Gerrards Crossis a town andcivil parishin southBuckinghamshire,England, separated from theLondon Borough of HillingdonatHarefieldbyDenham,south ofChalfont St Peterand north bordering villages ofFulmer,Hedgerley,Iver HeathandStoke Poges.It spans foothills of theChiltern Hillsand land on the right bank of theRiver Misbourne.It is 19.3 miles (31.1 km) west-north-west ofCharing Cross,centralLondon.Bulstrode Park Camp was anIron Agefortified encampment.
| Gerrards Cross | |
|---|---|
 Gerrards Cross Town Centre | |
  Gerrards Cross Location withinBuckinghamshire | |
| Area | 10.88 km2(4.20 sq mi) |
| Population | 8,017 (2011 Census)[1] |
| •Density | 737/km2(1,910/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | TQ00258860 |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Gerrards Cross |
| Postcode district | SL9 |
| Dialling code | 01753 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Buckinghamshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
The town has a railway station on theChiltern Main Linewith regular services to London. Fast train takes 19 minutes to Marylebone. The town is close toM25 motorwayand theM40 motorwayruns beside woodland on its southern boundary.
In 2014, a major national surveying company named Gerrards Cross as the most sought-after and expensivecommutertown or village in their London Hot 100 report, with an average sale price of £1,000,000.[2]
History
editThe town name is new compared with the great bulk of English towns. Gerrards Cross did not exist in any formal sense until 1859, when it was formed by taking pieces out of the three parishes ofChalfont St Peter,Fulmer,Stoke PogesandUpton cum Chalveyto form a newecclesiastical parish.It is named after the Gerrard family who in the early 17th century owned amanorhere. At that time, homes which were not farms, were smallholdings clustered in ahamletin the south of an elongated parish of Chalfont St Peter. Near its centre is the site of anIron Ageminorhillfort,Bulstrode Park Camp, which is ascheduled ancient monument.[3]Originally named Jarrett's Cross, before the times of the Gerrard family, after a highwayman,[citation needed]some areas retain the original name, such as Jarrett's Hill leading up toBulstrode Parkoff the A40 west of the town.
On 1 January 2016, Gerrards Cross officially became a town with the parish council becoming a town council.
Facilities
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The large and distinctiveparish churchis dedicated toSt. James.It was built in 1861 as a memorial to Colonel George Alexander Reid who was MP forWindsor,and designed by SirWilliam Titein yellow brick with aByzantine-style dome, Chinese-lookingturretsand anItalianateCampanile.In 1969 the singerLulumarriedMaurice Gibbof theBee Geesin the church. The actressMargaret Rutherfordis buried with her husbandStringer Davisin theSt James Churchgraveyard.
The town has its own library and its own cinema, theEveryman Gerrards Cross,which originally opened in 1925.
Independent schools include St Mary's (all girls- through to sixth form). Students ofsecondary schoolage attend either one of the localgrammar schools,such asDr Challoner's Grammar School(Boys with co-educational Sixth Form),Dr Challoner's High School(Girls), TheRoyal Grammar School, High Wycombe(Boys),John Hampden Grammar School(Boys), andBeaconsfield High School(Girls)Chesham Grammar School(Co-ed), and the localUpper School,Chalfonts Community College,which is thecatchmentschool.
On the south side of the town is theGerrards Cross Memorial Building,on the site of the former vicarage. The building was designed bySir Edwin Lutyensand unveiled in 1922 to commemorate the town's losses during the First World War. It is the only example of a Lutyens war memorial designed with a functional purpose.[4]
Transport
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The town has arailway stationon theChiltern Main Linewhich opened on 2 April 1906. This provides services to London, High Wycombe and Oxford with a commuting time of 18 minutes on the fast train toLondon Marylebone.A new arch over the section of deep railwaycuttingto allowTescoto build a supermarketcollapsedon 30 June 2005 at 19:30. Nobody was injured but the line was closed for over six weeks. Compensation by Tesco to Chiltern was reported as £8.5m and the retailer compensated by funding a media campaign to reinstate business immediately lost by the closure. Construction of a correctly constructed arch began in January 2009.[5]
The 11.36am from London Paddington to Gerrards Cross was an official or 'parliamentary train' recognised as an outlandish loss-making service to prevent the link to that terminus being closed or re-allocated. This train now terminates at West Ruislip. In 2011, National Rail was lobbied to phase the service out.[6]
The town lies 8.4 miles (13.5 km) north west of London'sHeathrow Airport.
Demographics
editIn the 2021 Census, the largest religious affiliations[7]in Gerrards Cross wereChristian(46.2%), those with no religion (22.4%),Sikh(10.5%),Hindu(7.5%),Muslim(6.4%),Jewish(0.8%),Buddhist(0.5%) and Other (0.5%).
It was reported 65.5% of people living in Gerrards Cross were reported as White (65.5%), Asian (25.5%), Mixed (4.0%), Black (4.0%) and Other (1.1%).[8]
Recent history
editMany houses built during development in the 1950s had defective tiles, leading to thehighest courtreported judgmentYoung & Marten Ltd v McManus Childs Ltd,[9]holding that a person who contracts to do work and supply materials implicitly warrants that the materials will be fit for purpose, even if the purchaser specifies the materials to be used.
| Output area | Homes owned outright | Owned with a loan | Socially rented | Privately rented | Other | km2roads | km2water | km2domestic gardens | km2domestic buildings | km2non-domestic buildings | Usual residents | km2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Civil parish | 1311 | 1014 | 123 | 384 | 58 | 0.787 | 0.079 | 2.728 | 0.353 | 0.070 | 8017 | 10.88 |
Notable people
edit- Matt Aitken,song writer, record producer and musician fromStock Aitken Watermanlived in Gerrards Cross.
- Roy Castle,dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician, lived in Gerrards Cross.
- Amal Clooney,barrister and human rights activist, moved from Lebanon to Gerrards Cross with her family at the age of 2.
- Angela Douglas,actress, born in Gerrards Cross 29 October 1940.
- Helen McKay,singer, first person to sing on the BBC Television Service, 26 August 1936, lived in Gerrards Cross.
- Kenneth More,actor, born in Gerrards Cross 20 September 1914.
- Dominic Raab,politician,ConservativeMember of ParliamentforEsher and Waltonand formerDeputy Prime Minister,Secretary of State for Justice,Lord ChancellorandForeign Secretary,grew up in Gerrards Cross.[10]
- Joan G. Robinson,author and illustrator, lived in Gerrards Cross. Her best-known book isWhen Marnie Was There,which was adapted into an animated film byStudio Ghibli.
- Peter Stringfellow,businessman and nightclub owner, lived in Gerrards Cross (died 7 June 2018).[11][12]
- Benjamin Zander,composer, born in Gerrards Cross 9 March 1939.
References
editA History of Chalfont St Peter and Gerrards CrossC G Edmonds 1964 andThe History of Bulstrodeby A M Baker 2003 published as one book by Colin Smythe Ltd. 2003
- ^abNeighbourhood Statistics 2011 CensusArchived22 November 2016 at theWayback Machine,retrieved 2 February 2013
- ^"Residential Hot 100 2014"(PDF).CBRE.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 16 September 2021.Retrieved16 September2021.
- ^Historic England."Bulstrode Park camp (1006954)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved25 January2015.
- ^Historic England."Gerrards Cross Memorial Building (1430052)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved19 December2015.
- ^"Tesco restarts work at tunnel collapse site".New Civil Engineer.14 January 2009.Retrieved6 May2009.
- ^"The hunt for Britain's Ghost Trains".The Independent.19 December 2011.Retrieved19 December2011.
- ^"Census Maps - Census 2021 data interactive, ONS".
- ^"Census Maps - Census 2021 data interactive, ONS".
- ^[1969] 1 AC 454
- ^"Dominic Raab – the Bucks-born MP who is now Britain's de facto Prime Minister".
- ^Now MagazineApr 21; Edt, 2017 11:18 Am."Now meets Peter Stringfellow: 'I'm so loved up with my wife Bella!'".celebsnow.co.uk.Retrieved6 April2020.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^Duncan, Amy (7 June 2018)."Peter Stringfellow net worth, wife and children after death from cancer battle".Retrieved6 April2020.
External links
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