Chalfont St Giles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Chalfont St Giles | |
  Chalfont St Giles shown within Buckinghamshire |
|
| Population | 6,696 (Ward) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| District | Chiltern |
| Shire county | Buckinghamshire |
| Region | South East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CHALFONT ST GILES |
| Postcode district | HP8 |
| Dialling code | 01494 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Buckinghamshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| European Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Chesham & Amersham |
| List of places: UK • England • Buckinghamshire | |
Chalfont St Giles is a village in south east Buckinghamshire, England, on the edge of the Chilterns, 25 miles from London, and near Seer Green, Jordans, Chalfont St Peter, Little Chalfont and Amersham.
Chalfont means chalk spring, in reference to the water carrying capacities of the local terrain.
There is a Norman church originally built between 1150-1180, with a fine example of a lychgate. There is also a duck pond, which receives its water from the River Misbourne.
In the Domesday Book in 1086 Chalfont St Giles and Chalfont St Peter are listed as separate Manors with different owners. They were separate holding before the Norman Conquest although at one time they may have been one.
Like most other rural parishes it managed its civil affairs through the vestry until the Local Government Act 1894 required all parishes of over 300 people to have a Parish council independent of the Church.
During the Great Plague of London in 1665, John Milton retired to Chalfont St Giles, which is where he completed his epic poem Paradise Lost. Milton's Cottage is still in the village, and is open to the public. The inspiration for Paradise Regained is said to have been found in this parish from a conversation with a former pupil, Thomas Ellwood.
The birthplace of J.T. Hearne, one of the greatest bowlers of the 1890s and 1900s, who also died there in 1944.
The village is twinned with Graft-De Rijp in the Netherlands.
Harry Golombek, British chess champion, major writer on chess and a wartime codebreaker at Bletchley Park, lived in the village after the war. The pop musician Brian Connolly lived in the village before his death. Brian Cant lives in the village.
The village has also given its name to Chalfont, Pennsylvania, which is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
"Chalfonts" is Cockney rhyming slang for piles, this is derived from "Chalfont St Giles" but as is typical with Cockney rhyming slang, the part of the phrase which rhymes with the derivative is omitted. There is a Viz character named Nobby Piles (itself a euphemism) who is forever moaning 'Ooh me chalfonts!'
[edit] Film and TV History
Chalfont St Giles doubled as Walmington-on-Sea in the 1971 film version of Dad's Army. John Laurie, one of the main actors, lived there in nearby Chalfont St Peter.
2003 BBC Drama The Canterbury Tales was filmed in and around Chalfont St Giles. The drama starred Billie Piper and James Nesbitt and most notably included filming in and outside the 'Merlin's Cave' pub which is situated right on the village green.
Chalfont St Giles was a retreat of the young Jean and Lionel in the BBC sitcom "As Time Goes By" and an episode of the series was filmed there.
