‘Strike turned to Robin. “Fancy a trip to Chalfont St Giles with me tomorrow?”’ (Chapter 20).

Chalfont St Giles is a village in the south east of the county of Buckinghamshire, approximately 21 miles northwest of the Denmark Street office. Strike and Robin drive there to interview Niamh Doherty on Thursday 7th April 2016, the day before Robin is due to enter Chapman Farm. 

‘As they drove past half-timbered buildings overlooking a village green, Strike, who’d accepted Robin’s offer to drive his BMW, looked out at the stone grey Norman tower of the parish church…’

‘…and spotted a sign proclaiming that they were in Buckinghamshire’s best kept village’ (Chapter 21).

Niamh lives on Bowstridge Lane, just off the High Street, in a ‘square, detached house of tawny brick’ (Chapter 21).

Chalfont St Giles, listed in the Doomsday Book of 1086, is part of a group of Chalfont Villages who have lent their name to Cockney rhyming slang for haemorrhoids.  In 1665, the poet John Milton escaped plague ridden London for Chalfont, where he wrote “Paradise Lost”; his cottage still stands and can be visited. 

The village’s proximity to Pinewood studios gave rise to it being featured in several films and TV shows, one of which is Dad’s Army.

The name of the village and its parish church is linked to the area in and around Denmark Street, in that they’re dedicated to St Giles, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.

After Strike and Robin interview Niamh Doherty, they have lunch at the famous Merlin’s Cave pub which stands on the village green.

You can find Chalfont St Giles on the map here: