THE CONGLOMERATE TRACK 21
"entry" beside the fifteenth century George Inn. Here the track-
stone may be seen lying lengthwise beneath an ancient timber on
the south side of the coaching-yard entrance. This is the only
example we have found of a trackstone siting an early hostelry.
Eastwards from Missenden the track climbs steeply to a
feature known as "The Camp", leaving the Chesham road which
winds round the lower contours a little to the north, then passing
in a direct line through Hyde Farm, Hyde House, and Hawthorn
Farm, it rejoins the Chesham road at the village of Pednor. Here
the little River Chess was forded, the ford stone still standing at
the corner of the wall opposite the Plough Inn.
Chesham is entered by way of Church Street, to the north of
which the Church stands upon a little knoll. This Church has been
one of our most important discoveries, for it stands upon a group
of not less than sixteen large puddingstone boulders which
originally stood in a great circle (Plate 3). Those on the southern
side are still in situ, though overthrown, whilst those on the north
were disturbed during fifteenth and sixteenth century alterations,
and are now heaped together under one buttress. If in imagination
one removes the Church from the site, the remarkable character
of this prehistoric feature is apparent. In its original form it con-
sisted of sixteen or more conglomerate boulders, varying in size
from three feet to eight feet or more in length, set in a circle about
100 feet in diameter, and standing upon the low spur of the Chil-
terns in full view from east or west. We have concluded that this
site at Chesham bore a special significance to the ancient peoples
who constructed the track.
Chesham has many other points of interest. A remarkable
number of the old trackstones still stand in Church Road,
Chequers Yard, and Lewin's Yard, and we have collected detailed
records of others. All lie on the east-to-west line, and few pudding-
stones are found at other points of the compass. The most in-
teresting trackstone has unfortunately disappeared. It stood in the
centre of the tiny Market Place, which lies at the western end of
Church Road, until about fifty years ago, when it was removed as
an obstruction to traffic and deposited in front of a shop near the
Broadway. In 1928 it was moved once more, and all trace has now
been lost.
This Market Stone was without a doubt the nucleus around
which the earliest settlement gathered, and it emphasises the ex-
treme antiquity of Chesham as a community centre. This is clearly
a town with a long history, growing from primitive beginnings
around a stone upon the ancient track.
From Chesham to the east the track climbs the steep White
Hill, and joins the Botley road at the Hen and Chickens Inn where
a boulder lies at the roadside. Along the road to Leyhill Common