Coleshill

COLESHILL, a hamlet, in the parish and union of Amersham, hundred of Burnham, county of Buckingham, 1¾ mile (S. by W.) from Amersham; containing 547 inhabitants. This place is situated on elevated ground, and is celebrated for the extent and variety of the prospects on every side; commanding a view over six counties, adorned with lofty woods and finely diversified by hill and dale. The manor-house occupies the site of an ancient and splendid seat, called "Ould Stock," or Stock Place, which originally belonged to the family of Bohun, Earl of Hereford, Essex, and Northampton, and high constable of England, who resided here about the year 1360. The manor was afterwards the inheritance of the Wallers, of whom Edmund, the lyric poet, was born here, and represented the borough of Amersham in three parliaments: near the manorhouse is Waller's oak, said to have been planted by the poet, but evidently of much greater antiquity. The hamlet comprises 1800 acres, of which one-fourth is woodland; clay and chalk are found in great abundance, the former of excellent quality for the manufacture of common earthenware, and the latter a suitable manure for the soil. According to tradition, an ancient chapel once existed, and the truth of the opinion has derived confirmation from the discovery of the foundations of an old building of that kind, on the estate called Churchfield.