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Pictorial Tour of Amersham
Sycamore Road

Amersham on the Hill, or Top Amersham or the new town, whatever you want to call it, contains the main shopping centre of Amersham. Apart from Tesco, the Old Town does not have many everyday type shops. (It has plenty of pubs, antique shops and restaurants). Above is Oakfield Corner, at the junction of Sycamore Road, Chesham Road and Hill Avenue. The landmark building on the corner was designed by John Kennard an architect who designed many distinctive buildings in Amersham. The parade of shops was built in 1912. At the time there were few other shops or houses in the area, and so the development was quite speculative. Although the railway station opened in 1892, there was little development around the station to start with, which is perhaps good news for Amersham as it might have ended up like many other Victorian developed towns with terraced housing and mundane shops.

Oakfield Corner. On the other side of Oakfield Corner is this recent housing development. Originally the site was occupied by large houses (owned by a Doctor). In the 1980s plans were submitted to build a Waitrose supermarket on this site. The plans were turned down. A few years later Tesco opened in the Old Town. Had the supermarket been built on this site, how would the shopping centre of Amersham on the Hill have changed?

A view along the top of Chesham Road leading to Oakfield Corner and the junction of Sycamore Road. The shops on the left were extensions of Kennard's 1912 development. The shopping streets in Amersham further developed along Sycamore Road itself and Hill Avenue rather than Chesham Road.

A view towards Oakfield corner showing the second block of shops built along Sycamore Road.

For many years the above block contained the International Stores and various clothes shops.

Junction of Sycamore Road and Woodside Close. For many years this shop was called Woodcocks. Accent closed in the summer of 2005. The very distinctive shop windows are a feature of this building.

Looking towards Oakfield Corner along Sycamore Road.

Sycamore Road looking towards Oakfield Corner. Woolworths is still trading (4th shop from the left) in its 1930s building. Budgen supermarket occupies the ground floor of the 1980s built three story building. The site of this building used to be where Brownings was, a hardware / home supplies shop which had a rambling layout across a few joined buildings.

Sycamore Road - the same parade of shops from the other end

Sycamore Road. The large central block of shops was built in the 1930s. Called Chiltern Parade it had as the main shop Sainsbury's. The development actually replaced some houses which had not long been built by the 1930s.

Sycamore Road. The same parade of shops viewed from the other end. Accommodation for the shops staff was provided above the shop. Amersham lost its traditional style Sainsbury's when their supermarket opened in Chesham in the 1970s

A wider shot of Sycamore Road looking towards Sycamore Corner

Just before Iceland in the turning with a foot connection to the car park off Rickmansworth Road. Iceland occupies the site of the former Regent Cinema

Sycamore Road, Sycamore Corner End.

St. Michael's Church built in 1966. Before the church was built, the site was occupied by the Free Church, a temporary church for St. Michaels and small shops and houses.

Sycamore Road looking towards Sycamore Corner. The shops on the right were built in the late 1960s on the site of the old Free Church and various small shops and houses.

Sycamore Road - Amersham's shopping centre was for many years in decline. Many blamed the opening of Tesco's taking all the shoppers to the old Town. There were many empty shops and a view that the only shops left were Estate Agents and charity shops. Recently, Amersham on the Hill has started to flourish again. New shops have opened along with cafes and restaurants.

The Tuesday market has been moved from the car park behind Iceland to Sycamore Road itself, the road being closed to traffic on Tuesdays. The above picture actually shows a French / British Gourmet Market or Farmers Market held in February 2003. The Tuesday market occupies the same area with the road closed to traffic.

Sycamore Corner - junction of Sycamore Road (top left, bottom right) Woodside Road (bottom left) and Rickmansworth Road.

Sycamore Corner. A recent housing development stands on the site of the original Sycamore House. The corner used to be where the old air raid siren was located. The siren continued to be used after the War as a means of calling out the fire engine, before the introduction of pagers and radios. Recently, flower beds have been introduced to improve the look of the area.

Sycamore Road - the junction with Grimsdells Lane is just beyond the shops. For many years one of the shops above contained a book binding company, which was where the famous big red books for the TV programme "This is Your Life" were made. If you are interested in details of some of the old shops that used to be in Amersham, see the page here

Please note, that the following pages contain large numbers of photographs. The photographs have been compressed, but it may still take a few minutes to download each page.

Please choose a link for the part of the tour you wish to view

For pictures of Chesham Bois, Little Chalfont and Amersham's schools, churches and pubs, see the links from the main Amersham homes page, link at the bottom of this page.

Any additions, corrections, alterations, please email the web master


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