Facts about Cheshunt
History
Cheshunt was a settlement on Ermine Street, the main Roman road leading north from London. Before the Norman Conquest, the manor of Cheshunt was held by Eddeva the Fair, but William I granted it to Alan of Brittany. The parish church of St Mary the Virgin was first recorded in a charter of 1146 but was entirely rebuilt between 1418 and 1448 with a three-stage tower topped by an octagonal turret.
As Princess Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth I lived at Cheshunt in the care of Sir Anthony Denny after she left Queen Catherine Parr’s household in 1548. Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, died here in 1712. The town’s Bury Green neighbourhood was once the home of singer Cliff Richard. Lotus Cars, as well as the central headquarters the Debenhams store chain, were formerly located in Cheshunt, and the headquarters of Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket chain, was located here until 2016.
Industry
Cheshunt’s best-known employer was Tesco, whose head office was in Delamare Road, Cheshunt for many years. A small store in the town centre is still open today, while “Home ‘n’ Wear” store, which was situated across the Old Pond in College Road, is now closed. In 1983 a new out-of-town Tesco store located to the north of the town opened, named “Brookfield Farm”.
