Monument record 0702500000 - Latimer village

Conservation Area designated in 1971 and ammended to join with Chenies in 1992 (B1).
First recorded in legal documents in 1220, Latimer was known by various manorial names in the 13th and 14th centuries, with Latimer becoming dominant from the 16th century (B2).
Formerly part of Chesham, Latimer was constituted an ecclesiastical parish in 1868, and the civil parish was formed out of Chesham in 1898, confirmed by Local Government Board Order on 1 April 1899. In 1905 it contained 3,079 acres, of which rather more than half was arable land, while the amount of permanent grass was about double that of woodland. The parish is watered by the Chess, which forms its southern boundary. From its banks narrow lanes ascend to the higher ground in the north. Latimer village is prettily situated in a hollow near the River Chess. It formerly consisted of two parts, but the upper one, on the top of the hill, was destroyed about the middle of the last century [19th century] and merged into the grounds of Latimer House. A few half-timber whitewashed cottages, with small gardens before the doors, stand back from the green, where tall elms cluster round the pump. There is a post office, but no public-house. A steep path leads to the church and rectory-house, near which stands Latimer House, the seat of Lord Chesham (B3).