Cholsey is a village near the market town of Wallingford. It was named Celsea in the Domesday Book meaning Ceol´s Isle, a reminder that the village once lay in marshland alongside the Thames. The Parish Church of St Mary´s lies on rising ground to the west of the present centre of Cholsey. It contains some original Saxon work and splendid Norman crossing arches. Agatha Christie lived in the part of the parish called Winterbrook and she and her husband Sir Max Mallowan are buried in St Mary´s churchyard.

The heart of the village is situated around The Forty where the War Memorial stands and there are a number of shops, including post office, butcher and chemist.

There is a mainline station with direct links to Reading, London and Oxford, and Cholsey Station is at one end of the Cholsey & Wallingford Railway Preservation Society line, which operates between Cholsey and Wallingford most weekends of the year. (Steam trains and Thomas the Tank Engine are particular attractions.)

Cholsey is a vibrant village with a number of sports and social clubs, extensive recreation grounds, a primary school, a Day Centre for the elderly, a Silver Band and Bellringers.