A heart-warming walk round Stony Stratford
Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes In times gone by, Stony Stratford was the equivalent of today's Newport Pagnell services station. Inns along the high-street would have been crowded with coaches, carriages and wagons arriving from and leaving for every point of the compass. Travellers stopping for a meal at The Cock or the Bull tried to excel each other in telling stories about what they had seen or experienced on the journey, giving rise to the expression "a cock and bull story”. You could hire a horse at the Cock (a Cock horse) and ride it to Banbury Cross. In among the hustle aand bustle, God was and is at work. This activity takes you on a gentle walk to discover some of the Christian heritage of this fascinating town. Travel Car Bus Train A heart-warming walk around Stony Stratford. Start from the north end of Stony Stratford High Street. The High Street follows the course of the old Roman road, Watling Street, which ran from London to Chester.
Mr Fegan's Homes live on today in the form of a charity called simply, Fegans. It still works to ensure the welfare of vulnerable children but times have changed and the old, institutional model has been set aside. Fegans sold the building to a Roman Catholic school-run by Franciscan monks. In the 1980s the original school buildings were split up and sold as separate units for different purposes, some as industrial units, some as housing. The old chapel is now an Indian restaurant. At the end of an alleyway further along the left side of the High Street you will find a ruined tower, all that remains of the 13th century church of St Mary Magdalene, which was destroyed in a massive fire that raged through the town in 1742. The Roman Catholic church, on the other side of the Hih Street, keeps the same dedication. Stony Stratford originally was divided into two rival parishes, with the old Roman road marking the boundary between them. To the west was the Parish of Saint Mary Magdalene,
During the Restoration period no deviation from the Church of England was allowed and the County Council raised a special army to combat dissent. When soldiers came to break up services and arrest the congregation, members would climb out through a window at the back of the building and hotfoot it to the county boundary at the other end of the street. In 1810 the congregation dwindled to five, four women and one man. The church records that the ladies voted to terminate the man's membership “for inconsistency”. Within a few years, though things turned around. The congregation grew so much that a new building was needed and the current chapel was opened in 1823. Walk along to the end of Horsefair Green, turn right (North) along Silver Street. You’ll see the Methodist church on the right. Just beyond this, turn into Market Square on the right. In the nearest corner of the square a notice commemorates the fact that there used to be an elm tree there, under which the famous Methodist founder John Wesley once preached.
Walk across Market Square and turn left into the High Street.This wll bring you, physically, back to where you started but I hope it leaves you in a new place with your heart warmed, like John Wesley's and your imagination stirred by the example of the saints of every denomination who have followed Jesus in Stony Stratford over the years. |