The 1815 Amersham Enclosure Act allowed common land to pass into private ownership. Amber Cottages were built on one such strip of waste land on the west side of the common. The cottages were originally called The Barracks, and were occupied by agricultural labourers and chair-makers. By 1891 they had acquired the more pleasant name of Amber Cottages. The 10 cottages were still, however, called The Barracks in a conveyance of 1898, when the whole row was purchased for £495 by the village shoemaker and postmaster, Allen Moore Sears