Gerrards Cross
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Gerrards Cross | |
  Gerrards Cross shown within Buckinghamshire |
|
| Population | 8,000 |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| District | South Bucks |
| Shire county | Buckinghamshire |
| Region | South East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Gerrards Cross |
| Postcode district | SL9 |
| Dialling code | 01753 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Buckinghamshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| European Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Beaconsfield |
| List of places: UK • England • Buckinghamshire | |
Gerrards Cross is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the very south of the county, near the border with Hertfordshire and Greater London, south of Chalfont St Peter. The village is in the South Bucks local government district, which was known as the Beaconsfield district from 1974 to 1980. This had been formed on April 1, 1974 by the merger of part of Eton Rural District (including Gerrards Cross) with Beaconsfield urban district.
Contents |
[edit] History
The village name is fairly new, when compared with other villages that surround it. Gerrards Cross did not exist in any formal sense until 1859 when it was formed by taking pieces out of the five parishes of Chalfont St Peter, Fulmer, Iver, Langley Marish and Upton to form a new ecclesiastical parish. It is named after the Gerrard family who in the early 17th century owned a manor here. At that time it was a hamlet in the parish of Chalfont St Peter. It is the site of an Iron Age hillfort.
[edit] Facilities
The large and distinctive parish church is dedicated to St. James. It was built in 1861 as a memorial to General Reid who was MP for Windsor and designed by Sir William Tite in yellow brick with a Byzantine style dome, Chinese looking turrets and an Italianate Campanile. In 1969 the singer Lulu married Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees in the church.
Gerrards Cross has its own well stocked library, a two screen cinema and various restaurants.
Independent schools include St Mary's, Gayhurst and Thorpe House. Most students of secondary school age attend Chalfonts Community College, which is the catchment upper school, or one of the local grammar schools, such as Dr Challoner's Grammar School (Boys), Dr Challoner's High School (Girls), The Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe (Boys) and Beaconsfield High School (Girls).
[edit] Reputation
Gerrards Cross has a reputation for being very upmarket and exclusive, with house prices being considerably greater than average. Located in the commuter belt of London, the village recorded the most expensive postcode outside London in 2005 [1].
[edit] Transport
The village has a railway station on the Chiltern Line. This provides services with a commuting time of about 25 minutes to London Marylebone. A tunnel near the station collapsed at 19:30 on 30 June 2005 where Tesco were building a new supermarket over the railway. Gerrards Cross celebrated 100 years of the coming of the railway and its modern beginning in 2006.
[edit] Trivia
Some of the exteriors, notably "Charlotte Haze's house", in Stanley Kubrick's film Lolita (1962) were shot in Gerrards Cross.
The village is mentioned in "Journeyman", a track in Heavy Horses, album released by Jethro Tull in April 10, 1978.
This village was also mentioned in a first season Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch, Italian Lesson.
[edit] External links
- Railway tunnel collapse pictures and info
- Railway tunnel collapse information
- Tesco information about reconstruction of tunnel and shop
- St. James Church
[edit] References
A History of Chalfont St Peter and Gerrards Cross C G Edmonds 1964 and The History of Bulstrode by A M Baker 2003 published as one book by Colin Smythe Ltd. 2003
