Chesham (/ˈtʃɛʃəm/, local /ˈtʃɛsəm/, or /ˈtʃɛzəm/) is a market town in the Chiltern Hills, Buckinghamshire, England. It is located 11 miles south-east of the county town of Aylesbury. Chesham is also a civil parish designated a town council within Chiltern district. It is situated in the Chess Valley and surrounded by farmland, as well as being bordered on one side by Amersham and Chesham Bois. The earliest records of Chesham as a settlement are from the second half of the 10th century although there is archaeological evidence of people in the area from around 8000 BC. Henry III granted the town a royal charter for a weekly market in 1257.