Jesus
said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”
The piece of land on which St.
George’s Church is built was originally part of Amersham Common. For many
centuries the whole of this area - as far as Bell House - was common land where
the villagers of old Amersham grazed their stock. When the ‘Enclosures Act’
of 1816 took most of these grazing rights away, the land was acquired by wealthy
families living locally. (In this instance Lord Chesham amongst others). The
purchased land was then leased to tenant farmers. Most
of these farmers have
long since disappeared although some have been converted into family dwellings.
One of the oldest cottages in the area is thought to be ‘The Piece’ which is
just off the White Lion Road. From the timbers of the house it is judged to have
been built around 1600.
The White Lion Road is known
to have been part of the Hatfield to Bath Turnpike which was opened in 1768 and
regularly used by the Cecil family of Hatfield House. There is some evidence to
support the existence of a toll house near the top of Finch Lane (possibly where
Beal Lodge is today).
Not until 1889 was there much
development in the area; then the ‘Great Central’ and ‘Metropolitan’
railways both decided to extend their lines into Buckinghamshire and beyond.
Originally they intended to extend the lines through Uxbridge and along the
valley of the River Misbourne to Aylesbury but the squire of Amersham (or
perhaps the Rector) refused to sell the land required. The owners of the land on
the higher ground however (including Lord Chesham) were pleased to sell and in
1889 the railway reached what is now known as Little Chalfont. the station built
there at that time was known as ‘Chalfont Road’. This name is thought to
originate from the fact that roads go from Little Chalfont to Chalfont St. Giles
and Chalfont St. Peter, London gentry bringing their horses from London to the
hunts at these two villages could accordingly easily find their way to the
meets. In 1892 the railway was extended from Chalfont Road to Chesham and
eventually to Amersham and then on to Aylesbury and through to Yorkshire.
Meantime the few people living
in the Amersham Common area, when they attended church, had to walk about a mile
down the hill (and back up after the service) to St. Mary’s in Amersham. In
those days there was very little development in what is now known as ‘Amersham
on the Hill’. The market town of Amersham was entirely situated in the
Misbourne Valley. In the Autumn of 1904 the Rector of Amersham, the Reverend
C.E. Briggs, appointed a
curate, the Reverend G.E. Salmon to take an Evening Service and Sunday School in
the local school at Amersham Common. In 1905 a hut was obtained from a Gerrards
Cross builder and erected as St. Mary’s Mission Church on a piece of land at
the top of Stanley Hill (where St. George’s School playground is now). This
hut was familiarly known as ‘The Tin Tabernacle’.
The
church thrived and in 1911, by which time the Sunday School numbered 150, a free
will offering scheme was inaugurated in order to gather funds for the eventual
erection of a brick building. Various fund raising efforts over the years
increased the total saved and in 1911(??) the present site was bought from a
local landowner. the legal conveyance shows that the cost of the land was £145,
12 shillings and three pence.
By 1935 enough money was
available to start building and a Mr. Geoffrey was appointed as architect. His
original plan envisaged a church with a nave, chancel and two side aisles
together with a baptistery and vestry. The first part of this building (the
nave, chancel, baptistery and vestry) were completed in 1936. The church was
opened for worship with a service of dedication to St. George on April 23rd of
that year. The clergy robed in the White Lion Inn and processed to the church. A
full account of this service is given in the ‘Amersham Parish Magazine’ of
May 1936. The two side aisles were not built at this time. The church was
designated a daughter church of St. Mary’s Amersham and a
‘priest-in-charge’ was appointed. the first wedding was held on 26th
September 1936.
By November 1943 the church
was completely paid for and in 1948 a wooden hall for church use was bought from
and erected by Dunmur’s Timber Merchants on land at the side of the church.
From that time onwards various additions and alterations were made to the
church. A sacristy was added in 1957, a parsonage was built in 1963, a kitchen
and toilets were added in 1980 and a parish hall was built in 1991. Many gifts
have been made for the interior of the church some of which still remain. One of
these of note is the statue of St. George which was given by the ‘Young Wives
group’ in 1961 on the occasion of the church’s 25th anniversary. Some of the
original gifts such as the font, a reredos and a triptych have disappeared
without trace.
in 1964/1965, the Rectors of
Amersham and St. Michael’s Chenies agreed that in future St. George’s should
no longer be a daughter church of St. Mary’s but would instead join the with
St. Michael’s Chenies to form a single parish. This necessitated a change to
the Ecclesiastical Boundaries and a Queens Order in Council was obtained in 1966
to this end. St. George’s celebrated its Diamond Anniversary in 1996 with a
flower festival, exhibition, concert and social event which ended with a special
thanksgiving service.
Since the 1920’s the whole
area of Little Chalfont has been used for the development of shops, houses,
offices and light industry. Roads have been widened and occasionally changed
their direction as well. in the 1960’s Dr. Beeching’s work resulted in the
loss of the line from Aylesbury to the north. Only Quainton Road station remains
as a railway museum. In a hundred years the whole area has completely changed
its appearance and identity. the original population of 150 had grown to 6,215
in 1974 and in the 1990’s there are well over 10,000 living locally.