View source for Gerrards Cross

{{Short description|Town in Buckinghamshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{Infobox UK place 
|country =                 England
|coordinates = {{coord|51.587|-0.554|display=inline,title}}
|official_name=            Gerrards Cross
|static_image_name=        This is Gerrards Cross town centre (to my mind) - geograph.org.uk - 29075.jpg
|static_image_width=
|static_image_caption=     Gerrards Cross Town Centre
|population_ref           = 8,554 (Parish, 2021)<ref>{{cite web |title=Gerrards Cross parish |url=https://citypopulation.de/en/uk/southeastengland/admin/buckinghamshire/E04001586__gerrards_cross/ |website=City Population |access-date=19 February 2025}}</ref><br>{{nowrap|8,115 (Built up area, 2021)<ref>{{cite web |title=Towns and cities, characteristics of built-up areas, England and Wales: Census 2021 |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/articles/townsandcitiescharacteristicsofbuiltupareasenglandandwales/census2021 |website=Census 2021 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=8 August 2023}}</ref>}}
|area_total_km2=           10.88
|unitary_england     = [[Buckinghamshire Council|Buckinghamshire]]
|lieutenancy_england = [[Buckinghamshire]]
|region=                   South East England
|constituency_westminster= [[Chesham and Amersham (UK Parliament constituency)|Chesham and Amersham]]
|post_town=                Gerrards Cross
|postcode_district=        SL9
|postcode_area=            SL
|dial_code=                01753
|os_grid_reference=        TQ00258860
| type = Town and civil parish
}}

'''Gerrards Cross''' is a town and [[civil parish]] in [[Buckinghamshire]], England. It lies immediately south of [[Chalfont St Peter]] and a short distance west of the [[London Borough of Hillingdon]], from which it is separated by the parish of [[Denham, Buckinghamshire|Denham]]. Other neighbouring villages include [[Fulmer]], [[Hedgerley]], [[Iver Heath]] and [[Stoke Poges]]. It is {{convert|19|miles}} west-north-west of central [[London]]. The town stands on the lower slopes of the [[Chiltern Hills]], and the [[River Misbourne]] flows through the parish, north-east of the town. Bulstrode Park Camp was an [[Iron Age]] fortified encampment. The town is close to the [[M25 motorway]] and the [[M40 motorway]], the latter running beside woodland on the town's southern boundary. 
==History==
The site of a minor [[Iron Age]] [[hillfort]], Bulstrode Park Camp, is to the south-west of the town centre. It is a [[scheduled monument|scheduled ancient monument]].<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1006954|desc=Bulstrode Park camp|access-date=25 January 2015}}</ref>

The area which is now Gerrards Cross was historically an area of wasteland known as Chalfont Heath, which later became known as Gerrards Cross Common. In the medieval period, there was no village in the area, which straddled the edges of five different parishes. The name Gerrards Cross, sometimes spelled Jarretts Cross, is recorded from at least 1448, and may relate to an early landowner, Gerard of Chalfont, who is recorded as having owned land in the area in the 14th century.<ref name=Hunt&Thorpe/>

[[File:Gerrards Cross, Latchmoor Pond - geograph.org.uk - 3792482.jpg|thumb|left|Latchmoor Pond]]
The origin of the 'cross' element of the name is uncertain; a cross is marked on early maps near the Bull Hotel and Latchmoor Pond at the western end of the common, but whether it was a standing cross marking a boundary or meeting place, or a name for a crossroads is unclear. The modern crossroads of the Oxford Road (the [[A40 road|A40]]) and Windsor Road / Packhorse Lane (B416) was not created until 1707, when an old north-south road through [[Bulstrode Park]] was diverted, which was many years after the name Gerrards Cross was first recorded.<ref name=Hunt&Thorpe>{{cite book |last1=Hunt |first1=Julian |last2=Thorpe |first2=David |title=Gerrards Cross: A history |date=2023 |publisher=Phillimore |isbn=9781803994024 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Gerrards_Cross/eT6xEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22gerrards%20cross%22%20%22jarretts%20cross%22&pg=PP24&printsec=frontcover |access-date=19 February 2025}}</ref>

[[File:Gerrards Cross, West Common - geograph.org.uk - 3793100.jpg|thumb|Houses at West Common]]
Until the 19th century, development in the area was limited to a small number of buildings immediately adjoining the common, most of which were in the parish of [[Chalfont St Peter]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Buckinghamshire Sheet XLVIII |url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/102340241 |website=National Library of Scotland |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=19 February 2025 |date=1883}}</ref>

In 1859, [[St James Church, Gerrards Cross|St James' Church]] was built on Oxford Road.<ref name=NHLE>{{NHLE|desc=Church of St James|num=1124389|grade=II*}}</ref> It was initially a [[chapel of ease]] for the parish of [[Fulmer]] in which it lay, but in 1861 it became parish church of a new [[ecclesiastical parish]] called St James, Gerrard's Cross, created from parts of the parishes of Chalfont St Peter, Fulmer, [[Iver]], [[Langley Marish]], and [[Upton-cum-Chalvey]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22502|page=1577|date=16 April 1861}}</ref> The creation of the ecclesiastical parish did not change the civil parish boundaries. A new civil parish of Gerrards Cross matching the ecclesiastical parish was subsequently created in 1895.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Langston |first1=Brett |title=Eton Registration District |url=https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/eton.html |website=UK BMD |access-date=19 February 2025}}</ref>

Gerrards Cross remained a relatively small village at the turn of the 20th century. The parish had a population of 552 at the 1901 census.<ref name=Kelly>{{cite book |title=Kelly's Directory of Buckinghamshire |date=1915 |page=105 |url=https://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/52363/rec/2 |access-date=19 February 2025}}</ref> In 1906, [[Gerrards Cross railway station]] opened on the [[Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway]], a new line jointly built by the two companies to improve their routes from the Midlands to London. The station is to the north-east of Gerrards Cross Common, and the area around the station was developed soon after the station opened; by 1911, the population of the parish had grown to 1,612,<ref name=Kelly/> and it then grew steadily throughout the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gerrards Cross Chapelry / Civil Parish Population |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10218925/cube/TOT_POP |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=19 February 2025}}</ref>

==Facilities==
[[File:St James Church, Gerrards Cross - geograph.org.uk - 6121371.jpg|thumb|left|[[St James Church, Gerrards Cross|St James's Church, Gerrards Cross]], built in 1861.]]
The large and distinctive [[parish church]] is dedicated to [[James, son of Zebedee|St. James]]. It was built in 1859 as a memorial to Colonel George Alexander Reid who was MP for [[Windsor (UK Parliament constituency)|Windsor]], and designed by Sir [[William Tite]] in yellow brick with a [[Byzantine architecture|Byzantine]]-style dome, Chinese-looking [[Turret (architecture)|turret]]s and an [[Italianate]] [[Campanile]].<ref name=NHLE/> In 1969 the singer [[Lulu (singer)|Lulu]] married [[Maurice Gibb]] of the [[Bee Gees]] in the church. The actress [[Margaret Rutherford]] is buried with her husband [[Stringer Davis]] in the [[St James Church, Gerrards Cross|St James Church]] graveyard.

The town has its own library and its own cinema, the [[Everyman Gerrards Cross]], which originally opened in 1925.

Independent schools include St Mary's (all girls- through to sixth form). Students of [[Secondary education#England, Wales and Northern Ireland|secondary school]] age attend either one of the local [[grammar school]]s, such as [[Dr Challoner's Grammar School]] (Boys with co-educational Sixth Form), [[Long Close School|Dr Challoner's High School]] (Girls), The [[Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe]] (Boys), [[John Hampden Grammar School]] (Boys), and [[Beaconsfield High School]] (Girls) [[Chesham Grammar School]] (Co-ed), and the local [[Upper School]], [[Chalfonts Community College]], which is the [[Catchment area (human geography)|catchment]] school.

On the south side of the town is the [[Gerrards Cross Memorial Building]], on the site of the former vicarage. The building was designed by [[Sir Edwin Lutyens]] and unveiled in 1922 to commemorate the town's losses during the First World War. It is the only example of a Lutyens war memorial designed with a functional purpose.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1430052|desc=Gerrards Cross Memorial Building|access-date=19 December 2015}}</ref>

==Governance==
There are two tiers of local government covering Gerrards Cross, at civil parish (town) and [[Unitary authorities of England|unitary authority]] level: Gerrards Cross Town Council and [[Buckinghamshire Council]]. The town council meets at the [[Gerrards Cross Memorial Building|Gerrards Cross Memorial Centre]] on East Common and has its offices at the adjoining South Lodge.<ref>{{cite web |title=Meeting Agendas and Minutes |url=https://www.gerrardscross.gov.uk/agendas-minutes-by-year/ |website=Gerrards Cross Town Council |access-date=19 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=South Lodge and North Lodge, 7 and 9 East Common |url=https://local-heritage-list.org.uk/buckinghamshire/asset/4183 |website=Local Heritage List |publisher=Buckinghamshire Council |access-date=19 February 2025}}</ref>

From the creation of the civil parish of Gerrards Cross in 1895 until 1974 it was included in the [[Eton Rural District]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Gerrards Cross Chapelry / Civil Parish |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10218925 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=19 February 2025}}</ref> The parish then became part of the Beaconsfield district in 1974, which was renamed [[South Bucks]] in 1980.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=48075  |date=23 January 1980 |page=1130 }}</ref> The district was abolished in 2020, when Buckinghamshire Council was created, also taking the functions of the abolished county council.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Buckinghamshire (Structural Changes) Order 2019|year=2019|number=957|access-date=30 March 2024}}</ref>

Since 1974, parish councils have had the right to declare their parishes to be a town.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government Act 1972|chapter=70|section=245}}</ref> Gerrards Cross Parish Council declared the parish to be a town with effect from 1 January 2016. The council therefore became Gerrards Cross Town Council.<ref>{{cite web |title=Change of name from Parish to Town Council |url=http://gerrardscross.gov.uk/change-of-name-from-parish-to-town-council/ |website=Gerrards Cross Parish Council |access-date=19 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108165541/http://gerrardscross.gov.uk/change-of-name-from-parish-to-town-council/ |archive-date=8 January 2016}}</ref>

==Transport==
[[File:Gerrards Cross station geograph-3560419-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Gerrards Cross station, in 1994. The view NW from the footbridge, towards Princes Risborough]] 
The town has a [[Gerrards Cross railway station|railway station]] on the [[Chiltern Main Line]] which opened on 2 April 1906. This provides services to London, High Wycombe and Oxford with a commuting time of 18 minutes on the fast train to [[Marylebone station|London Marylebone]]. A new arch over the section of deep railway [[Cut (earthmoving)|cutting]] to allow [[Tesco]] to build a supermarket [[Gerrards Cross tunnel collapse|collapsed]] on 30 June 2005 at 19:30. Nobody was injured but the line was closed for over six weeks. Compensation by Tesco to Chiltern was reported as £8.5m and the retailer compensated by funding a media campaign to reinstate business immediately lost by the closure. Construction of a correctly constructed arch began in January 2009.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nce.co.uk/tesco-restarts-work-at-tunnel-collapse-site/1967072.article|title=Tesco restarts work at tunnel collapse site|date=14 January 2009 |access-date=2009-05-06|work=New Civil Engineer}}</ref>

The 11.36am from London Paddington to Gerrards Cross was an official or '[[parliamentary train]]' recognised as an outlandish loss-making service to prevent the link to that terminus being closed or re-allocated. This train now terminates at West Ruislip. In 2011, National Rail was lobbied to phase the service out.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-hunt-for-britains-ghost-trains-6279103.html|title=The hunt for Britain's Ghost Trains|date=19 December 2011 |access-date=2011-12-19|work=The Independent}}</ref>

The town lies {{convert|8.4|miles}} north west of London's [[Heathrow Airport]]. 

==Demographics==
In the 2021 Census, the largest religious affiliations<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/maps/choropleth/population?msoa=E02003689 | title=Census Maps - Census 2021 data interactive, ONS }}</ref> in Gerrards Cross were [[Christian]] (46.2%), those with no religion (22.4%), [[Sikh]] (10.5%), [[Hindu]] (7.5%), [[Muslim]] (6.4%), [[Jewish]] (0.8%), [[Buddhist]] (0.5%) and Other (0.5%).

It was reported 65.5% of people living in Gerrards Cross were reported as White (65.5%), Asian (25.5%), Mixed (4.0%), Black (4.0%) and Other (1.1%).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/maps/choropleth/population?msoa=E02003689 | title=Census Maps - Census 2021 data interactive, ONS }}</ref>

==Recent history==
Many houses built during development in the 1950s had defective tiles, leading to the [[House of Lords|highest court]] reported judgment ''Young & Marten Ltd v McManus Childs Ltd'',<ref>[1969] 1 AC 454</ref> holding that a person who contracts to do work and supply materials implicitly warrants that the materials will be fit for purpose, even if the purchaser specifies the materials to be used.

==Notable people==
*[[Matt Aitken]], song writer, record producer and musician from [[Stock Aitken Waterman]] lived in Gerrards Cross. 
*[[Roy Castle]], dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician, lived in Gerrards Cross (died 2 September 1994).
*[[Amal Clooney]], barrister and human rights activist, moved from Lebanon to Gerrards Cross with her family at the age of 2.
*[[Angela Douglas]], actress, born in Gerrards Cross 29 October 1940.
*[[Helen McKay]], singer, first person to sing on the BBC Television Service, 26 August 1936, lived in Gerrards Cross.
*[[Kenneth More]], actor, born in Gerrards Cross 20 September 1914 (died 12 July 1982).
*[[Des O'Connor]], entertainer (died 14 November 2020).
*[[Dominic Raab]], politician, [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Esher and Walton]] and former [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Deputy Prime Minister]], [[Secretary of State for Justice]], [[Lord Chancellor]] and [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|Foreign Secretary]], grew up in Gerrards Cross.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/18363346.dominic-raab---bucks-born-mp-now-britains-de-facto-prime-minister/ |title= Dominic Raab – the Bucks-born MP who is now Britain's de facto Prime Minister}}</ref>
*[[Joan G. Robinson]], author and illustrator, lived in Gerrards Cross. Her best-known book is ''[[When Marnie Was There (novel)|When Marnie Was There]]'', which was adapted into an animated film by [[Studio Ghibli]].
*[[Peter Stringfellow]], businessman and nightclub owner, lived in Gerrards Cross (died 7 June 2018).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.celebsnow.co.uk/celebrity-news/peter-stringfellow-margaret-thatcher-once-came-to-my-club-661412|title=Now meets Peter Stringfellow: 'I'm so loved up with my wife Bella!'|last1=Now MagazineApr 21|first2=2017 11:18 Am|last2=Edt|website=celebsnow.co.uk|access-date=6 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://metro.co.uk/2018/06/07/peter-stringfellow-net-worth-three-wives-four-children-strip-club-empire-dies-following-cancer-battle-7612512/|title=Peter Stringfellow net worth, wife and children after death from cancer battle|first=Amy|last=Duncan|date=7 June 2018 |access-date=6 April 2020}}</ref>
*[[Benjamin Zander]], composer, born in Gerrards Cross 9 March 1939.

== Literary references ==
Gerrards Cross was one of the locations for the crime thriller “[https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/17268840-stalkers The Stalkers]” (2013) by ''[[Paul Finch]]'', a former police officer and journalist and now a full-time writer.

Gerrards Cross also featured in a true story about love and war based on real letters “[https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/39668486-the-very-white-of-love The Very White of Love]” (2018) by S.K. Worrall.

In the story “[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18123914-carousel Carousel]” (2013) depicting a spoiled boy from an Indian family the author Rajeev Rana also placed some of the action in Gerrards Cross.

This town also served as the setting for the novella “[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/221239662-amy-s-travels?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=vL6byvYxp3&rank=2 Amy's Travels]” (2024) by Lilly Khripko (born in 2013 in the UK and now living in Gerrards Cross). The book tells the story of a tweenage girl recalling her early childhood.

==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
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Gerrards Cross}}
* Gerrards Cross Community Association GXCA https://www.gxca.org.uk/
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120426220023/http://www.gxlibrary.org/ Gerrards Cross Library]

{{South Bucks}}
{{Buckinghamshire}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Gerrards Cross| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Buckinghamshire]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire]]
[[Category:South Bucks District]]
[[Category:Hill forts in Buckinghamshire]]