Monument record 1255 - Old Stratford

{1} The modern parish of Old Stratford is a recent creation. Until this century Old Stratford was a small hamlet beside Watling Street. The north east part lay in Cosgrove parish, the south west in Passenham and some houses in the parishes of Furtho and Potterspury. Following extensive modern development, however, a new parish was formed. This comprises all of the medieval parish of Passenham, apart from the lands of Deanshanger and Puxley which are now a separate parish, as well as part of the south west corner of Cosgrove and the south west end of the old parish of Furtho, a total area of some 420 hectares.

{2} Old Stratford is a road-related settlement and was in all probability the predecessor of Stony Stratford as a posting station in the Roman period.
The 1608 Forest Survey map shows the Watling Street lines with buildings on both sides, and 17 households were recorded in 1694. Redevelopment in the 18th century has swept away such modest dwellings as were previously there.
A fairly thick scatter of mid to late Saxon pottery to the north west of the village plus the number of Roman finds from the old sand pits is the basis of the argument that Stony Stratford is a re-settlement of the late 12th- early 13th century of this earlier settlement.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.108 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<2> Woodfield P., 2005, The Whittlewood Project: Historic Buildings Survey, Passenham with Old Stratford, (checked) (Report). SNN105033.

<3> Jones R.; Page M., 2006, Medieval Villages in An English Landscape: Beginnings and Ends (Book). SNN106311.

<4> Christopher Dyer, Richard Jones, Mark Page, 2005, The Whittlewood Project: Medieval Settlements and Landscapes in the Whittlewood Area, https://doi.org/10.5284/1000289 (Digital archive). SNN116553.

Record last edited

Aug 20 2024 4:41PM