(sometimes shortened to '''Stony''') is a
Town in the north-west corner of
Milton Keynes ,
England . It is located on the border with
Northamptonshire , on the other side of the
Great Ouse . Prior to the designation of the new city in the
1960s , the town was in
Wolverton Urban District, north
Buckinghamshire .
The town name 'Stratford' is
Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'ford on a Roman road'. The
Roman Road in this sense is the
Watling Street that runs through the middle of the town. The ford is the crossing of the river
Ouse . The prefix 'Stony' refers to the stones on the bed of the
Ford , differentiating the town from nearby
Fenny Stratford .
There has been a
Market in Stony Stratford since
1194 (by
Charter of
King Richard I ).
Stony Stratford was the location where, in
1290 , an
Eleanor Cross was built in memory of the recently deceased
Eleanor Of Castile . The cross was destroyed during the
English Civil War .
The ''Rose and Crown Inn'' at Stony Stratford was reputedly the last place where
King Edward V and his younger brother
Richard Of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke Of York were seen alive in public. It was here in
1483 that his uncle
Richard, Duke Of Gloucester met them to become their legal guardian before taking them to the
London to become the "
Princes In The Tower ".
The town has twice become almost completely consumed by fire, the first time in
1736 and the second in
1742 . The only building to escape the second fire was the tower of the
Chapel Of Ease of
St Mary Magdalen .
In the
Stage Coach era, Stony Stratford was a major resting place and exchange point with the east/west route. In the early
1800s , as many as 250 coaches a day stopped here. That traffic came to an abrupt end in
1838 when the London - Birmingham Railway (now the
West Coast Main Line ) was opened at
Wolverton . For the rest of that century, Stony was in decline until the arrival of the
Motor Car , when again its position on the
A5 Road made it an important stopping point.
Today Stony Stratford is a busy
Market Town on the periphery of Milton Keynes, and is considered by many to be quite picturesque. The many pubs, restaurants and specialist st shops attract visitors from some distance. The highlight of the annual calendar is in early June (second Sunday) when , a free (voluntary contribution) festival of
Folk Music ,
Folk Rock and eclectic taste takes over the Horsefair Green.
The common phrase '' a '' originates here. Two
Pub s in the centre of town, ''The Cock'' and ''The Bull'' were originally
Coaching Inn s on the main
London to
Chester and
North Wales Turnpike . Travellers gossip and rumour that was exchanged between the two, was renowned for being far-fetched and fanciful. Today, there is an annual story telling festival to celebrate these Cock and Bull stories.
Until the 19th Century, Stony Stratford had never been a single ecclesiastical with its own Town Council.
