Coleshill, A Civil Parish and Village within the Chiltern District in the English county of Buckinghamshire
The old name of Colehill is Stoke. It is a civil parish and village in the Chiltern district of Buckinghamshire, England. Tne nearest neighbour is Amersham which is 2 miles away to the south, and Beaconsfield, 3 miles away to the north. Sitting on a hill, it is one of the highest villages in the Chiltern district with natural springs that provide fresh water to the village making it very inviting to early settlers. The earliest name of the village is Stoke. It was only changed to Coleshill under the Counties (Detached Parts) Act of 1844 when the village was transferred to Buckinghamshire from Hertfordshire. Coleshill is Anglo-Saxon in origin meaning “Coll’s hill.”
The most famous building in this town is the All Saints church made of stone and flint and completed in 1856. There is a village common, around eleven acres, which is entirely hidden from all sides. It is an open grassland amidst a belt of shrub and woodland. On the common are two small ponds one of which is only seasonal and is drained by a creek flowing a short distance until it vanishes into a sinkhole. In the past, villagers used it as a grazing field. They also dig for clay in the Commons and proof of these diggings are still very much in evidence.
Food, Shopping and Accommodation in Coleshill
The Red Lion Pub and the The Harte & Magpies are the two pubs in this village. For more choices of places to eat, as well as for shopping and accommodation, the towns nearest to this parish where both locals and visitors can go are Amersham and Beaconsfield.
Things to See and Do in Coleshill
The village has Georgian villas, and several 1809 cottages which used bottle ends for decorations. These bottle ends are usually set into the upper walls. Another manor house of particular interest is the Waller’s Oak built in 1909. This long varnished manor house used to be a vicarage for All Saint Church. It is here where Edmund Waller was born. The Water Tower too is a landmark. It is a 30-meter tall structure built by German prisoners during World War I on top of a hill and commands a majestic view of the Guildford Cathedral on a bright day. Easily visible from the tower would be the Canary Wharf, Central London and the M40 motorway. In 1992 the village centre of Coleshill was named as a conservation area.