Cheshunt ( ) is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, in Hertfordshire, England. It lies within the London commuter belt approximately north of Central London, on the River Lea and Lee Navigation, bordering the Lee Valley Park. At the 2021 census, the Cheshunt built-up area had a population of 43,680.
Cheshunt was recorded as Cestrehunt in the Domesday Book of 1086. The original centre of Cheshunt was around St Mary's Church, near the course of the Roman road of Ermine Street. The main centre subsequently shifted eastwards onto the High Street and Turners Hill, which together form a main road running roughly parallel to the River Lea. Cheshunt was an ancient parish; as well as Cheshunt itself the parish also covered Waltham Cross, Turnford, Goffs Oak, and surrounding rural areas. The parish included a number of large country houses and their estates, notably including Cheshunt Great House, Cheshunt Park, and Theobalds. The civil parish of Cheshunt was abolished in 1974 on the creation of the borough of Broxbourne.
In the 20th century, the town was known for glasshouse horticulture and rose cultivation. Cheshunt today is a commuter town with regular services via Cheshunt railway station on the West Anglia Main Line and London Overground, and is accessible by road via the A10 and M25 motorway.
Toponymy The name Cheshunt is Old English. It appears as Cestrehunt in the Domesday Book of 1086. The first element, ceaster, derives from the Latin castra, meaning "fort" or "military camp", a common component in English place names that indicates Roman origins. The second element, hunt, is thought to denote "a hunting ground" or "huntsman", suggesting that the area may have been known for its association with hunting. Alternatively, the second element may derive from funta, meaning a spring. (Put "Cheshunt, Hertfordshire" in the search box.)
This etymology is consistent with Cheshunt's position on the Roman road of Ermine Street. Though no archaeological evidence of a Roman fort has been conclusively identified in Cheshunt itself, its toponymic structure and strategic location suggest a Roman presence.
History Prehistoric and Roman period Archaeological evidence indicates human activity from prehistoric times in the area that became Cheshunt, with excavations uncovering flint tools and pottery.
During the Roman era, the Ermine Street was built through the area, being a major road linking Londinium (London) to Eboracum (York). By the time of the Norman Conquest of 1066, this section of Ermine Street had been replaced by a newer road to the east, running closer to the River Lea. Parts of the course of the old Ermine Street are now followed by footpaths, whilst other sections of the Roman road can only be detected as buried archaeological remains.
Although the town's name suggests there was a Roman camp here, no trace of a permanent Roman settlement has been found in the area. That said, there have been a number of finds from the Roman era, including coins and pottery finds. The Roman Urn public house on Crossbrook Street commemorates this heritage. An episode of Time Team in 2002 followed an archaeological dig which uncovered further Roman-era artefacts in Cheshunt.
Medieval period By the end of the Anglo-Saxon era, Cheshunt was a manor. Immediately before the Norman Conquest of 1066, it was owned by someone called Edeva the Fair. The Domesday Book of 1086 records the manor as Cestrehunt in the Hertford Hundred of Hertfordshire. By then, it was owned by Alan Rufus, a Breton nobleman who had been granted extensive estates across England in the years following the Battle of Hastings. The Domesday Book recorded a total of 78 households in the manor, which also had a mill and extensive woodland.
A priest is recorded in the Domesday Book, suggesting Cheshunt was also a parish by that time. Cheshunt's parish church, dedicated to St Mary, was built between 1418 and 1448, replacing an earlier church on the site. By the late 12th century, Cheshunt also had a Benedictine convent known as Cheshunt Nunnery, which survived until the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s.
Country houses and estates Cheshunt had comprised a single manor at the time of the Domesday Book. In medieval times it had a moated manor house, the site of which is now known as Half Moat Manor. It stood on the east side of Dark Lane (the former Ermine Street), and to the west of the parish church.
The manor of Cheshunt gradually fragmented into smaller manors or estates. In the south of the parish, Theobalds had become a separate manor by 1441. It was acquired by William Cecil in 1564. He had the house there rebuilt shortly afterwards. The new building was known as Theobalds Palace. Cecil became Lord Burghley in 1571 and was a major political figure of the time. Elizabeth I visited Theobalds frequently. Elizabeth had also visited Cheshunt prior to her accession to the throne, staying in the household of Anthony Denny in 1548.
The Cecil family gave Theobalds Palace to James I in 1607 in exchange for Hatfield House. James found Theobalds a good location for sport and spent significant time there. He died at Theobalds in 1625. Much of the palace was demolished in 1650 following the English Civil War. The remainder of the palace was demolished in 1765, following the construction of Theobalds House on a new site within the Theobalds estate, about a mile to the west of the palace. The site of the palace was eventually donated to the local council in 1919 to become a public park called Cedars Park.
The Temple Bar gateway, which had been completed in 1672 to mark the western entrance of the City of London, was dismantled in 1878. It was subsequently re-erected in Theobalds Park in the 1880s. It was dismantled again and returned to London in 2004, where it was re-erected on a new site in Paternoster Square, adjacent to St Paul's Cathedral.
By 1474, a manor called Andrews had also been created at Cheshunt. Cheshunt Great House was built in the 15th century as its manor house, likely on the site of an earlier building as its vaults were said to date from the 13th century. In 1519, the Great House came into the possession of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, chief adviser to Henry VIII. The Great House was destroyed in a fire in 1965.
Cheshunt Park was another estate created from part of the ancient manor of Cheshunt. There is mention of a park belonging to the manor from as early as 1339. By the 16th century, Cheshunt Park had become a separate estate. In 1795, a mansion called Brantyngeshaye was built at Cheshunt Park for its owner, Oliver Cromwell, who was great-grandson of the Oliver Cromwell who had ruled England in the 1650s following the English Civil War. The house subsequently also became known as Cheshunt Park after the park in which it stood. The house was demolished in 1970.
Growth of the modern town In the early 19th century, the settlement of Cheshunt was still described as a village. The settlement had two main centres; the ancient core of the village along the street called Churchgate near the parish church, and a roadside settlement which had grown up along High Street and Turners Hill about to the east, to take advantage of passing trade along that main road.
Dewhurst School on Churchgate was founded in 1640 by Robert Dewhurst. Now called Dewhurst St Mary's School, it is Cheshunt's oldest school.
The Cheshunt Railway, an experimental overhead monorail, was opened in 1825. It was designed by engineer Henry Robinson Palmer, and was primarily built to carry materials from the brickworks of a Mr Gibbs near Gews Corner to a wharf on the River Lea. It also carried passengers, making it the world's first passenger monorail. The design featured an overhead track with horse-drawn carriages suspended below, with hinged rail sections to accommodate road crossings. No trace of the monorail survives.
The Northern and Eastern Railway opened its line from London as far as Broxbourne in 1840. The line passed through the parish of Cheshunt, but the only station in the parish when the line first opened was Waltham station at Waltham Cross. Cheshunt railway station subsequently opened in 1846. The railways enhanced connectivity with London. Commuter housing grew significantly, particularly from the 1930s onwards.
Glasshouse industry Cheshunt became a major centre of commercial glasshouses for market gardening, growing vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumbers, and flowers such as roses. Growers were able to take advantage of the area's good water supply and its proximity to London. The first glasshouses in the area were built in 1806. The nursery firm Paul and Son, established in 1806, gained prominence for breeding notable varieties of rose, including the 'Cheshunt Hybrid' introduced in the 1870s.
In 1931, British Pathé featured Cheshunt's female horticultural workers in an "Eve's Film Review" segment titled Glass-House Girls. The footage shows women harvesting cucumbers in the town's commercial greenhouses, and sorting the produce into wicker baskets before loading them onto lorries for distribution.
By 1967, the Cheshunt area had a quarter of the country's glasshouses. The industry went into sharp decline after that, and most of the glasshouses were redundant by the end of the 1970s, with many subsequently being redeveloped for housing.
War commemoration In 1923, a war memorial was erected to honour local men who died in the First World War. It was designed by architect J. W. Hanchett, and stands in the central garden of a courtyard of almshouses at the corner of Turners Hill and Victoria Close. It was later rededicated to also include those who died in the Second World War and post-1945 conflicts.
During the Second World War, on 12 August 1944, a Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber of the United States Army Air Forces, en route to France and loaded with explosives, crashed on land at Albury Farm, killing all ten crew members aboard. Witnesses reported that the stricken plane initially appeared to have been heading for the centre of Cheshunt, but was steered by its pilot, Lieutenant John D. Ellis, to avoid landing on the town itself, avoiding civilian casualties. The incident is commemorated in the naming of a modern road as Lieutenant Ellis Way. A memorial plaque was also unveiled in 2010 near the crash site at the entrance to St Mary's School, honouring the American crew's sacrifice.
Economic and urban development Following the Second World War, a number of council estates were developed in Cheshunt, with some being built on land bought by London borough councils in order to cater for London overspill.
In 1973, Tesco established its headquarters at Delamere Road in Cheshunt. The site remained Tesco's headquarters until 2016, when the company moved its headquarters to Welwyn Garden City. The former Tesco headquarters was subsequently demolished to make way for the new "Cheshunt Lakeside" development of 1,700 homes alongside a new school and shops.
Cheshunt today functions as a commuter settlement, supported by its transport connections, including proximity to the M25 motorway and rail links. In a survey in 2019 by the This Is Money website, Cheshunt was ranked as the best commuter town for people working in London based on factors including property prices, travel time, and local amenities.
Geography
Location and topography Cheshunt is located in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, approximately north of central London. The town lies within the Lea Valley, the wide, gently-sloping valley of the River Lea, which flows south into the River Thames. The area's geological composition includes Quaternary alluvial deposits and Eocene London Clay, contributing to the fertile soils which made the area particularly suited for market gardening.
Hydrology and natural features