Stony Stratford Town and Riverside Walk

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Riverside map: Roddy Clenaghan Roddy map: Riverside www.stonystratford.co.uk www.stonystratford.co.uk

FREE Design/Illustrations/Map: www.masonedwardsdesign.co.uk

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Promoting Prosperity & Wellbeing & Prosperity Promoting

Riverside map: Roddy Clenaghan Roddy map: Riverside www.stonystratford.co.uk www.stonystratford.co.uk

FREE Design/Illustrations/Map:

the Stony Stratford Business Association Business Stratford Stony the

business association

Promoting Prosperity & Wellbeing & Prosperity Promoting

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Wesley’s tree in Market Square. Square. Market in tree Wesley’s

walks Riverside www.masonedwardsdesign.co.uk They all start at the information panel next to to next panel information the at start all They

of this unique town. unique this of

are three Riverside Walks of varying lengths. varying of Walks Riverside three are There

and development development and River walks. River

Town walk Town Riverside walk Riverside

of interest on both Town and and Town both on interest of

information, are sited at points points at sited are information, covering the history history the covering

Heritage Boards, with detailed detailed with Boards, Heritage

Town walk Town Short strolls strolls Short

Riverside Walk Riverside Start

Walk

(See map inside) map (See

are plenty of alternative car parks. car alternative of plenty are Riverside

If this is not possible, then there there then possible, not is this If

The Square is a good place to park. park. to place good a is Square The

and and Town

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where there is car-parking space. car-parking is there where Stratford

starts in the Market Square Square Market the in starts It minutes. 45 about Town walk Town Riverside walk Riverside

The Town Walk is approximately a mile and takes takes and mile a approximately is Walk Town The Stony Stony Town walk Town Clare Stables

The higher ground north of lanes’ of Vicarage Road in exaggerated tales; hence the To extend the Town Walk, the river, and the spit of gravel one direction and Silver Street saying ‘a Cock and Bull story’. continue down the High Street on the south side, gave firmer in the other thereby allowing Try to identify the old inn to the river bridge (10 mins). ground for a crossing. rear access. signs on private houses as you continue your walk. Eleanor Cross Roman times through The local building stone is The road widens near No to the Middle Ages Jurassic limestone from Stony Stratford has suffered 155 High Street, and in this Over the centuries nearby quarries. The houses, two great fires; the bigger in Christmas lights in the High Street area possibly stood one of the a settlement grew up originally thatched, were 1742 destroyed 146 buildings. dozen crosses built by King alongside the prone to fire damage. Later A report from 1st May stated Stony Stratford Today Edward 1 in memory of his A MEDIEVAL TRAVELLER ‘Watling Street’ to building favoured clay, tile or ‘the great fire even crossed In 1967 Stony Stratford wife Queen Eleanor of Castile. Stony Stratford has a long serve travellers and slate roofs. the River Great Ouse burning became part of Milton Keynes When she died in 1290 at and interesting history owing this developed into houses in Old Stratford’. The and this had a profound effect Harby, Nottinghamshire, to its position at the crossing a thriving market culprit is reputed to have been on the town. The development her body was taken to point of the River Great Ouse. town. a maid from the Bull Hotel. of Cofferidge Close and the Westminster Abbey for burial. Most of the town’s medieval substantial house building At each resting place a cross This was the first major To prove the Roman buildings were destroyed but to the south injected modern was erected in her memory, river north of the Thames occupation in the area, a hoard the new prosperity, brought architectural buildings. The originally simple wooden ones, encountered first by pre- of Roman religious artefacts about by the coaching era, town centre was designated later ornate stone structures. historic travellers and later by were found in a local field in The Coaching Era enabled much of the ‘new’ a Conservation Area in 1975 Built by master mason John of Roman engineers who created 1789. (These now can be seen The 18th century ushered in building you see in the High to protect its character and Battle the cross was destroyed the first paved roads. among the Roman antiquities a ‘golden age’ for Stony St. today. The construction of appearance. Stony Stratford by the Parliamentarians in in the British Museum). Stratford with the arrival of the London to Birmingham is bound on two sides by 1646 during the Civil War. The name Stratford is Anglo the horse and carriage as a railway passed through nearby the River Great Ouse, and (See the plaque on No 157.) Saxon in origin, it means a Edward IV, who married means of long-distance travel. Wolverton, thus ensuring farmland, with footpaths ford by which a Roman Road Elizabeth Woodville from An Act of Parliament in 1708 the demise of coaches as the and cycle ways. crosses a river. ‘Stan-eg’ nearby Grafton Regis, is one created the first turnpike in national form of transport. (Stony) literally translates of the many royals who have the country. This was situated If you have more time, or as a stone island, probably paid numerous visits to the on Watling St. between Stony perhaps wish to visit us again, referring to all the stones town. Their ‘Boy King’ son, Stratford and Hockcliffe. why not take a stroll on one 185, High Street that were dropped in the Edward V, was taken from Turnpikes were the first toll of the new Riverside Walks Now a private residence this is river at this point to make The Rose and Crown in the roads, a way to raise funds to where you can read our thought to be the site of Grites the crossing shallower. High St. More royal stories maintain the highways. Heritage Boards. Inn, first mentioned in 1317. are revealed as you continue Inns continued on this site (it A newly completed boat in the High St the walk. Many inns and taverns was The Angel in 1677) until received a boost in their the pub closed, as The Barley The street pattern of the economy with this increased The 19th century - Mow, in 1970. Early accounts old town was laid out in the traffic. Stony Stratford was Era of Industry and Growth refer to a leper isolation Middle Ages, the frontages a convenient one-day The 19th century was a period Stratford hospital and a Chapel of Arcade The bridge in the 17th century facing the main ‘spine’ of the ride on the journey of rapid expansion of the town, St John the Baptist at the It is important to realise that High Street. The shops, north of London. with the demand for homes, Some further reading can rear of this building. this area would originally have inns and other Many travellers schools and services for the be found in the local studies been a wide marshy floodplain. properties here have changing workers at the Wolverton collection of the Town Library Great Ouse Bridge The river was split into many long, narrow strips of horses, or railway works. Stony also This was constructed of ‘Stony Stratford Past’ tributaries, making it very land at the rear, known staying the had its own leather works, Millstone Grit by Thomas by R. Ayers and A. Lambert difficult to cross. as ‘burgage strips’. These night at one lace making and even boat Telford in 1835 following extend to the ‘back of these building from the 1860’s at ‘History of Stony Stratford’ a coaching disaster. This hostelries, ‘The Watling Works’ London by F. E. Hyde and F. bridge replaced numerous early would tell Road, owned and run by Mr Markham bridges dating back to 1252. Edward Hayes. ‘The Town on the Road’ by Dr. Oliver Brown Return to St Paul’s Court Section of an early road map BRITANNIA DEPICTA 1720 The Bridge - completed in 1835 Illustrations from ‘Stony Stratford - The Town on the Road’, (Number 10 on the walk map) by Dr Oliver Brown 1 The Market Square Burgage Strips 26 & 28 High Street - a Royal Meeting in 1483 Stony Stratford was 6 The buildings fronting the High Street date from the 15 Formerly the Rose and Crown Inn, this was where first granted a market medieval layout of the town. Each property had a the ‘Boy King’ Edward V met Henry Stafford, Duke of by Richard I in 1194. frontage on the main street and a long narrow plot Buckingham, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later Charles II also granted extending to a ‘back access lane’. King Richard III). Edward was taken by the dukes four annual fairs in from Stony Stratford to stay at the Tower of London, 1662. Hiring Fairs, corn Cross the road to see an example of this, Stratford where many believe that he and his 10-year-old brother and cattle markets were Arcade. This late 18th century former chemist’s shop Richard were murdered. In 1674 the remains of two MARKET SQUARE IN 1812 frequently held here. still retains its original fitted drawers. children were found when the White Tower was being In 1986 scenes from the film renovated. Charles II decreed that their remains should ‘Withnail and I’ were filmed here. Signs of the Times be buried in Westminster Abbey. 7 Many of the former inns now have new uses, but retain Preachers and Prisoners marks of their original purpose, such as the large A magnificent elm tree once stood in this square. archways leading to stables at the rear. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, preached beneath it in the 1770’s. On the left, at 97 High Street, ‘The Cross Keys’ is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the town. It still The Old Court House bears its old sign, and medieval timber roof structure, The large brick building in the Square was a court circa 1480, with its original moulded archway. Once the house and police station in Victorian times - possibly town’s ‘Guild Hall’, it later became the first Court Room. H erected on the site of an early lock-up. The court and In 1697 the murderers of Grace Bennet, Lady of the 26 & 28 HIGH STREET judge’s chambers, and even the original cells, have now Manor of Calverton, were tried here. been converted into offices. 16 British School and Famous Steam Trams 8 107 High Street In 1844 the British School opened here for girls and boys Designed and built in 1892 in his highly individual who were not permitted to enter the Church of England style by local architect Edward Swinfen Harris for his schools. It closed in 1907, was the Public Hall of the town own use. The inscription over the door NISI DOMINUS for a number of years, and is now a Dance Studio. is from the first words of Psalm 127 – ‘Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that buildeth it….’ In this building was the ticket office for the famous steam trams. They operated from 1887 until the General At this point there is an option of taking a few Strike in 1926 brought its closure. The largest tramcars MARKET SQUARE, WITH OLD COURT HOUSE ON RIGHT minutes to walk down to the Ouse Bridge and back in the world, each carried 100 passengers to the railway - (see description overleaf). Alternatively cross the works at Wolverton. One has now been restored to its Church Street road at 115 High Street and go into St Paul’s Court. former glory and can be seen at The Milton Keynes 2 This attractive row of houses formed the north side of Museum in Stacey Bushes. the medieval market place. No 40 (The Sundial House) is a former bakery. The Latin inscription on the sundial (dated 1739) translates as ‘Time and Fire Destroy All Things’. No 36 was, until the 1980’s, part of the former leather works of Sharp & Woollard, established in Stables e

1815 by Samuel Sharpe. Clar

The Library This is a good source of historical background material. There are changing displays of local artefacts.

Town Walk

Riverside Walk

3 The Church of St Mary and St Giles 9 St Paul’s Court From the 15th century, Stony had two churches, in the This Victorian building lavishly constructed by the Rev east St Mary Magdalen, and the medieval church of W. T. Sankey in 1863 between ‘The Mallets’ and Pudding St Giles here in the west, originally in the Parish of Bag Lane. It was a private school and chapel and then for Calverton. a short time the building was a cigar factory. It was then purchased by Mr Fegan from London to be used as a boy’s STONY STRATFORD STEAM TRAM The tower which dates from 1487 is the only part of orphanage. For over 60 years Fegan’s ‘Boys’ went to school the medieval church to have survived the rebuilding there until it closed in 1962. One of these ‘Boys’ was Tom Plough Inn of the church by Francis Hoirne of Warwick in 1776. McClean. His record-breaking feats appear on the Heritage 17 In 1867 the Radcliffe Trust donated this land, 36 Unusually the nave has wooden pillars supporting Board. The school chapel is now a restaurant. perches (size), to build Wolverton End School and School a gallery, designed in the Strawberry Hill Gothic style. House. This church school for the poor was financed Tower of St Mary Magdalene 10 by Mrs Russell of Beachampton and designed by local Heritage Board with more information sited here. This church, built in 1450, was largely destroyed by the architect E. Swinfen Harris. Over 280 pupils attended in Great Fire in 1742. However, the tower was saved and the early 1890’s. It became The Plough Inn in 1937. Follow the path round the back of the church and restored by Browne Willis, a local historian. through the lychgate (1931) and on to the High Street. See Heritage board here. Horsefair Green 18 This pleasant green space edged with lime, was originally The High Street ‘Ancell Trust’ Sports Ground 4 used from 1480’s for weekly horse fairs, hence its name. This is part of the Roman Watling Street, which ran 11 On your left is the town’s own Sports Ground. The Baptist Chapel, now the ‘Community Church’, was from London to Chester. During the coaching era The land was purchased with funds left by Frederick built in 1657. The older houses (late 17th century) are (mid 17th to early 19th century) up to 30 horse-drawn Ancell in 1919. those on the north side, formerly the edge of the town. carriages a day carrying passengers and mail would The white building No 35 & Dene Cottage were once a stop at one of the many inns in the town. An ideal Vicarage Road 12 ‘Cottage Hospital’. No’s 8 & 9 were former Maltings. The ‘service station’ for both passengers and horses. This was the ‘back lane’ on the eastern edge of the ‘Green’ is still used for events, notably ‘Folk on the Green’ medieval town. Opposite No 16, look to the right to see in June. 48 High Street, The Shell House the old bus garage and Clare stables at the rear of The This striking house, with its iron railings and Bull Inn. The Victorian vicarage, built in 1861, used to Silver Street imposing shell canopy, dates from the 17th century. stand opposite the junction with New Street. 19 Formerly ‘Cow Lane’, it was re-named in 1887 in honour It was built by the Wilkinson family as a dower house of Queen Victoria’s Silver Jubilee. This was the medieval for the Old Wolverton Estate. New Street 13 ‘back lane’ along the western edge of the old town. Here, In 1862-3 the Rev W. T. Sankey re-developed this road until WWI, you could see women and children making The Cock Inn and The Bull Inn - Two Famous Inns to create ‘Ram Alley’, Stony’s equivalent to the Shambles 5 lace, an important cottage industry in the town. Stony In 1520 the Cock Inn was bequeathed by Thomas in York, to connect his new Vicarage with the High even had its own pattern, named ‘Butterfly Lace’. Piggott of Beachampton to set up a ‘Charitable Trust’ Street and St Giles Church. The date can be seen on the in the town. Profits were to maintain the bridge and rainwater heads, and in the brickwork of No 2. Fire Engine House the causeway over the River Great Ouse. The Great 20 This intriguing little building (14 Silver Street) was built Fire started at the Bull in 1742. Both inns feature The Old George 14 in 1864 to house Stony Stratford’s fire engine. The horses impressive facades (the Cock is 18th century and This is one of the oldest surviving inns in the town. to pull it were kept in a paddock in Horn Lane. It was the Bull 19th) and ornate brackets which carry their A former Posting House, it dates back to 1609, and has staffed by volunteer firemen from the town until 1958. decorative signs. The saying ‘A Cock and Bull story’ 18th century two storey bay windows. Note the floor originates here. level showing how the road has been built up over time. Walk along to the Market Square to complete the walk.