Chartered Surveyors Cheshunt Hertfordshire
Approximate Population: 51,998
Cheshunt, Hertfordshire’s best-known employer is Tesco, whose head office has been in Cheshunt for many years. A small store has been in the town centre for many years and is still open today, and a separate “Home and Ware” store used to be opposite (now closed). In 1983 a new out-of-town Tesco store located to the north of the town opened, named “Brookfield Farm”. It later expanded, and a branch Marks & Spencer built next door, the entire estate renamed “The Brookfield Centre”.
Until the late 1960s the main land use around Cheshunt was for its nursery industry, and many new techniques for growing under glass were developed here. Thomas Rochford had a large concern here, although now almost all the glasshouses have been re-developed into housing estates. This is often reflected in the names of the roads or estates, such as Rosedale or Thomas Rochford way. A small amount of nursery trade survives to the west of the town. The neighbouring town of Goff’s Oak still has a large number of nurseries as well as a large garden centre.
The River Lee Navigation passes through Cheshunt and was used for the transport of flowers and crops to the London markets for many years until road transport became more viable. A wharf existed just east of the railway on the site now occupied by Herts Young Mariners Base and the Youth Hostel which was built on the site of the derelict open-air swimming pool. Photos of the pool are exhibited at the hostel.
“Cheshunt Compound” a fungicide developed at the Cheshunt Research Station is still manufactured today.
North Met Pit, flooded gravel workings
From the end of World War II a large area of the River Lea flood plain was used for sand and gravel extraction which resulted in the creation of the now mature lakes which are popular with anglers, birdwatchers and naturalists. The area now forms part of the 1000-acre River Lee Country Park and the Turnford and Cheshunt Pits (SSSI).
Chartered Surveyors Cheshunt Hertfordshire
