IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Flaunden Bottom, CHESHAM, HP5 1FQ

View across Church Street from the steps of the parish hall. The archway leads to Old Bells Court, which may well be a vestige of the medieval plan of Chesham. The street frontage is interesting in itself - no. 44 has an old shop-front, said to be of early 19th century origin. But what this shot doesn't show is that the walls running back from the street on either side of the entrance have exposed timber framing, showing that the street frontage has been added to timber-framed buildings which are centuries older. Listing text: http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-43509-44-church-street-chesham-buckinghamshire

Many of the smaller properties along Church Street appear to be brick-built, but are in fact timber-framed. The Buckinghamshire 'Pevsner' and the listing texts agree that brick facing was added - from about 1700 onwards - to timber-framed cottages which were already a century or two old. Here, a carriage archway gives access to Old Bells Court. The buildings on either side appear to be brick-built, but their timber framing is exposed within the archway. A wider view of this portion of Church Street can be found here: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3382916 No. 44 appears to be a private residence, but incorporates an old shop-front, possibly pre-Victorian.

This shop-front - in style, at least - would seem to date from the early 19th century. Early shop-fronts are something of a rarity, and it seems to me that the ones which have survived are worth recording here on Geograph. No. 44 is a timber-framed building, which the listing text dates to the 17th century: http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-43509-44-church-street-chesham-buckinghamshire

Pevsner ('The Buildings of England: Buckinghamshire') and the listing text agree that this building dates from the 14th century. The listing says: 'Timber framed C14 gabled house enlarged and altered C17' - http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-43514-54-and-56-church-street-chesham-buckingha The cottages to the left, though brick-fronted, are also timber-framed.

Looking uphill from the old National School (now St Mary's parish hall). The house with the gable and timber framing is nos. 54-56, and is reckoned to date from the 14th century: http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-43514-54-and-56-church-street-chesham-buckingha This was once a shopping street, and no. 54 still has its old shop windows - and so does the house nearest the camera. The more substantial Georgian house furthest from the camera is probably the only one in the picture to be built of brick throughout. From Pevsner ('The Buildings of England: Buckinghamshire') and the listing texts it is clear that most of the cottages along Church Street are timber framed, of 17th century origin or earlier. If many now 'look' 18th century, it is because it was in that century that brick frontages were added. http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-43510-46-and-48-church-street-chesham-buckingha Further evidence of the early origins of Church Street can be found 'on plan', with yards (accessible through arches or passageways) opening out behind the properties which face the street. In medieval times such yards would be lined with smaller premises - residential or commercial. Old Bells Court, just across the road from where I took this picture, still has something of that character.

Number 44 is at the centre of the three properties. It is a Listed building and is described as having "a C19 front with terracotta decoration in a mixed Romanesque Byzantine style".

The date 1845 is inscribed in the diamond above the doorway. This is an interesting building, as an early example of its kind, but big, tall windows - and high ceilings - were to become standard features in later Victorian schools.

Dated 1845, now church rooms.