Gerrards Cross
Gerrards Cross is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the very south of the county, near the border with Hertfordshire and Greater London, south of Chalfont St Peter. The village is located in the South Bucks local government district, which was known as the Beaconsfield district from 1974 to 1980. This had been formed on April 1, 1974 by the merger of part of Eton Rural District (including Gerrards Cross) with Beaconsfield urban district.
History
The village name is fairly new, when compared to other villages that surround it. Gerrards Cross did not exist in any formal sense until 1859 when it was formed by taking pieces out of the five parishes of Chalfont St Peter, Fulmer, Iver, Langley Marish and Upton to form a new ecclesiastical parish. It is named after the Gerrard family who in the early 17th century owned a manor here. At that time it was a hamlet in the parish of Chalfont St Peter.
Facilities
The large and distinctive parish church is dedicated to St. James. It was built in 1861 as a memorial to General Reid who was MP for Windsor and designed by Sir William Tite in yellow brick with a Byzantine style dome, Chinese looking turrets and an Italianate Campanile. In 1969 the singer Lulu married Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees in the church.
Gerrards Cross has its own well stocked library, a two screen cinema and various restaurants.
Independent schools include Gayhurst and Thorpe House. Most students of secondary school age attend Chalfonts Community College, which is the catchment upper school, or one of the local grammar schools, such as The Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe (Boys), Beaconsfield High School (Girls), Dr Challoner's Grammar School (Boys) and Dr Challoner's High School (Girls).
Bowls Club
Gerrards Cross Bowling Club based in Maltmans Lane has become one of the strongest in the country with 3 England Internationals and 10 other 'Middleton Cup' level players.
The club has won several prestige 'National' competitions including:- 1999, winners EBA 4's championships, winners EBA double 4s; 2004 National 'Top Club' finalists, 2005 winners National 'Top Club'.
England International, John McGuinness was selected as 'Performance Co-ordinator / Team Manager' for Team England's 2006 Commonwealth Games campaign in Australia. Gerrards Cross member Mark Bantock was subsequently selected to represent his country and managed to win a silver medal in the pairs event.
Although the club has a highly competitive 'first team' - players of all levels and abilities are encouraged and the club has been bucking the national trend of declining numbers with a series of innovative 'open days' that have attracted many new members.
The club house has recently been extended and several high profile bowling events have been held at the club.
Transport
The village has a railway station on the Chiltern Line. This provides services with a commuting time of approximately 25 minutes to London Marylebone. A tunnel near the station collapsed at 19:30 on 30 June 2005 where Tesco were building a new supermarket over the railway. Gerrards Cross celebrated 100 years of the coming of the railway and its modern beginning in 2006.
Reputation
Gerrards Cross has a reputation for being very upmarket and exclusive, with house prices being considerably greater than average. Located in the commuter belt of London, the village recorded the most expensive postcode outside of London in 2005 [1].
External links
References
A History of Chalfont St Peter and Gerrards Cross C G Edmonds 1964 and The History of Bulstrode by A M Baker 2003 published as one book by Colin Smythe Ltd. 2003