Chesham's Town Crier has long been a feature of the town's history and has the responsibility of making important announcements in the town. After approximately 70 years without a Town Crier, the Town Council held a competition in 2004 to find a new crier for Chesham and the winner was Eric Watsham, who was hugely popular in the role, which he held for six years.
William Ellis then held the post between April 2011 and March 2014. William is something of a trailblazer, as he was the first Town Crier to have a learning disability, which led to publicity at a national level.
In May 2014, we appointed our first female Town Crier, Jane Dodd. Jane is an opera singer and has a love of costume, pomp and ceremony, making her perfect for the role! You can see her in town at events like Christmas in Chesham and the Schools of Chesham Carnival in her striking uniform, which has a very local twist to it; local seamstress Clem Short created the ruff and dressed the traditional tricorn hat with an ostrich feather donated by Pathfinder Ostrich Farm. The ceremonial scroll, featuring the town crest, was created by talented volunteer Kirsten Aldridge.
If you would like Jane to attend an event, please get in touch via Kathryn at the Town Hall. Email policy@chesham.gov.uk or phone 01494 583798.