Old Stratford is a village and wider civil parish in the south of the English county of Northamptonshire. The population of the civil parish (including

Passenham Passenham is a small village in the civil parish of Old Stratford in south-west Northamptonshire, England. It is just north of the River Great Ouse, which forms the boundary with Buckinghamshire, and close to (but separated by the river from ...

) at the 2011 Census was 1,935. The 'Stratford' part of the village name is

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

in origin and means ' ford on a

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

'. The Roman road in this sense is the Watling Street that runs through the middle of the village.

Location

The village lies immediately north of where the Watling Street crossed the

River Great Ouse The River Great Ouse () is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the Wa ...

; just south of this crossing point is the town of

Stony Stratford Stony Stratford is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. Historically it was a market town on the important route from London to Chester (Watling Street, now the A5). It is also the name of a civil parish with a town cou ...

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

. (The ford was replaced by a causeway and stone bridge many years ago). The Ouse forms the boundary of the civil parish with that of Stony Stratford and also that between Northamptonshire and

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. The village is located adjacent to the junction of the A5 (northwards towards Towcester and southwards towards Milton Keynes), the

A422 The A422 is an "A" road for east–west journeys in south central England, connecting the county towns of Bedford and Worcester by way of Milton Keynes, Buckingham, Banbury and Stratford-upon-Avon. For most of its length, it is a narrow sin ...

(westwards towards

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...

) and the

A508 The A508 is a short A-class road for north–south journeys in central and south central England, forming the route from Market Harborough in Leicestershire, via Northampton, to Old Stratford, just outside Milton Keynes (and the Buckinghamshir ...

(northwards towards

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

History

The

Buckingham Arm The Buckingham Arm is an English canal that once ran from Cosgrove, Northamptonshire to Buckingham. It was built as an arm of the Grand Junction Canal in two separate phases, a broad canal to Old Stratford, which opened in 1800 and a narrow c ...

of the Grand Union Canal passed through the village but has been disused since 1964. There remains a "Wharf Lane" and signs of the path of the old canal through the village towards Buckingham.

Facilities

The village has a few local facilities (two motor dealers, a Chinese takeaway, an Indian restaurant and a corner shop), and relies on Stony Stratford and Milton Keynes for a broader range of shops as well as for its medical, financial and other professional needs. There is a primary school part of West Northamptonshire Council local education authority. The nearest secondary school is in Deanshanger.

Administration

The village has a parish council,Old Stratford Parish Council
/ref> which also administers the nearby village of

. The village is governed by West Northamptonshire council. Prior to local government changes in 2021 it was administered by South Northamptonshire District Council, based in Towcester and also Northamptonshire County Council.

The "Stony Stratford" Hoard

The

Stony Stratford Hoard The Milton Keynes Hoard is a hoard of Bronze Age gold found in September 2000 in a field at Monkston Park in Milton Keynes, England. The hoard consisted of two torcs, three bracelets, and a fragment of bronze rod contained in a pottery ves ...

was probably found in 1789, near

in the parish of Old Stratford, across the River Ouse from

. It is not known where it originally came from or how it got there. Even the location of the find-spot is somewhat speculative, since the only recorded information is "Windmill Field".

References

External links

The 'Old Stratford Remembered Group'
{{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District Civil parishes in Northamptonshire