Chartridge is a village in Buckinghamshire, England situated two miles north-west of

Chesham Chesham ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom, south-east of the county town of Aylesbury, about north-west of Charing Cross, central London, and part of the London metropolitan area, London ...

. Chartridge is also the name of a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Chiltern District Chiltern District was a local government district of Buckinghamshire in south-central England from 1974 to 2020. It was named after the Chiltern Hills on which the region sits. The two towns in the district were Amersham, where the council was ...

which also includes the village of Bellingdon and the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

s of Pednor, Hundridge and Asheridge. It was created in 1899 having previously been part of the parish of

. The village is 34 miles northwest of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and the closest town is

to the south with which it is closely associated. Until 1899 Chartridge was part of Chesham parish and post-

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

residential housing has resulted in ribbon development stretching out along the Chartridge Road from the town to the village. 11 miles to the northwest is the county town of Buckinghamshire, Aylesbury.

History

The village name is

Anglo Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to Ge ...

in origin, 'Cærdan-hrycg' means Caerda's ridge, referring to the fact that the settlement sits on the top of a hill. There is no specific mention of Chartridge in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

. In manorial rolls of 1191 it is recorded as 'Charderuge' presumed linked to the purchase of lands by Robert de Charderugge. By the late 12th century parts of Chartridge were owned by the Sifrewast family. By the 13th century it has become incorporated into the names of local landowners and is referred to in conveyances.Victoria County History Chesham British History online
Retrieved 23 February 2012 There was no church in Chartridge village as it was historically part of the ecclesiastical parish of Chesham. However, as early as 1311 a private house, Great Hundridge Manor, was recorded as providing a chapel dedicated to King Edward the Martyr. There has been a Baptist Chapel in the village since the 18th century. In 1811 a house was registered for meetings of the Lower Baptist Church in Chesham, now known as the Trinity Baptist Church. Today the Baptist Chapel in the village is a branch of Broadway Baptist Church in Chesham. Services commenced in the early 19th century and in 1844 land close to the Bell pub was given for a chapel which was subsequently replaced by a new chapel in 1885 that was financed by public subscription.Chesham Town Talk Winter 2011 - referenced from Bucks Free Press published 21 August 1885
, Retrieved 23 February 2012 Chartridge Lodge was greatly extended by the Franklin family who lived there from 1899. Today it is home to Chartridge Park, an 18-hole golf course, and a large Conference Centre. The Franklin family were also responsible for the building of several cottages within the village and conversion of a blacksmith's shop into a Reading Room in 1903 to mark the coronation of King Edward VII. Subsequently, it was given by the family to the village and on becoming the village hall was used as a concert room, clubhouse and lending library and has been overseen from that time until the present by the Trustees of Chartridge Reading Room. Due to the absence of a parish church, from its earliest days the Reading Room was also used for religious services and a Sunday School associated with St. Mary's Church, Chesham. Regular services ran from 1964 until 1974 during which it was known as St Christopher's. During the 19th century the vast majority of employment was provided by agriculture. Directly employing labourers as well as supporting trades such as blacksmiths. Income earned would have been spent in the licensed public houses, the Bell and Portobello Arms, the latter now a private house. In the early part of the 20th century there were four pheasant breeding farms due to the popularity of game shooting and convenience of improved travel by railway from London to Chesham. At least one farm continued in business until the

. From 1783 there are records of a Pest house in operation. The predominant infection of the time being

small pox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and pla ...

.Chartridge Village website
Retrieved 23 February 2012

Education

An infant school opened in the 1850s providing education for 30 children. Today it is known as Chartridge Combined School and takes children from ages 5–11. The catchment area secondary schools are:- Chiltern Hills Academy and Chesham Grammar School in Chesham, Dr Challoner's Grammar School for boys in

Amersham Amersham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills, northwest of central London, south-east of Aylesbury and north-east of High Wycombe. Amersham is part of the London commuter belt. There ar ...

and – Dr Challoner's High School for girls in Little Chalfont.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Buckinghamshire Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire