Bushey was mentioned in the Domesday Book – a small agricultural village named ‘Bissei’ which later became ‘Biss(h)e’ and then ‘Bisheye’ during the 12th centur. There have been archeological findings from the Palaeolithic period and we also have connections to the Roman occupation of Britain as sites have been discovered in the area including a Roman tessellated pavement was discovered near Chiltern Avenue.
Bushey may have initially been called ‘Byssa’s Isle’ as it may have been a lake-village surrounded by marshes and streams. Another theory is that the name was derived from the Old English word bysce and Old French boisseie, meaning a ‘place covered with wood’. Being near the Chiltern Hills, which were once covered in dense forests of oak, elm, ash, hazel and juniper this name derivation is very possible.
Bushey Heath’s was first known in the Napoleonic Wars during which landowners used the area for farming.
The woody landscape of Bushey was later responsible for it becoming a dangerous place as the Highway men of the 18th century were known to commit crime in the area. One of the highwaymen responsible for the attacks is rumoured to have been the notorious Dick Turpin,
Between 1860–1960 CE Bushey became popular and the population rose significantly in the following 200 years due to the boom in industry as a result o the railway in the early 20th century.
Much of the land around Bushey was protected under the Metropolitan Green Belt created after the Second World War, putting restrictions on new development,
The highest point in the Middlesex is Bushey Heath at 153 metres or 502 feet above sea level.
Bushey has a strong history of Horses with various stables in the area and Art. Our most well known artist – a lover and painter of horses, was Lucy Kemp-Welch. Hubert Herkomer a Bavarian immigrant moved to Bushey in 1874. He founded Herkomer’s Art School in Bushey in 1883,
Today Bushey is a thriving suburban town consisting of a number of well-reputed schools, churches, Bushey synagogue, lovely parks and a number of shops, restaurants and cafes. While it still has the feeling of a country village, its transport links and proximity to London make Bushey a very desirable place to live.
