It wouldn’t be surprising to find yourself feeling that Amersham Old Town (as opposed to Amersham on the Hill, they’re quite distinct places) looks strangely familiar, even if it’s your first visit there.

Part of the high street in Amersham Old Town with St Mary’s church on the right and the 17th century Market Hall on the left.

That would be because this delightful market town in the Chiltern Hills to the west of London, with its picturesque high street lined with attractive, historic buildings, some dating back as far as 1450 (I’ll tell you more about that one in a mo), has been the backdrop to innumerable films and TV shows including Four Weddings and Funeral (see below for the two locations used in that ), The Line of Beauty, Midsomer Murders, The Vicar of Dibley and The Midwitch Cuckoos.

Staying nearby for a weekend with four friends who I first met at school over 50 years ago (I wrote about the joys of our long-lasting friendships in THIS BLOG), we thought we’d pass a perfectly pleasant hour wandering round the town and ended up spending the best part of a day exploring and thoroughly enjoying all its unexpected delights.

Each of our stopping off points was interspersed with dips into the tempting selection of shops that line the high street, amongst them family-run Su Chases Interiors, a treasure trove of gorgeous interior design, homeware and gifts, where the upstairs rooms were, at the time of visiting (late October), decked out in a magnificent display of their fabulous Christmas decorations and accessories.

Christmas in all its glory in Su Chases Interiors

Local traders also had their wares on offer in the weekly Saturday market in the 17th Century Old Market Hall. The hall was gifted to the people of Old Amersham by its owner, Sir William Drake (the Drake family are going to pop up again in a bit) and has been home to the local fire engine, a public water pump (water mains didn’t reach Amersham until 1910) and the town’s lock up over its long history. Restored in 1911 by William Wykeham Tyrrwhitt-Drake (that’s another tounge-twister name that’ll appear further on), the door into the lock up has the splendid inscription “Commit No Nuisance” above it. Bit late for the former occupants.

Amersham’s Old Market Hall, built in 1682. Photo: Mark Roberts

Just a little further along the high street is its oldest building - that one dating back to 1450 - which has now been cleverly and sympathetically converted into the enjoyably informative Amersham Museum

Displays explore and depict life in the town through the ages and there are lots of interactive elements to keep young visitors engaged, including various opportunities for dressing up in period outfits and accessories, which we, er, might have enjoyed a little too much. There’s also a medicinal herb garden at the back of the museum, and a new exhibition and activity space complete with a craft cart packed with materials (we refrained from getting stuck into that you’ll be glad to know).

The medicinal herbal garden at Amersham Museum, with the old rectory on the hill in the background

Almost opposite the museum is another of the town’s medieval buildings, The Kings Arms, questionably better known as the Lucky Boatman, the setting for the first time Charles (Hugh Grant) and Carrie (Andie McDowell) get together in the hit film Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Still a busy, welcoming pub with 35 bedrooms and event venue tucked at the back of it’s rear courtyard, it wasn’t actually used for the interior scenes in the film. Those were shot at The Crown Inn a little further along the high street. The interior of the hotel has had a stylish refurbishment since the film was made so doesn’t look the same any more, but it is a chic and comfortable place to stay.

Our next stop was the 12th century parish church of St Mary’s where we were lucky enough to get chatting to a local couple (whose names I shamefully can’t remember), both keen and knowledgable custodians of the church and its history.

The exterior and interior of St Mary’s Church, Amersham

From our enthusiastic guides we learnt that the nave of the current church occupies the original Norman footprint, the floor level was raised in the 15th century to protect it against the regular flooding from the River Misbourne which runs around the back of it, the blue painted ceiling above the alter is Victorian, and that it’s one of the few churches in the world to have more than 8 bells - it has 13 - making it a mecca for teams of bell ringers from all over the country who regularly converge on St Mary’s.

We were also lucky enough to be shown round the Drake Chapel (not regularly open to visitors), the walls of which are lined with memorials to family members spanning 300 years, where we were told about the long history of patronage of the Drake family (the largest estate owners in the area, who remain patrons to this day) and how it kept and developed its wealth, often through marriage, which explained the acquisition of the double barrel Tyrrwhitt-Drake that starts appearing on the engravings towards the end of the 18th Century.

We also learned about two curious architectural details. The first one appeared on two of the engraved family crests inside the church

A hand holding an axe on one of the family crests inside St Mary’s Church

It turns out this menacing element was added to a crest when any member of the family was found guilty of murdering one of their servants, and has to remain part of their coat of arms in perpetuity. Although there was no recourse in law to punish the perpetrator, the family also had to paint the rims of the wheels of their carriage red to signify their crime, so anyone seeing them in it knew what they had done.

The other architectural oddity was outside the church, where the graves had quite the strangest tombstones I’ve ever seen.

Unusual tombstones in the graveyard of St Mary’s church Amersham

Known as body stones, there are various theories as to why they are shaped that way, none of which have been proven to be definitive. The most popular is that from the late 17th century to the late 18th century people were buried wrapped in wool in order to prop up the ailing wool trade and that these unusual tombs were designed to indicate a wool burial. Then again, more prosaically, it could have been that it was simply a fashion of the time. I rather like theory one, don’t you?

Next to the church is the town’s award-winning Memorial Garden, opened in 1949 to commemorate the fallen heroes of the first and second world wars. Seasonal displays in the attractive formal beds, a sensory garden and a rose garden dedicated to the Queen’s 90th birthday are the backdrop to various installations including a lone soldier, two WW1 replica planes, and, most recently, a clock tower complete with living walls, commemorating the coronation of King Charles.

Views of the Memorial Gardens in Old Amersham

Should you decide to follow in our footsteps and find yourself as hungry as we were at the end of your day, I heartily recommend our final stop The Griffin which serves lunch as well as the dinner that we enjoyed (other than on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday evenings). The cosy interior and outrageously good food make this the perfect spot to round off a day of discoveries in a truly delightful destination. And a highly satisfying run of alliteration to finish off this recommendation with.

Other historic day out destinations you’ll enjoy

Dunster, the perfect medieval village

Corfe Castle - a great day out for the whole family

8 things to do on a day in historic York