From the first appearance of Chenies as a village, the settlement concentrated around three centres, the Manor House and Church, the river and Dodd’s mill; and Green Street stretching up from the Green Street farms towards Chenies village green.
The Manor and its lands would have provided work for a large section of the population, and up to recently, agriculture was the most important industry.
A small industrial centre grew up however around the watermill at Chenies bottom. The first record of this is in 1200, when it is mentioned as a fulling mill, and irt continued toe work , changing from corn to paper-making and back to corn again, until 1933. (A fulling mill is a type of water mill used in the woollen clothmaking process, specifically for fulling, which involves cleaning and thickening woven cloth, particularly wool. The process includes scouring to remove oils and dirt, followed by milling to interlock the fibres, resulting in a denser and warmer fabric. Fulling mills were historically significant in England, with their introduction dating back to the 12th century, and they played a crucial role in the production of woollen textiles).
The road linking the two centres, known as Whitehill Lane, crossed the common, which is much larger in extent on the 1735 and 1838 maps than at present. There was more common land down Holloway Lane. At the Manor centre, houses clustered around the village green and became established as the main track that led to Rickmansworth. Several inns appeared along this road, possibly in connection with stagecoach route to Chesham. A few cottages, of which no trace now remains are recorded in Holloway (Holywell) Lane, leading down to the ford near Mountwood. One of these was the first workhouse. The Pest house was situated in an isolated position behind Dodd’s mill, where it remained until the 19th, and possibly the 20th century.
Green Street farms. The later workhouse (Claypits cottages) and the 17th century almshouses were also built on the fringe of the village, at a discrete distance from the village centre. Outlying farms completed the settlement along Green Street.
This pattern remained relatively unchanged for centuries, partly because the turnpike bypassed the village, partly because enclosure was so early, and also because the Manor had such a profound influence on the village that it remained virtually feudal until the 20th century, and no development could take place without the sanction of the Lord of the Manor.
A few 20th century houses have now infilled some of the land along the road to Claypits cottages, but the main 20th century settlement has established a completely new centre near Chorleywood station, and subsequently the north and south wards of the parish were created. Geographically the south ward is more a part of Chorleywood than Chenies and now has split away, and falls under Hertfordshire jurisdiction.