# Chesham Bois

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Village in Buckinghamshire, England

Human settlement in England

Chesham Bois St Leonard's Church, Chesham Bois Chesham Bois Location within Buckinghamshire Population 3,117 (2011 Census)[1] OS grid reference SU965995 Unitary authority Buckinghamshire Ceremonial county Buckinghamshire Region South East Country England Sovereign state United Kingdom Post town AMERSHAM Postcode district HP6 Dialling code 01494 Police Thames Valley Fire Buckinghamshire Ambulance South Central UK Parliament Chesham & Amersham List of places UK England Buckinghamshire 51°41′06″N 0°36′18″W / 51.685°N 0.605°W / 51.685; -0.605

**Chesham Bois** (traditionally [/ˌtʃɛsəm ˈbɔɪz/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [*CHESS-əm BOYZ*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key), but now more commonly [/ˌtʃɛʃəm ˈbɔɪz/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [*CHESH-əm BOYZ*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key)) is a village in the [Chiltern Hills](/source/Chiltern_Hills), in [Buckinghamshire](/source/Buckinghamshire), England, adjacent to both [Amersham](/source/Amersham) and [Chesham](/source/Chesham).

## History

Initially a [hamlet](/source/Hamlet_(place)) in the [parish](/source/Parish) of [Chesham](/source/Chesham), the [manor](/source/Manorialism) was assessed at 1½ [hides](/source/Hide_(unit)) in the reign of [King Edward the Confessor](/source/King_Edward_the_Confessor).[2] The estate belonged to a brother of [King Harold](/source/Harold_Godwinson), who was killed with him at the [Battle of Hastings](/source/Battle_of_Hastings), and [William the Conqueror](/source/William_the_Conqueror) probably gave this "royal" land to his own half-brother, [Odo, Bishop of Bayeux](/source/Odo_of_Bayeux).[3] The village gets its name from the de Bosco family[4] (the French version of which was "de Bois") and by 1213 in the reign of [King John](/source/John_of_England) a William du Bois was holding the manor.[2] By about 1430, in the reign of [Henry VI](/source/Henry_VI_of_England), the manor had been acquired by the Cheynes of [Chenies](/source/Chenies) who remained for over 300 years, before conveying the manor to the [Duke of Bedford](/source/Duke_of_Bedford) in 1735.[2][5] Chesham Bois House, the site of the manor, was the subject of an [archaeological](/source/Archaeology) excavation by television programme *[Time Team](/source/Time_Team)*, which was broadcast in the United Kingdom on [Channel 4](/source/Channel_4) in March 2007.[6][7]

During the 1920s and 30s, the [Metropolitan Railway](/source/Metropolitan_Railway)’s [Amersham station](/source/Amersham_station) was named “Amersham and Chesham Bois”.

## Notable people

Notable people born in Chesham Bois include the crime writer and composer [Edmund Crispin](/source/Edmund_Crispin);[8] Lieutenant Commander [Peter Scawen Watkinson Roberts](/source/Peter_Scawen_Watkinson_Roberts), who was awarded the [Victoria Cross](/source/Victoria_Cross) during World War II; and [Mervyn King](/source/Mervyn_King%2C_Baron_King_of_Lothbury), former governor of the [Bank of England](/source/Bank_of_England). Chesham Bois was for a time, home to artist [William Monk](/source/William_Monk_(artist)),[9] and The Grange, Bois Common (now demolished) was the long-time home of his father-in-law, the glass merchant [Jules Wuidart](/source/Jules_Wuidart).[10]

## Today

The village contains two churches: the [Anglican](/source/Anglican) [church](/source/Church_(building)) of St. Leonard's (started in the 12th century) and the [Roman Catholic](/source/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](/source/Priestly_Fraternity_of_Saint_Peter).[11] Chesham Bois [C of E School](/source/Christian_school#United_Kingdom) (1893)[2] is located down Bois Lane, a mixed primary school with over 200 pupils. The Beacon School is also located in the village and is an independent [preparatory school](/source/Preparatory_school_(United_Kingdom)) educating over 400 boys. Also located in the village is Our Lady's Roman Catholic Combined School which is opposite the church of the same name. Elangeni School is situated at the end of Woodside Avenue and is a [mixed state school](/source/State-funded_schools_(England)). A 40-acre (160,000 m2) sycamore and ash wood and common is the site of a cricket pavilion, as well as being the site for the biennial village fete.

Although "two hundred years ago it was in the depths of the country, a small village with no more than twenty-four houses",[12] today some of Chesham Bois merges into [Amersham-on-the-Hill](/source/Amersham).

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Neighbourhood Statistics 2011 Census](http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=11121869&c=chesham+bois&d=16&e=62&g=6404282&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1359813569477&enc=1), Accessed 2 February 2013

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-BHO1_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-BHO1_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-BHO1_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-BHO1_2-3) Page, William, ed. (1925). ["Parishes: Chesham Bois"](http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/bucks/vol3/pp218-221). *A History of the County of Buckingham*. Vol. 3. London: Victoria County History. pp. 218–221.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["A history of Chesham Bois House"](http://www.cheshamboishouse.co.uk/history_of_site.php). Retrieved 30 December 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["mention of the name de Bosco in 1806 in "Magna Britannia""](https://web.archive.org/web/20070817141043/http://met.open.ac.uk/genuki/big/eng/BKM/CheshamBois/Index.html). Archived from [the original](http://met.open.ac.uk/genuki/big/eng/bkm/CheshamBois/Index.html) on 17 August 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Details of the Cheyne family links for Chesham Bois"](http://www.cb5.co.uk/annsemark.htm). Retrieved 30 December 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["The Cheyne gang"](http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam//2007_ches.html). Retrieved 30 December 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Discussion on Time Team Forum"](http://community.channel4.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8896096411/m/3170019757). Retrieved 30 December 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Montgomery, (Robert) Bruce \[pseud. Edmund Crispin\] (1921–1978), composer and detective novelist"](https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-31461). *[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography#Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography)* (online ed.). Oxford University Press. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/ref:odnb/31461](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fref%3Aodnb%2F31461). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-861412-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-861412-8). (Subscription, [Wikipedia Library](https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/partners/88/) access or [UK public library membership](https://www.oxforddnb.com/help/subscribe#public) required.)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["The Dial House, Chesham Bois"](https://amershammuseum.org/history/chesham-bois/the-dial-house-chesham-bois/). *Amersham Museum*. 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Amersham_Museum_10-0)** Bailey, Alison. ["William Monk"](https://amershammuseum.org/history/people/20th-century/william-monk/). *Amersham Museum*. Retrieved 18 October 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Chesham Bois - FSSP UK"](https://fssp.org.uk/chesham/). Retrieved 2 October 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Hickin, Leonard (1970). ["Thomas Clarke of Chesham Bois"](https://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/churchman/084-02_130.pdf) (PDF). *[Churchman](/source/Churchman_(journal))*. **84** (2). [Watford](/source/Watford): [Church Society](/source/Church_Society): 130–3. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0009-661X](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0009-661X).

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Chesham Bois](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Chesham_Bois).

- [Pictures of Chesham Bois](https://web.archive.org/web/20070404131600/http://www.amersham.org.uk/cheshambois/)

- [Amersham Museum](https://amershammuseum.org/history/chesham-bois/)

v t e Chiltern (former district) Buckinghamshire Unitary Council elections County Council elections District Council elections Chesham and Amersham Constituency Towns (component areas and hamlets) Amersham Woodrow Chesham Asheridge Vale Botley Chesham Vale Chessmount Codmore Great Hivings Hilltop Loundes Lye Green Newtown Pednormead End Pond Park Townsend Waterside Other civil parishes (component villages and hamlets) Ashley Green Ashley Green Whelpley Hill Chalfont St Giles Bottrells Close Chalfont Grove Chalfont St Giles Jordans Stratton Chase Chalfont St Peter Austenwood Chalfont Common Layters Green Chartridge Asheridge Bellingdon Chartridge Hundridge Pednor Pednor Bottom Chenies Chesham Bois Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards Buckland Common Cholesbury Hawridge St Leonards Coleshill Great Missenden Ballinger Ballinger Bottom Ballinger Common Bryant's Bottom Frith-hill Great Missenden Heath End Hotley Bottom Hyde End Little Wood Corner Mobwell Prestwood South Heath Latimer and Ley Hill Latimer Ley Hill Orchard Leigh Tyler's Hill Little Chalfont Little Missenden Beamond End Holmer Green Hyde Heath Little Kingshill Little Missenden Mantles Green Mop End Spurlands End Penn Beacon Hill Forty Green Knotty Green Penn Penn Bottom Penn Street Winchmore Hill Seer Green The Lee Lee Clump Lee Common Lee Gate Hunt's Green Potter Row Swan Bottom The Lee Former districts and boroughs Amersham Rural District Chesham Urban District Former constituencies Buckinghamshire County Constituency Amersham Constituency List of parliamentary constituencies in Buckinghamshire List of places in Buckinghamshire List of civil parishes in Buckinghamshire

Authority control databases VIAF

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Chesham Bois](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesham_Bois) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesham_Bois?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.