Chalk, Cherries and Chairs: The History of the Chilterns

The Chiltern Hills have enjoyed sustained prosperity over centuries thanks to a rich blend of geography, geology, and human ingenuity. We explore the origins of the Chilterns and why the area is so special.

Britain’s island status, periods of glaciation and other factors conspired to keep out the permanent settlement of Britain until the Neolithic Period of about 4,300 to 2,000 years BC when modern humans were developing agriculture as a means of sustaining themselves in addition to hunting and gathering. Eventually Celtic peoples from Europe settled in Britain and it is believed that the name Chiltern is Brittonic in origin being a branch of the Celtic languages spoken in Britain before the arrival of the Romans and is the basis of modern Welsh, Cornish and Breton. Thus “Chiltern” may derive from celto-, meaning high or elevated, and the suffix -erno which is a common Celtic ending that could denote a place or region.

But what was the attraction of the area? A ready source of water was important. Springs emerge at the base of the Chiltern escarpment where permeable chalk lies on impermeable clay and it was here that the first settlers lived. Place names such as Brightwell, Sewell and Crowell mark the locations of the springs. Moreover, the Chiltern ridge provided a relatively safe and easily navigable route across southern Britain. 

Many places and rivers still bear names that demonstrate their Celtic origins. Wendover, for example, has the initial part which could be related to wyn or gwyn, as in modern Welsh, meaning white. The second part of the name "dwr" could derive from "dwfr" meaning "water". The town of Thame and the rivers Thames and Wye are likewise Celtic in origin. The Roman invasion introduced new crops and animals and after the Romans left in 410 AD the Anglo-Saxons began to colonise the land,  demonstrated by Anglo-Saxon placenames such as Chesham from  Cæstæleshamm meaning river meadow by a heap of stones, Missenden from Myssa denu meaning Missa’s valley and Aylesbury from Aegil burh meaning Aegil’s fort.

After the Normans invaded in 1066 and settled the land, the Domesday Book, their inventory of the land and inhabitants of Britain in 1086, shows the thriving nature of the Chilterns. For example in 1086 Princes Risborough had 47 households which would imply over a hundred adults plus children and slaves, 2 mills and 1,000 pigs. Pigs are often listed in large numbers because they lived off acorns and beechmast (pannage) in the forests and improved the soil quality as well as providing a source of income and food for the village.

Much later in the 1600s, Woodland industries such as furniture making developed, the Chiltern beech trees being well suited to growing on poor chalky soil and having straight trunks ideal for making furniture. By 1680 chairs were being made in High Wycombe and the Windsor chair was so named from the 1730s. A fifth of the Chilterns National Landscape is still woodland.

The Chiltern hills basically consist of chalk, but upon this there is a multitude if different soil types which have led to a wide range of agriculture, products and activities – chairs and cherries, bricks and pigs, watermills, watercress, beer and windmills. From the medieval period beer and water from wells were safe to drink, but other water was definitely not and so breweries and beer shops were big business. It used to be said of Marlow that there were just two industries in the town – brewing beer and drinking it!

Chesham, first recorded in the second half of the 10th century, is known for its four Bs - boots, beer, brushes and Baptists, although in the face of fierce competition from both home and abroad during the later 19th and early 20th centuries, the three traditional industries rapidly declined. Once again, thanks to the nature of the Chiltern Hills with its clays and the beechwoods to fuel the kilns, brickmaking was once a major industry in Buckinghamshire. In the 19th century there were many, many brickworks, mostly small. Today only a handful are left.

So why did the Chilterns become such a favoured place? The Chiltern Hills have enjoyed sustained prosperity over centuries thanks to a rich blend of geography, geology, and human ingenuity. Historic coaching roads and later railways connected the area to major cities, boosting trade and tourism. The chalk downlands have provided excellent grazing and arable land, supporting farming communities since prehistoric times. The status of Chilterns National Landscape (originally an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty from 1964) has preserved the landscape and attracted tourism and boosted local economies. The Chilterns are an example of a region where natural beauty, historical depth, and economic vitality have coexisted and reinforced each other over time.

In essence, the Chilterns are not just shaped by history; they are animated by it. The hills, woods, and villages carry stories that continue to inform how people live, work, and connect with the land today.

We’d love to see your photographs of the Chilterns. Enter our Photography Competition and your image could be adorning the walls of the Museum next year. Find out more at the link below.