Chells
Chells appears in the Domesday Book, which was written in 1086, as ‘Escelvia’ or ‘Scelve’ which possibly means ‘terrace of land’ or, more likely, ‘ash-tree slope’. However in 1294 the family name of ‘Chelsen’ was being used in connection with Chells which might be the true reason for the name of Chells.
Between 1216 and 1272 the manor at Chells was held by the Knights Templars and afterwards the the Knights Hospitallers until King Henry VII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries where it was eventually passed down to William Hale of King’s Walden. This explains the nearby street names of ‘Knights Templars Green’ and ‘Kings Walden Rise’.
