Chorleywood
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In a 2004 survey of neighbourhoods carried out by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Chorleywood West was found to be the parish in England with the highest quality of life. Of the 32,482 neighbourhoods surveyed, Chorleywood West came out top using thirty-seven criteria.
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 world.
Chorleywood Common
Chorleywood Common is a tract of 200 acres (0.8 km²) of wooded common land. The common is a County Heritage Site, and is home to 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 senior and junior teams to this day.
History
Settlement at Chorleywood dates to the Paleolithic era, when the plentiful flint supply led to swift development of tools by early man. The Romans built a small village on the ancient site, complete with a mill and brewery. Ruins of a Roman villa are thought to be found under the M25, which passes through the outskirts of Chorleywood.
A large influx of Saxon settlers in Chorleywood led to it being an important town. The Saxons called it 'Cerola Leah', meaning a meadow in a clearing. 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 the town of Chorleywood to the Monastery of St Albans.
By the thirteenth century, it was known as 'Bosco de Cherle' or 'Churl's Wood', Norman for 'Peasant's Wood'. Upon the Reformation, 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.
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. Despite this claim to fame, the massive exodus to the New World plunged Chorleywood into financial ruin.
However, with the boom in the paper and printing industries, on which much of southwestern Hertfordshire's economy was based in the 19th Century, came new prosperity. The extension of the Metropolitan Line to Chorleywood in the 1890s brought with it incredible population growth. From a population of 1,500 people in 1897, the population has grown to over 9,000 today. In 1913, the town's name became 'Chorleywood'.
Politics
The Hertfordshire County Council is controlled by the Conservatives. At the County Council, Chorleywood is represented by Leonard Spencer, of the Conservatives.
The local council, Three Rivers District Council, is controlled by the Liberal Democrats. At the District Council, Chorleywood is represented by three Liberal Democrats (Harry Davies, Chris Brearley, and Martin Trevett) and two Conservatives (Chris Hayward and Leonard Spencer).
Chorleywood is a part of the parliamentary constituency of Hertfordshire South West. The major perennial political issues in Chorleywood are conservation of the Common, planning and the preservation of the Green Belt, and education.
Demographics
According to the 2001 census, Chorleywood has a resident population of 9,215, of whom:
- 19.8% are under 16 years of age (cf. 20.2% for England & Wales)
- 10.0% are over 75 years of age (cf. 7.6%)
- 64.5% are married (cf. 50.9%)
- 4.5% are divorced (cf. 8.2%)
- 1.8% are unemployed (cf. 3.4%)
- 4.8% are full-time students over 16 years of age (cf. 5.1%)
Ethnicity
- 92.3% are White (cf. 92.3%)
- 1.4% are Irish (cf. 1.3%)
- 4.2% are Indian or British Indian (cf. 2.1%)
- 1.0% are Other Asian or Other British Asian (cf. 2.5%)
- 0.4% are Black or Black British (cf. 2.1%)
- 0.8% are Chinese or of another race (cf. 0.9%)
- 1.3% refused to categorise themselves or are of mixed race (cf. 1.3%)
Religion
- 71.1% are Christian (cf. 71.8%)
- 3.3% are Jewish (cf. 0.5%)
- 3.2% are Hindu (cf. 1.1%)
- 1.3% are Muslim (cf. 3.0%)
- 0.9% are of another religion (cf. 1.1%)
- 13.7% are of no religion (cf. 14.8%)
- 6.5% refused to categorise themselves (cf. 7.7%)
The results of the Census emphasised the affluence of the town:
- 37.6% of residents have degrees or a better educational qualification (cf. 19.8%)
- 88.3% of homes are owned by the occupant (cf. 68.9%)
- 56.82% of households own two or more cars (cf. 29.4%)
- The average number of rooms per house is 7.0 (cf. 5.3)
Transport
The town grew remarkably in the thirties and fourties, thanks primarily to the extension of the Metropolitan line of the London Underground. Junction 18 of the M25 motorway, with the A404, is in Chorleywood.
Chorleywood station is in Zone B on the Metropolitan line, situated between Chalfont and Latimer and Rickmansworth. The majority of trains passing through Chorleywood are operated by London Underground, but the station is also a stop for Chiltern Railways services running between Marylebone and Aylesbury stations.
External links
- [Chorleywood village directory with photos.]
- ["Suburbs score in quality of life", BBC News, 6th May 2004]
- ["Freecycle Chorleywood", Freecycle it - don't bin it.]
- [Chorleywood] on Placeopedia
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