Historically an ancient parish in the Hertford hundred of Hertfordshire, it was granted urban district status in 1894.

The town name comes from the Old English name (as recorded in the Domesday Book) for the area, Cestrehunt, which probably refers to a "castle, erected by the Romans", the word cestre (along with the form ceastre), or even its modern forms, chester and caster being derived from the Latin castrum meaning "fort".

Cheshunt was a settlement on Ermine Street, the main Roman road leading north from London.

[4] Before the Norman Conquest, the manor of Cheshunt was held by Eddeva the Fair, but William I granted it to Alan of Brittany.

The parish church of St Mary the Virgin was first recorded in a charter of 1146, but was entirely rebuilt between 1418 and 1448 with a three-stage tower topped by an octagonal turret.

The park is accessible at many points, one being extremely close to the town's railway station at Windmill Lane.

At 8:00 am on 12 August 1944, a Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber from the United States Army Air Forces 392nd Bombardment Group (Heavy), based at RAF Wendling, crashed next to Maxwells Farm, near Cheshunt, killing all ten crew.

[16] Up until 2004, Temple Bar stood in Theobalds Park, having been moved from London at the turn of the nineteenth century.

The gateway has since been re-erected in London at Paternoster Square on the north side of St Paul's Cathedral.

For the first few years the council used St Mary's Hall on College Road as its offices and meeting place, as the Local Board had done.

[28] Cheshunt Urban District was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, becoming part of the borough of Broxbourne on 1 April 1974.

[30] In 1983 a new out-of-town Tesco store located to the north of the town opened, named "Brookfield Farm".

It later expanded, a branch of Marks & Spencer was built next door, and the entire estate was renamed "The Brookfield Centre".

Until the late 1960s the main land use around Cheshunt was for its nursery industry, and many new techniques for growing under glass were developed here.

A wharf existed just east of the railway on the site now occupied by Herts Young Mariners Base.

[35] From the end of World War II a large area of the River Lea flood plain was used for sand and gravel extraction which resulted in the creation of the now mature lakes which are popular with anglers, birdwatchers and naturalists.

The area now forms part of the 1,000 acres (400 ha) River Lee Country Park and the Turnford and Cheshunt Pits SSSI.

[citation needed] The town also has long-established rugby and cricket clubs and a publicly owned 18-hole golf course.

Trott attended the launch on the morning before competing in stage four of the first Women's Tour from Cheshunt to Welwyn Garden City.

Services run southbound to Liverpool Street via Tottenham Hale or Seven Sisters and Stratford and northbound to Hertford East, Bishop's Stortford and Cambridge.

Most buses operate to Waltham Cross (where there are links to north London and Essex), Hoddesdon and Broxbourne.

The Lee Valley Country Park is a cycle-friendly route that runs along the River Lea, connecting both cyclists and pedestrians to Ware, Hoddesdon, Waltham Abbey, Tottenham and Stratford.