 While the route to the LNWR via Chesham had been abandoned , much of the land needed for the section south of Chesham had already been bought . As Chesham , with a population in 1882 of 6 @,@ 500 , was the most significant town in the area through which the MR was building , the MR decided to build the section of line between Chalfont and Chesham as a branch line despite Chesham no longer being on the proposed through route to the north . The planned route to the LNWR would have passed to the east of Chesham , and the proposed site of the station was in <unk> , southwest of the town . ( Although the extension to the LNWR was abandoned , the MR continued to buy land between Chesham and Tring for some years afterwards , in anticipation of the scheme being revived . ) 
