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Cheshunt
Town
St Mary Cheshunt Herts.jpg
The Church of St Mary
Cheshunt is located in Hertfordshire
Cheshunt
Cheshunt
Population 45,832 (Census 2011: Built-up area sub division)
OS grid reference TL358021
• London 12 mi (19 km)
District
  • Broxbourne
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Waltham Cross
Postcode district EN7, EN8
Dialling code 01992
Police Hertfordshire
Fire Hertfordshire
Ambulance East of England
EU Parliament East of England
UK Parliament
  • Broxbourne
List of places
UK
England
Hertfordshire
51°42′07″N 0°02′06″W / 51.702°N 0.035°W / 51.702; -0.035

Cheshunt ( CHEZ-ənt) is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea, Lee Navigation together with the New River.

Broxbourne is on the town's northern boundary. Epping lies to the east. While Waltham Cross and Goff's Oak form its southern and western boundary respectively. Cheshunt is the most populated town in the borough Broxbourne with a population of 45,832 according to the United Kingdom's 2011 census.

History and geography

The Prime Meridian passes to the east of Cheshunt.

The town name comes from the Old English name (as recorded in the Domesday Book) for the area, Cestrehunt, which probably refers to a "castle, erected by the Romans", the word cestre (along with the form ceastre), or even its modern forms, chester and caster being derived from the Latin castrum meaning "fort". This is commemorated in the arms of the former Cheshunt urban district council.

Cheshunt was a settlement on Ermine Street, the main Roman road leading north from London. This origin was investigated by the television archaeology programme Time Team. Before the Norman Conquest, the manor of Cheshunt was held by Eddeva the Fair, but William I granted it to Alan of Brittany. The parish church of St Mary the Virgin was first recorded in a charter of 1146, but was entirely rebuilt between 1418 and 1448 with a three-stage tower topped by an octagonal turret.

As Princess Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth I lived at Cheshunt in the care of Sir Anthony Denny, after she left Queen Catherine Parr's household in 1548. Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, died here in 1712. In 1825, Cheshunt was also the location of the Cheshunt Railway. Running from the town's High Street to the River Lea near the present-day Cheshunt railway station, this 0.75 mi (1.21 km) horse-drawn line was the first passenger-carrying monorail and the first railway line to be built in Hertfordshire.

The town's Bury Green neighbourhood was once the home of singer Cliff Richard. Lotus Cars as well as the nationally famous Debenhams were also founded in Cheshunt, and the headquarters of Tesco, the UK's largest and most profitable supermarket chain, was located here until 2016. In 2002, Cheshunt hosted the only officially licensed European BotCon convention to date.

Services in Cheshunt include the Brookfield Centre, which includes Next, Boots, Argos, River Island and Marks & Spencer stores, as well as a large Tesco Extra store. There is a Marriott Hotel nearby, and the town centre includes a wide variety of smaller shops.

Being located in the Lea Valley, Cheshunt has access to the Lee Valley Park. The park is accessible at many points, one being extremely close to the town's railway station at Windmill Lane.

At 8:00 am on 12 August 1944, a Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber from the United States Army Air Forces 392nd Bombardment Group (Heavy), based at RAF Wendling, crashed next to Maxwells Farm, near Cheshunt, killing all ten crew. The B198 which runs near the crash site has been renamed Lieutenant Ellis Way, after the pilot, who managed to avoid crashing into the nearby town. One of the firemen who attended the scene secured funding in 2010 for a permanent memorial at the scene.

Up until 2004, Temple Bar stood in Theobalds Park, having been moved from London at the turn of the 19th century. The gateway has since been re-erected in London at Paternoster Square on the north side of St Paul's Cathedral. Cedars Park, Broxbourne, on the site of the historic Theobalds, is a public park that covers 19 hectares (47 acres) of parkland and includes a lake, turf play maze, bocce court, play mound (Venusberg), pet's corner, flint arch and historic walls, tea room and arts centre. The park received a Green Flag award in 2013.

Town centre

The Old Pond area is located in the centre of Cheshunt and is home to many local businesses. With roads leading to the M25, A10 and towards Broxbourne.

Before the 2012 London Olympics the Olympic Torch was carried close to the Old Pond by selected and nominated local residents. After the Olympics, gold medal winner Laura Kenny had two postboxes painted gold in her honour, one at the Old Pond.

Music

Cheshunt's best-known son is the pop singer and actor Cliff Richard and the town was also home to the band Unit 4 + 2 whose song Concrete and Clay topped the UK charts in 1965. UFO drummer Andy Parker was born in the town in the 1950s. The popular underground band Neils Children, originate from the town.

Transport

Rail

Cheshunt Station is in Travelcard Zone 8. Nearby stations include Theobalds Grove, Waltham Cross, Broxbourne, Rye House and Loughton (Central Line).

The station is on both the National Rail network and the London Overground network.

Services run southbound to Liverpool Street via Tottenham Hale or Seven Sisters and Stratford and northbound to Hertford East, Bishop's Stortford and Cambridge.

Crossrail 2 will connect north-east London to south-west London when constructed and is proposed to stop at Cheshunt station, along with improving the station.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Tottenham Hale
or Waltham Cross
  Abellio Greater Anglia
West Anglia Main Line
  Broxbourne
Waltham Cross or Edmonton Green   Abellio Greater Anglia
Lea Valley Lines
  Broxbourne
Tottenham Hale   Abellio Greater Anglia
Stansted Express
  Stansted Airport
London Overground National Rail London Overground
Theobalds Grove   Lea Valley Lines
Cheshunt line
  Terminus
    Future Development    
Preceding station   Crossrail   Following station
towards Twickenham or Shepperton or Hampton Court or Chessington South or Epsom
Crossrail
Terminus

Road

Cheshunt is located on the A10 (also known locally as the Great Cambridge Road), which provides links to Junction 25 of the M25 London Orbital Motorway, Central London, Hertford and Cambridge. Also roads lead to Waltham Cross and Waltham Abbey

Bus

Cheshunt has a mixture of commercial and Hertfordshire County Council contract services. Most buses operate to Waltham Cross (where there are links to north London and Essex), Hoddesdon and Broxbourne. The towns of Hertford, Harlow, Potters Bar, and Waltham Abbey are also linked to Cheshunt. Buses are operated by Arriva Shires & Essex, Centrebus, Metroline or Sullivan Buses.

Cycle

The Sustrans National Cycle Route 1 passes through Cheshunt as part of its route connecting Dover to Shetland. The Lee Valley Country Park is a cycle-friendly route that runs along the River Lea, connecting both cyclists and pedestrians to Ware, Hoddesdon, Waltham Abbey, Tottenham and Stratford.

Paul Cully Bridge

Paul Cully Bridge
Cheshunt A10 cycle link.png
Route of the cycle link and new bridge location.
Location Hertfordshire
Proposer Sustrans
Cost estimate £1.7 million
Geometry KML

As part of the Connect2 project a new cycle link over the A10 was proposed in 2007. The scheme involved the building of a new cycle bridge over the A10 and connecting paths to link Theobalds Lane with Lieutenant Ellis Way. The bridge was opened in 2010 as the "Paul Cully Bridge" after a late local civil servant. £500,000 of this cost is funded by the Big Lottery Fund via the Connect2 project.

Town twinning


Demographics

Ethnicities in Cheshunt 2011
Ethnic Groups Cheshunt
White 92.7%
Asian 2.3%
Black 4.2%
Other 0.8%

Sport

Cheshunt has its own football club in Cheshunt F.C. who play in the Isthmian League Premier Division. Founded in 1946, their most famous player was Iain Dowie who played for them in the 1980s.

The town also has long-established rugby and cricket clubs and a publicly owned 18-hole golf course.

Tottenham Hotspur football club have held training grounds in Cheshunt over the years.

Formerly Grundy Park Leisure Centre, the Laura Trott Leisure Centre was renamed after £4m redevelopment to honour the Olympic gold medallist. Trott attended the launch on the morning before competing in stage four of the first Women's Tour from Cheshunt to Welwyn Garden City.

Whit Hern (also known as Cheshunt) Bowls Club, which is located in Whit Hern Park, provides a green with seven bowling rinks, and its own facilities separate to the park.

Cedars Park provides a court which can be used for most Boules games, including bocce and pétanque.

Education

Cheshunt has four secondary schools: Goffs Academy; Goffs-Churchgate Academy; Haileybury Turnford; and St Mary's Church of England High School.

The non-conformist theological college Cheshunt College moved to Cheshunt in the 1790s from Trevecca, Brecknockshire. It moved to Cambridge in 1905. Between 1909 and 1968 the buildings were occupied by the Church of England's Bishop's College. Since 1972 they have been council offices and formerly a music and business school (typing and accountancy), which had to be demolished due to it being unsafe. In the 1980s parts of the building were so unsafe it was closed and demolished. The main problem was the floors had begun to disintegrate. A new council office was built on the site of the old school. The council chamber and registry office are now in the same building that contains the "Huntingdon Rooms".

Notable people

Cliff Richard (8454755151)
Cliff Richard performing in Sydney, Australia
  • Cliff Richard, singer, musician and actor
  • Laura Kenny, quadruple Olympic Gold Medal cyclist
  • Queen Elizabeth I stayed here on occasion in her younger life.
  • King James I lived here in his later life, and died at Theobalds Palace.
  • Victoria Beckham, singer, fashion designer, attended St Mary's High School, Cheshunt.
  • Michael Birch, founder of Bebo
  • Cardinal Wolsey was given land in Cheshunt by King Henry VIII. A small park at Goffs Lane 51°42′26″N 0°03′16″W / 51.7071°N 0.0544°W / 51.7071; -0.0544 contains ruins of his manor, Cheshunt Great House.
  • David Bentley, footballer with Arsenal and later Tottenham Hotspur, attended Goffs School.
  • Richard Cromwell died in Cheshunt.
  • Michael Dobbs, writer and politician
  • Linda Lusardi, former glamour model and actress, longtime Cheshunt resident
  • Ryan Mason, footballer, attended Cheshunt School. Interim Tottenham Hotspur manager after the sacking of Jose Mourinho.
  • Ralph Creed Meredith, chaplain to George VI and Elizabeth II
  • Billy Joe Saunders, boxer
  • Declan McKenna, musician

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Cheshunt para niños

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