably in the past century following the extension of the Metropolitan line of the London Underground which reached Chorleywood in 1889. Chorleywood station is in Zone 7 on the Metropolitan line, situated between Chalfont and Latimer and Rickmansworth. The majority of trains stopping at Chorleywood are operated by London Underground and the station is also on Chiltern Railways line running between Marylebone and Aylesbury stations.
Junction 18 of the M25 with the A404 is at Chorleywood.
The 336 bus route runs via Chorleywood between High Wycombe and Watford.
Chorleywood Common
Chorleywood Common is 0.8 square kilometres (200 acres) of wooded common land. It is a County Heritage Site, with significant biodiversity. Since cattle grazing ended soon after the First World War, the land has been used for recreational purposes. Chorleywood Golf Club maintains a nine-hole golf course on the Common.
In the 19th century, the MCC established a cricket pitch on the Common, which is used by Chorleywood Cricket Club's senior and junior teams to this day.
Politics
Chorleywood is a part of the UK Parliament constituency, South West Hertfordshire. David Gauke, a resident, is the Member of Parliament (MP) and the current Chief Secretary to the Treasury.[6]
A larger Chorleywood constituency, including Chorleywood, Sarratt and part of Abbots Langley is represented by Chris Hayward, Conservative, at Hertfordshire County Council.
At a district level, Chorleywood is part of Three Rivers; the two wards, Chorleywood North & Sarratt and Chorleywood South & Maple Cross, are divided by the railway line. Chorleywood South & Maple Cross includes most of Chorleywood village and Maple Cross; Chorleywood North & Sarratt includes the north part of Chorleywood, Loudwater, Sarratt and Belsize.
Chorleywood parish covers all Chorleywood, Loudwater and north-western parts of Rickmansworth. Chorleywood Parish councillors are currently ten Liberal Democrats and seven Conservatives.
Schools
St Clement Danes School is a mixed academy school.
Demography
At the 2011 census, the parish of Chorleywood had a resident population of 11,286, of whom:
| Chorleywood (parish) |
Three Rivers | England & Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age[7] | |||
| Median age | 44 | 41 | 39 |
| Under 18 | 23.8% | 22.7% | 21.3% |
| Over 65 | 20.5% | 16.8% | 16.4% |
| Ethnic group[8] | |||
| White British | 79.6% | 79.7% | 80.5% |
| White Other | 6.0% | 6.6% | 5.5% |
| Indian or British Indian | 7.9% | 6.0% | 2.5% |
| Other Asian or British Asian | 3.1% | 3.2% | 5.0% |
| Black or Black British | 0.7% | 1.8% | 3.3% |
| Other ethnic group | 0.4% | 0.5% | 1.0% |
| Religion[9] | |||
| Christian | 59.3% | 59.9% | 59.3% |
| Hindu | 5.8% | 4.5% | 1.5% |
| Jewish | 2.8% | 1.8% | 0.5% |
| Muslim | 2.1% | 2.2% | 4.8% |
| Another religion | 1.7% | 1.6% | 1.6% |
| No religion | 20.9% | 22.8% | 25.1% |
| Did not answer | 7.5% | 7.0% | 7.2% |
Twin town
Footnotes
- ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
- ^ "Suburbs score in quality of life". BBC News. 6 May 2004. Retrieved 10 September 2006.
- ^ a b c d e f "Local History". Chorleywood Parish Council. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
- ^ "The Chorleywood Bread Process, Training course, Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association (CCFRA)".
- ^ Davidson, Max (5 June 2002). "End of the line for a poet's scorn". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
- ^ "David Gauke MP". Conservative Party. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
- ^ "Age structure". United Kingdom Census 2011. Office for National Statistics. 12 February 2013.
- ^ "Ethnic group". United Kingdom Census 2011. Office for National Statistics. 30 January 2013.
- ^ "Religion". United Kingdom Census 2011. Office for National Statistics. 30 January 2013.