Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Cheshunt is a town in Hertfordshire, England, 14 miles (23 km) north of London on the River Lea and Lee Navigation. It contains a section of the Lee Valley Park, including much of the River Lee Country Park. To the north lies Broxbourne and Wormley, Waltham Abbey to the east, Waltham Cross and Enfield to the south, and Cuffley to the west.

Historically an ancient parish in the Hertford hundred of Hertfordshire, it was granted urban district status in 1894. Waltham Cross, which became a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1885, historically formed the southern part of Cheshunt, and remained part of the Cheshunt Urban District until its abolition in 1974. The urban districts of Cheshunt and Hoddesdon merged in 1974 to form the Borough of Broxbourne, the area's current local authority district. Cheshunt was not re-established as a successor parish.

History and Geography The Prime Meridian passes to the east of Cheshunt.

The town name comes from the Old English name (as recorded in the Domesday Book) for the area, Cestrehunt, which probably refers to a "castle, erected by the Romans", the word cestre (along with the form ceastre), or even its modern forms, chester and caster being derived from the Latin castrum meaning "fort". This is commemorated in the arms of the former Cheshunt urban district council.

Cheshunt was a settlement on Ermine Street, the main Roman road leading north from London. Before the Norman Conquest, the manor of Cheshunt was held by Eddeva the Fair, but William I granted it to Alan of Brittany. The parish church of St Mary the Virgin was first recorded in a charter of 1146, but was entirely rebuilt between 1418 and 1448 with a three-stage tower topped by an octagonal turret.

As Princess Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth I lived at Cheshunt in the care of Sir Anthony Denny, after she left Queen Catherine Parr's household in 1548. Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, died here in 1712. In 1825, Cheshunt was also the location of the Cheshunt Railway. Running from the town's High Street to the River Lea near the present-day Cheshunt railway station, this 0.75 mi (1.21 km) horse-drawn line was the first passenger-carrying monorail and the first railway line to be built in Hertfordshire.

The town's Bury Green neighbourhood was once the home of singer Cliff Richard. Lotus Cars as well as the central headquarters the Debenhams store chain were formerly located in Cheshunt, and the headquarters of Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket chain, was located here until 2016. In 2002, Cheshunt hosted the only officially licensed European BotCon convention ever.

In 1957, a review of how London was governed was undertaken by government and led by Sir Edwin Herbert, who was appointed to create a new administrative area for London which encompassed more of the city's conurbation than the existing one. Initially, Cheshunt (including Waltham Cross) was planned to become part of a borough with Enfield; however, the plan was eventually dropped and Cheshunt did not become part of Greater London.

The Metropolitan Police Service served Cheshunt until 2000, when policing was taken over by Hertfordshire Constabulary.

Services in Cheshunt include the Brookfield Centre, which includes Next, Boots, Argos, River Island and Marks & Spencer stores, as well as a large Tesco Extra store. There was a Marriott Hotel nearby (which closed in 2020), and the town centre includes a wide variety of smaller shops.

Being located in the Lea Valley, Cheshunt has access to the Lee Valley Park. The park is accessible at many points, one being extremely close to the town's railway station at Windmill Lane.

At 8:00 am on 12 August 1944, a Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber from the United States Army Air Forces 392nd Bombardment Group (Heavy), based at RAF Wendling, crashed next to Maxwells Farm, near Cheshunt, killing all ten crew. The section of the B198 which runs near the crash site has been renamed Lieutenant Ellis Way, after the pilot, who managed to avoid crashing into the nearby town. One of the firemen who attended the scene secured funding in 2010 for a permanent memorial at the scene (at the entrance to St Mary's School).

Up until 2004, Temple Bar stood in Theobalds Park, having been moved from London at the turn of the nineteenth century. The gateway has since been re-erected in London at Paternoster Square on the north side of St Paul's Cathedral.

Cedars Park, on the site of Theobalds Palace, covers 19 acres (8 ha) of parkland and includes a Great War memorial, bocce court, play maze, garden viewing mound, animal centre, tea room and meeting room, as well as several palace remains. The park has received a Green Flag Award every year since 2009.

Industry Cheshunt's best-known employer was Tesco, whose head office was in Delamare Road, Cheshunt for many years. A small store in the town centre is still open today, while "Home 'n' Wear" store, which was situated across the Old Pond in College Road, is now closed. In 1983 a new out-of-town Tesco store located to the north of the town opened, named "Brookfield Farm". It later expanded, a branch of Marks & Spencer was built next door, and the entire estate was renamed "The Brookfield Centre". Tesco announced in 2015 that it would move its headquarters to Welwyn Garden City.

In 1959, Colin Chapman moved his fledgling Lotus group of companies, including Lotus Cars and Team Lotus, from its outgrown premises at Hornsey to a purpose-built facility on Delamare Road. Racing cars from here won the first two of its seven constructor championships in (1963 and 1965) before moving to Hethel, Norfolk, in 1966.

Until the late 1960s the main land use around Cheshunt was for its nursery industry, and many new techniques for growing under glass were developed here. Thomas Rochford had a large concern here, although now almost all the glasshouses have been redeveloped into housing estates. This is often reflected in the names of the roads or estates, such as Rosedale or Thomas Rochford Way. A small amount of nursery trade survives to the west of the town. The neighbouring town of Goffs Oak still has a large number of nurseries as well as a large garden centre.

The River Lee Navigation passes the east of Cheshunt and was used for the transport of flowers and crops to the London markets for many years until road transport became more viable. A wharf existed just east of the railway on the site now occupied by Herts Young Mariners Base. The Youth Hostel was built on the site of the derelict open-air swimming pool.

"Cheshunt Compound", a fungicide developed at the Cheshunt Research Station, was widely used by amateur and professional gardeners but has been withdrawn from sale in the UK since November 2010 and it is no longer legal to use it. It was a mixture of copper sulphate and ammonium carbonate. From the end of World War II a large area of the River Lea flood plain was used for sand and gravel extraction which resulted in the creation of the now mature lakes which are popular with anglers, birdwatchers and naturalists. The area now forms part of the 1,000 acres (400 ha) River Lee Country Park and the Turnford and Cheshunt Pits SSSI.