Aspley Guise Parish Council Council Parish Guise Aspley by Published Was Leaflet This

shells Gryphaea

Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership. Rail Community Vale Marston

and sponsored by Central Bedfordshire Council and the the and Council Bedfordshire Central by sponsored and

shell of a belemnite a of shell

This leaflet was published by Aspley Guise Parish Council Council Parish Guise Aspley by published was leaflet This

Fragments of the internal internal the of Fragments

www.bedsrigs.org.uk

bottom of the Jurassic ocean. Jurassic the of bottom

Fuller’s Earth and the geology of Bedfordshire: of geology the and Earth Fuller’s

may be found on the the on found be may Gryphaea oyster Jurassic

www.letsgo.org.uk

the remains of lightning bolts) and shells of the the of shells and bolts) lightning of remains the

Walks and places to visit in Bedfordshire: in visit to places and Walks

(once thought to be the tips of elf-arrows, or or elf-arrows, of tips the be to thought (once

www.aspley-guise.org.uk for fossils as you walk the paths here; belemnites belemnites here; paths the walk you as fossils for

Events and places in Aspley Guise: Aspley in places and Events but the clay is more valuable as farmland. Watch Watch farmland. as valuable more is clay the but

For more information more For Marston Vale. Bricks were made here for local use, use, local for here made were Bricks Vale. Marston

the clays that supported the brick industry of the the of industry brick the supported that clays the www.aspleyguise.bedsparishes.gov.uk

Once the floor of a Jurassic ocean, this is one of of one is this ocean, Jurassic a of floor the Once at Council Parish Guise

Northern Aspley Guise lies on the Oxford Clay. Clay. Oxford the on lies Guise Aspley Northern to report problems on the network, contact Aspley Aspley contact network, the on problems report to

If you have questions about the footpaths, or wish wish or footpaths, the about questions have you If common lizard common

and hedgerows. Please take your litter home! litter your take Please hedgerows. and

to avoid disturbing ground-nesting birds in the fields fields the in birds ground-nesting disturbing avoid to

spring and early summer please keep dogs on leads leads on dogs keep please summer early and spring

and butterflies basking in the sunlight. the in basking butterflies and

of the parish. Please clean up after your dog, and in in and dog, your after up clean Please parish. the of

that enjoys warmth. Watch for lizards, tiger beetles beetles tiger lizards, for Watch warmth. enjoys that

Other people hope to enjoy the footpaths and wildlife wildlife and footpaths the enjoy to hope people Other

marvellous place for insects and any other wildlife wildlife other any and insects for place marvellous

Keynes, near both the M1 and the A507. the and M1 the both near Keynes, 2004. The open ground around the works is a a is works the around ground open The 2004.

Aspley Guise lies southeast of Milton Milton of southeast lies Guise Aspley road: By parishes from the early Middle Ages until until Ages Middle early the from parishes

quarried in southern Aspley Guise and nearby nearby and Guise Aspley southern in quarried www.marstonvalecommunityrail.org.uk

wool, and with many more modern uses. It was was It uses. modern more many with and wool, visit or 832645 01234

Fuller’s Earth, used since Roman times to process process to times Roman since used Earth, Fuller’s work of the Community Rail Partnership please call call please Partnership Rail Community the of work

Buried in the sand, layers of volcanic ash became became ash volcanic of layers sand, the in Buried information about the Marston Vale Line and the the and Line Vale Marston the about information

Buzzard with just one change at Bletchley. For more more For Bletchley. at change one just with Buzzard restored to heathland. to restored

Bletchley and also from Milton Keynes and Leighton Leighton and Keynes Milton from also and Bletchley timber, but many are now being cleared and and cleared being now are many but timber,

Marston Vale Line direct from Bedford and and Bedford from direct Line Vale Marston some heaths were planted with conifers to produce produce to conifers with planted were heaths some

Aspley Guise is easily accessible on the the on accessible easily is Guise Aspley rail: By broom for fuel. In the 19th and 20th centuries centuries 20th and 19th the In fuel. for broom

used for rough grazing, or harvesting gorse and and gorse harvesting or grazing, rough for used

fields were soon abandoned to become heaths heaths become to abandoned soon were fields

poor farmland; once cleared for agriculture, the the agriculture, for cleared once farmland; poor

G A The free-draining, infertile soils of the ridge make make ridge the of soils infertile free-draining, The uise spley

Cretacous period, about 115 million years ago. ago. years million 115 about period, Cretacous

deposited in a shallow seaway during the the during seaway shallow a in deposited

Greensand Ridge, a mass of sandy sediment sediment sandy of mass a Ridge, Greensand

explore & enjoy

The southern half of the parish lies on the the on lies parish the of half southern The

Aspley Guise geology and wildlife and geology Guise Aspley How to find Aspley Guise Aspley find to How

About Aspley Guise Many people have walked these roads and of earlier manor houses; some features of these, such paths before us. The word ‘Aspley’ comes as the manorial fish ponds, still exist nearby. In the from the Old English meaning the glade Middle Ages rabbits were valued for their meat and or clearing in the aspen wood, and is first fur, and were kept in special warrens; a Warren was documented in an Anglo-Saxon charter recorded here in 1560 (probably the area still shown as of AD969. The village existed before that ‘The Warren’ on old OS maps). time in some form; a minor Roman road Aspley Wood is mentioned in Domesday Book, and from Dorchester-on-Thames to Alconbury would have remained an important source of timber From the 16th to the 19th centuries lace- passes through the parish, and in 1958 and wood for centuries. Fragments of fossilised wood making was an important industry in rural Roman pottery was found during building from the underlying Greensand found in Aspley Wood Bedfordshire. works on Aspley Hill. Aspeleia in the Domesday led to stories of a ‘petrifying spring’ that turned wood Aspley was also famous for its Classical Academy, Book (1086) included Aspley Heath, which only to stone. Some conifers have been planted into the a public school founded c. 1715 ‘to prepare the became a separate civil parish in 1885. The de Gyse ancient wood; in the late 18th century Francis Moore sons of gentlemen for careers in the services, family acquired the Manor of Aspley by 1276; the (for whom Moore Place was built c. 1786) bought church and commerce’. Considered the equal of name Aspelegise appears in the 14th century. part of what was then Wavendon Heath and planted Eton and Harrow in its heyday, the school closed 51,376 Scotch Fir to create the pinewood known today A church has stood on the site of St Botolphs since and its buildings were sold in 1874. The main as Aspley Heath. In 1792 the 500 acre wood was sold before 1188. From the outside the building appears school, Guise House, is now a private residence. to the Duke of Bedford. Two of the woodland paths to be Victorian, but this is due to enthusiastic The masters’ accommodation and dormitories run past Mermaid’s Pond, which was listed under that restoration in the 19th century; the nave, north were purchased by John Kemp & Co, a London- name in a Bedford Estate management book in 1791. chapel and some other features date from the 15th based printer which by 1898 was known as the century. The rust-red ironstone is a local building In 1857 Dr James Williams recommended Aspley Guise Powage Press (the Powage was a piece of land material quarried from layers in the Greensand. as having a climate equivalent to many health resorts. owned by the Classical Academy). The original Aspley seems to have remained a quiet The relatively small difference between summer and buildings were lost to fire in 1911, but the agricultural village for several centuries. winter temperatures was considered beneficial, as were replacements were built in a similar style. the altitude, and the pinewoods Moore had planted on Traces of the ridge and furrow created by The Bedford–Bletchley railway line was opened the Heath nearly a century earlier. In the late 19th and medieval ploughs survive in fields north in 1846, the first line in Bedfordshire, but Aspley early 20th century Daneswood, Edgbury, Homewood of the village. Wheat, barley and oats Guise station was not built until 1905. As a quiet and The Mount (in what is now Aspley Heath) were grown here would have been ground at village with good transport links to Bletchley Park, sanatoriums in which invalids and convalescent patients local mills to be eaten by the people of Aspley Guise played its part in WWII. Moore could enjoy the healthful atmosphere. Aspley Guise. A watermill was recorded Place (then The Holt) on The Square was a hostel here in 1066; in 1684 there were three watermills, for the Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park probably at the same site just off Mill Way, where and from 1946–8 housed 40 ‘land girls’ of the dams were visible in 1979. The last mention of a Bedfordshire Land Army who worked on local miller at Aspley Mills was in 1834. There were two farms. The Rookery and The Shrubbery were part windmills here in the 18th century. of the Political Warfare Executive, where Sefton Although the Manor of Aspley existed before 1066, Delmer produced radio broadcasts of news and the original manor house fell into disrepair and music to undermine the German war effort. was probably demolished in the 18th century. The Today Aspley Guise remains a peaceful and building known as The Manor today was the manor attractive village set in the distinctive landscape of farmhouse, built c. 1700. It stands near the site the Greensand Ridge.