After Milton Keynes, Gerrards Cross is the newest town in Buckinghamshire, established at the beginning of the 20th century. Its history can be understood in three broad phases:
- The time before the late 18th century when Gerrards Cross was a sparsely populated rural area traversed by a national highway, its landscape characterised at least from the Middle Ages by extensive open commons shared between neighbouring parishes and estates;
- Between the late 18th century and the coming of the railway in 1906 when Gerrards Cross became the ‘Brighton of Bucks’; a prestigious rural retreat for the upper classes characterised by the construction of gentlemen’s country houses, a popular hunting venue and a coaching trade.
- After 1906 Gerrards Cross rapidly grew in a somewhat piecemeal fashion to become a ‘Metroland’ commuter town characterised by extensive private housing estate development aimed at London’s upper-middle class.
The earliest evidence for human activity dates back to the Palaeolithic (Pre 10,000 BC). However, the first definite sign of settlement appears in the Iron Age with the construction of the hillfort of Bulstrode Camp. The Gerrards Cross area was used for pottery manufacture during the Roman period.
Evidence for the Anglo Saxon and Medieval periods is sparse. The landscape was divided between a number of manors including Bulstrode Manor, and Moat Farm which was the centre of Temple Bulstrode a Knights Templar’s Preceptory in the thirteenth and fourteenth century. The character of the medieval landscape was believed to be a largely rural, wooded environment dominated by the common, with a settlement pattern of dispersed farmsteads and cottages. The character of the landscape remained largely unchanged until the development of Gerrards Cross in the 20th century.
By the late 18th to early 19th century Gerrards Cross and Chalfont Common was regarded as an exclusive rural retreat for the wealthy elite. It was not until 1861 that Gerrards Cross was properly recognised as a separate place when a new parish was carved out from five neighbouring parishes. However, the real catalyst for the creation of a town was the arrival in 1906 of the Great Western & Great Central Joint Railway line. The opening of a station at Gerrards Cross gave visitors from London the opportunity to visit leafy Buckinghamshire. To exploit its position on the railway, district planners and developers set about the creation of a purpose built ‘garden suburb’, a residential town made up of large arts and crafts style houses with spacious gardens. The development of Gerrards Cross was characterised by its high-status housing designed by many famous architects, including Stanley Hamp and Robert Muir. By the 1930s Gerrards Cross had expanded further with housing estates at Dukes Avenue and Camp Road. With the exception of a few shops and services the town contains no prominent industries or trades and is almost entirely residential. A dormitory town for middle class commuters to London, Gerrards Cross is regarded as one of the more exclusive places to live in Buckinghamshire and in spite of its relatively short history is arguably one of the finest examples of an early twentieth century suburban town in England.