Buckinghamshire · Chilterns · Historic Market Town

Old Amersham: Medieval Market Town, Martyrs & Chiltern History

Explore one of Buckinghamshire's best-preserved historic town centres, where a medieval market street, ancient church, seventeenth-century Market Hall and centuries of Chiltern history survive side by side.

c.1200 Market rights helped shape medieval Amersham.

13th Century St Mary's Church developed at the heart of the town.

1682 Sir William Drake built the landmark Market Hall.

1892 The Metropolitan Railway transformed the later development of Amersham.

Old Amersham lies in the Misbourne Valley within the Chilterns and preserves the historic core of a market town whose street pattern and architecture developed over many centuries.

Its broad High Street, Market Hall, medieval church, coaching inns, timber-framed buildings and old commercial properties create an unusually complete historic streetscape.

A Medieval Market Town

Amersham developed as a market settlement during the medieval period. Market rights helped establish the long, broad High Street and encouraged traders, craftsmen and merchants to settle in the town.

Historic burgage plots, shops and houses gradually developed along the street, creating a pattern that can still be understood when walking through Old Amersham today.

Old Town and New Town

For centuries the historic settlement occupied the valley floor. The arrival of the Metropolitan Railway in 1892 encouraged later development on the higher ground above the old town.

That geographical separation helped Old Amersham retain much of its historic character while Amersham-on-the-Hill developed around the railway.

A Short History of Old Amersham

Medieval period Amersham developed as a market town in the Misbourne Valley, with a broad High Street, burgage plots and commercial activity.

Around 1200 Market and fair rights helped establish Amersham as a local centre for trade.

13th century onwards St Mary's Church developed at the centre of the settlement and was enlarged during subsequent centuries.

Early 1500s Amersham became associated with a group of Lollard religious dissenters later remembered as the Amersham Martyrs.

1624 Dr Challoner's Grammar School was founded in the historic town.

1682 – Market Hall Sir William Drake built the Market Hall as a gift to the townspeople. The upper floor provided meeting space while the open ground floor served the market.

18th and 19th centuries Coaching, inns, shops and local trades continued to shape the appearance and economy of the High Street.

1892 – Railway The arrival of the Metropolitan Railway on higher ground contributed to the creation of the modern two-part character of Amersham.

Why Old Amersham feels different: much of the later growth took place away from the valley-floor historic centre. As a result, the old High Street retains a particularly strong concentration of historic buildings and an unusually coherent townscape.

The Market Hall

The Market Hall is one of Old Amersham's defining landmarks. The Grade II* listed building was constructed in 1682 by Sir William Drake as a gift to the town.

Its open arcaded ground floor was designed for market activity, while the upper storey provided a hall for meetings. Above it sits a distinctive wooden cupola containing a clock and bell.

More than three centuries later, the building remains a visual centrepiece of the High Street and Market Square.

Look for the date: the Market Hall carries the Drake monogram and the date 1682, linking the building directly with the family that played an important role in the history of Amersham and nearby Shardeloes.

St Mary's Church

The Grade I listed Church of St Mary stands close to the Market Square and forms another major element of the historic centre.

The church was built in the thirteenth century and enlarged during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Later restoration changed parts of its external appearance, but it retains a long sequence of medieval and later historic features.

The church and churchyard also contain monuments associated with the Drake family and other generations of Amersham residents.

The Amersham Martyrs

Old Amersham also has an important place in the history of religious dissent before the English Reformation.

The people remembered as the Amersham Martyrs were Lollards who sought, among other beliefs, greater access to scripture in English and challenged aspects of contemporary Church practice.

William Tylsworth was executed in 1511. Further prosecutions followed, and several more men and one woman were executed in the early sixteenth century. Their story remains part of Amersham's local historical identity.

A town with several layers of history: Old Amersham is not defined by one period. Medieval commerce, Tudor religious conflict, seventeenth-century civic architecture, coaching-era travel and Victorian development can all be read in the same streets.

Historic Places to Notice

Place	Why it matters	Period / Character
Market Hall	Grade II* listed civic and market building constructed by Sir William Drake.	1682
St Mary's Church	Grade I listed parish church with medieval origins and later additions.	13th century onwards
High Street	Broad historic street preserving the form and architecture of the old market town.	Medieval to modern
Market Square	Historic civic and commercial centre beside the church and Market Hall.	Historic town centre
Church House	Part of a historic building range with connections to the medieval Fraternity of St Katherine and later education and community uses.	Late medieval onwards
River Misbourne	Chalk stream and valley landscape closely connected with the geography and development of the town.	Natural landscape

Old Amersham Through the Centuries

Period	Development	What can still be experienced
Medieval	Market town, burgage plots, church and trading community.	Street pattern, St Mary's and historic plots.
Tudor	Religious dissent and the story of the Amersham Martyrs.	Memorials and historic interpretation.
17th century	Civic development and the Drake family's influence.	Market Hall and other historic buildings.
18th–19th centuries	Coaching, inns, shops and expanding local services.	Historic High Street buildings.
From 1892	Railway development shifted new growth towards higher ground.	Clear distinction between Old Amersham and Amersham-on-the-Hill.

Great Missenden to Old Amersham

Old Amersham makes a particularly rewarding finish to a linear walk through the Misbourne Valley and Chiltern countryside.

Great Missenden → Little Missenden → Chiltern Countryside → Old Amersham

The journey connects three settlements with very different historical characters: literary and monastic Great Missenden, ancient Little Missenden, and the preserved medieval market town of Old Amersham.

Explore the route's history

Walking Around Old Amersham

Old Amersham rewards slow exploration. Look beyond individual buildings and notice how the Market Hall, church, High Street, side streets and valley landscape work together.

Please respect residential properties, church grounds and private premises, and take care when crossing the High Street and other roads.

Finish your Chiltern walk in Old Amersham

Join Hiking in London Club on our Great Missenden to Amersham walk, passing through the Chiltern countryside before finishing in historic Amersham.

View the Great Missenden to Amersham Walk

Research sources:
Amersham Museum – Amersham History
Amersham Museum – Market Hall
Amersham Museum – St Mary's Church
Amersham Museum – Amersham Martyrs
Historic England – Market Hall, Amersham