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AMERSHAM is thought to date from 792 AD. In the Domesday Survey about 300 years later (1086) the name is recorded as ELMODESHAM after EALMOND thought to be the father of EGBERT the 1st King of all England. At that time the Chiltern Hills were dense forest and an easy hiding place for robbers and bandits. The frightening state of lawlessness in the hills was the origin of the old Chiltern saying: ‘If you beat a bush, it’s odds you’ll start a thief’. The Stewards of the Chiltern Hundreds were appointed to control this lawlessness and monthly Hundreds’ Courts were set up. Vikings raided parts of the area between 800-1016. There was said to have been a battle on Gore Hill – but it is a myth that it was named after this. The name ‘Gore’ came later and refers to a triangular enclosure of land between various large fields south of Bury Farm.