The History of Cheshunt.

Part of the works of Kathan Trivedi

The town lies in the lower region of the Lee Valley, thirteen miles from the Borough of Enfield in Greater London. The town is on the banks of the River

 Lee, the tributary of the Thames, and the Lee Navigation, a canal formed to better navigate the river (and at the Hertfordshire-Essex border). The flat, low-lying area on which Cheshunt is built on is part of the Lee Valley Corridor, with low-lying gravel-pitted lakes and forests later reclaimed as regional and country parks. Historically the Lee and the valley shaped the town's borders, in fact, the King Alfred diverted the Lee to slow Viking Armies. (As Cheshunt marked the border between the Danelaw and Wessex.) In fact, the historical importance of the river to transport routes is still showing in modern society -- as main transport routes still follow Saxon and Roman passages. The Great Cambridge Road in the A10 and Ermine Street which runs near the Western Anglian railway. Archeological finds near Ermine Street prove that Cheshunt has been occupied long before the town appeared in the Domesday (1086). Flint tools and pottery attest to Prehistoric Settlement. Cheshunt Lay on the Roman Road of Ermine Street the main road leading Londinium to Eboracum. (London to York.) Though the name of Cheshunt has changed it may still retain the Latin ''castrum'' (fort). Cheshunt was first called ''ceastre-hunt'' and in the Domesday Book, Cesterhunt, (the name that appears on its coat of arms). Held of Count Robert of Montrain by his holding Cesternut had a Manor and a Fishery (suspected to be near Fisher's Green). Now, from this epoch, Cheshunt's iconic church St. Mary the Virgin was erected. The Lee still remained important and formed the Hertfordshire-Essex Border. The soils near Cheshunt Lake were fertile, as agriculture in Cheshunt was at an all-time high. While Cheshunt Lake boosted Agriculture, Holifield Lake was more of a marsh. A medieval Account described Cheshunt Lake as the backyard of London and Holifield Lake was London's Privy. William Cecil built Theobald's Palace in a Royal Hunting Lodge in Cheshunt. The Palae accommodated Elizabeth I, James I of England and Charles I being the last monarch to stay in the Palace. The Palace was later dismantled in the 1800's for stone used in other buildings in Hertfordshire. Leaving what is now called Cedar's park. Another Tudor manor, Culver House or the Great House of Cheshunt, was passed in 1519 to cardinal Thomas Wolsey (Lord Chancellor of Henry VIII) The house stood until 1965 until it was burned down. During the Civil war of England, the forces of Oliver Cromwell used Cheshunt for troop movement people date Cromwell's family history to Cheshunt Park. By the Late 1600's Cheshunt's economy was based solely on architecture. In the 1700's Cheshunt remained a manor village on the banks of the Lee. The town benefited from the slow canalisation of the River Lee and Culver Hose and the Palace remained the centre of society. Cheshunt Lock was built as the ninth Lock on the Lee and helped the river be more navigable and predictable. The lock also helped barges access the town. This meant that the growing industry of agriculture in Cheshunt was supported by newer and more modern transport links. In the year 1840, the Northern and Eastern railway (later the Great Eastern Rail) reached Cheshunt making the town have a direct transport to the city. This opened the town to rapid commuter growth in a phenomenon now described as ''a commuter town''. This also made Cheshunt the centre of glasshouse horticulture. The rich soils along the Lee gravels and mild climate made Cheshunt the centre for greenhouses and nurseries. In 1825, brickmaker William Gibbs made an overhead monorail carrying horse-drawn carts between a brickyard and a wharf. The most famous nursery was Paul & Sons. Their famous rose, the 'Cheshunt Hybrid' was introduced in the 1870s. By the 20th Century, Cheshunt saw the height of the glasshouse industry. The area saw 1200 acres of greenhouses. The valley as a whole was named the glasshouse capital of Britain. After the Second great war, the industry declined quickly.

by the late 20th century “vast acreages” of glasshouses were cleared, and many nurseries converted to gardens or estates. 

-A guide to Hertfordshire

Though now, the towns glasshouse industry only now remains in names such as ''Thomas Rochford Way''. Later, Cheshunt became a commuter town in the north London area. Tesco set the Cheshunt branch to their Headquarters in 1973 in Delamare Rd. The River Lee has always been central to the economy of Cheshunt. The Lee Navigation was a canalised waterway that was completed in 1771 and was a major change and boost to the economy, bringing goods into the city in a more efficient and navigable way. The natural Lee also shapes the borders of Cheshunt. Engineers constructed King George's Reservoir and the William Grilling Reservoir in the lower valley.

New River Company constructed two large brick reservoirs at Cheshunt (the North and South reservoirs) to store water for London. (These raised reservoirs held over 25,000 m³ of water above ground.) Some of this 17th–19th C water infrastructure survives: the New Gauge House at Broxbourne still controls flow from the Lea into the New River. 

-Anonymous source.

Now, lakes like Cheshunt Lake and Bowyer's water have been made as revivors and the New River now runs near Rag's brook and now stands as reminders of the past. 

A SHORT HISTORY OF CHESHUNT. CAN BE USED AS A SOURCE.