The Woburn Sands, Aspley Heath and Aspley Guise sections from Kellys Trade Directory of 1898:
WOBURN SANDS, which is on the Bucks border and the road from Dunstable to Newport Pagnell, is an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1867, and comprising the civil parish of Aspley Heath and parts of the parish of Aspley Guise and Wavendon, the two former being in the Southern division of the county, petty sessional division and union of Woburn, county court district of Leighton Buzzard, the latter in the union of Newport Pagnell, Bucks, all in the rural deanery of Fleete, archdeaconry of Bedford and diocese of Ely. The village has a station on the Bedford and Cambridge branch of the London and North Western railway, 12 miles south-west from Bedford, 4 east from Bletchley, 2½ north-west from Woburn and 50 from London: it is 44 miles from London by road. The church of St. Michael, at Aspley Heath, erected in 1868 from designs by Mr. Henry Clutton, architect, is an edifice in the French Gothic style, and originally consisted of chancel, nave of five bays and a small circular western bell turret: in 1889 it was enlarged from designs by Sir Arthur Blomfield A.R.A., F.S.A.: at a cost of £2,400, when the chancel was extended and new chancel and nave built on the north side, and transepts and vestries were also added; an oak pulpit with stone base has been presented by Mr. & Mrs. Stuart in memory of four of their children, and an oak lectern by Miss F. A. Stuart, in memory of Mrs. Nicholson. The stained east window was erected in 1889 as a memorial to Mr. W. H. Denison, for 21 years churchwarden, and there is another memorial window to Maud F. Stuart. The reredos, designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield A. R. A. was erected in 1896, as a memorial to Misses C. & E. Pain. The church affords 450 sittings. The register dates from the year 1867. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £160, with residence, in the gift of the Duke of Bedford, and held since 1884 by the Rev. Edward Henry Mosse M.A. of Christ’s College, Cambridge. There are Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist and Particular Baptist chapels, and a Friends’ meeting house. The Village Institute, built in 1874, at a cost of about £300, stands near the centre of the parish; it has a library of upwards of 800 volumes, and is used for concerts and other village purposes. A Training Home for seven girls was established in 1891, in the parish of Aspley Heath, as a branch from the Girls’ Training Home at Bedford. The parish is particularly salubrious, being situated on the lower greensand formation, which here is a reddish-brown sand, and partly covered by pine woods. Edgebury is the residence of Alfred Allnutt esq. and Sandy Mount House the residence of Mrs. Stuart. The principal landowners are the Duke of Bedford, C. Ridgway esq. and Alfred Allnutt esq. The area is 1,400 acres, including 600 acres for Aspley Heath. The rateable value of which is £2,762; about 450 acres is woodland; the population in 1891 was 1,506, of which 752 are in Bucks. The population of Aspley Heath civil parish in 1891 was 451. By Local Government Board Order 15,338, dated 24 June, 1883, Aspley Heath was made a separate civil parish, and by Order 18,187, dated March 25, 1885, part of Wavendon, in Bucks, was added to it.
Parish Clerk, Henry Hebbes.
Post, M. O. & T. O., T. M. O., S. B., Express Delivery; Parcel Post & Annuity & Insurance Office, Woburn Sands.- John Pikesley, sub-postmaster. Letters arrive from Bletchley direct at 4.50 a.m. & 12.15 & 4.45 p.m. Dispatched at 10.30 a.m. & 12.15, 8.0 & 10.0 p.m.; parcel mail, 10.30 a.m. & 12.15, 5.45 & 8 p.m.; sundays the box is closed at 8 p.m.
Wall letter boxes, Station road, cleared at 11.50 a.m. & 7.25 p.m.; Sundays, 5.15 p.m. Aspley Heath, cleared. at 10.0 a.m. & 7.25 p.m.; Sundays, 5.15 p.m.
A School Board of 5 members was formed July 25, 1885; for Aspley Heath & subsequently representatives of the contributory districts of Aspley Guise & Wavendon (Bucks) were added, the former sending two & the latter four members; James Francis Smith, 4 Bedford Street, Woburn, clerk to the board; George Newling, attendance officer.
Board School (mixed & infants), erected in 1868, at the cost of the Duke of Bedford, for 260 children; average attendance, 300. In 1889 a new infants’ school, adjoining the old buildings, was built at the cost of Francis, Duke of Bedford K. G. for 120 children. The mixed school was enlarged in 1897 at a cost of £1,110; the schools now hold 420 children; Frederick George Sharp, master; Miss H. Cheetham, infants’ mistress.
Railway Station, John Sail Barratt, station master
Carriers to:- Bedford – Thomas Clarke, wed. & sat.; – Newport Pagnell – Thomas Clarke, tues. & fri.
Woburn Sands
Private Residents
John Barnard, Aspley Hill
William Bazley, Harefleld Cottage
George Richie Bermingham, Athenry
Bird, Miss, Woodcote
Boston, Miss, Woodside Cottage
Bosworth, Miss, Theydon Avenue
Rev. Arthur Brookes (Wesleyn)
Christopher Buckmaster, The Shrubbery
Burney, Miss, Eaton Lodge
Cantley, Miss, Oakley Lodge
James P. Chapman
William Crawley, Lime Villas
Davies, Mrs
Denison, Mrs. Hardwicke
Frederick William Down, Haydon House
Farmer, Mrs., The Terrace
Charles M. Featherstonhaugh, Prospect Villa
George Freeman, Wroxhill
Freeman, Mrs. Toynton
Robert French, Theydon Avenue
Garratt, Miss, Ivy Lawn
Richard George Gee, Hardwicke Cottage
Frederick Goodhall
Charles Goosey, Lime Villas
J. Wright Grant, Woodfield
Green, Mrs., The Laurels
Hamilton, Mrs. Westbury Leigh
Harbert, Miss
Thomas Daniel Hill Holmes M. D
Horton, Mrs. Ferndale
Hugh John Jackson, Theydon Avenue
Jackson, Miss
Rev. William G. Leadbetter (Primitive Methodists)
George Lees, Dunsprings
Loke, Miss
Harry Mallam, The Dene
Edward George Miller, Holmdale
Rev. John Holdsworth Morgan, Hillside
Moore, Mrs
Morrison, Mrs., Esperanza
Rev. Edward Henry Mosse, M. A. (vicar)
William Needham, Claremont House
Newman, Mrs
Pain, Mrs., Woodlands
Payne, Mrs., Glengyle
Pearce, Miss, Fair View
James Peto, Heatherlea
Reed, Mrs., Linslade Villa
Roberts, Mrs
William Inwood Roberts, The Terrace
Edward Roe
Joseph Sergeant, The Terrace
Thomas Thrale Sich, St. Denys
Steele, Miss
Stevens, Miss
Strange, Miss, Theydon Avenue
Stuart, Mrs., Sandy Mount House
Button, Miss, Stoke Albany
Tuke, Miss, Simcroft
Vallance, Mrs., The Terrace
Whickman, Mrs
Wilkin, Miss The road into Woburn Sands from Woburn.
Commercial
William Adkins, carter
Frederick & George Andrew, bakers
Gibson Andrews, ironmonger
Aspley Guise & Woburn Sands Cottage Garden Society (E. G. Miller, secretary)
Barclay & Co. Limited, bankers (sub-branch), open on friday, 11am to 2pm; draw on head office, 54 Lombard street EC
Benskins Watford Brewery Limited (branch) (Thomas Thrale Sich, branch manager), brewers & wine & spirit merchants; & brewers at Bedford & Dunstable; head office, Watford
George Henry Bizzell, butcher
William Bliss, coal & forage merchant, Railway station
Edward Boyes, draper & clothier
British Fullers’ Earth Co. Limited (James Milne, manager); & at Aspley Heath
Edward Brown, dairyman
Wiliam Charles Byway, picture frame maker
Jas. Page Chapman, attendance officer for Aspley Guise school board
Alfred Chappell, baker
Robert A. Cheetham, photographer
Harriet Chisnall (Mrs.), plumber & glazier
Thomas Clarke, carrier
William George Cooper, cattle dealer
George Day, boot & shoe maker
Dexter & Co., timber merchants
George Dolton, builder
Ellen Dovey (Mrs.), stationer & fancy repository
John Driscoll, plasterer
Frederick William Down, proprietor of the “Farmers’ Friend,” for Prevention of Smut in Wheat; of “Melville’s Veterinary Preparations”
Charles Dudley, brick & tile manufacturer
Jane Durrant (Miss), dress maker
Arthur George Ellingham, hair dresser
Joseph Elliott, draper & clothier
William Elmore, skin dealer
Joshua Emms, Watch & clock maker & jeweller &c
Annie Farmer (Mrs.), apartments
Elizabeth Foster (Mrs.), shopkeeper
James Foster, coal agent
Benjamin Garrett, Fir Tree Public House
Arthur, Henry & Thomas Giles, joiners
John Giles, steam sawyer
John Giles, junior, lath render
J. Wright Grant, M.B., C.M. surgeon & physician; medical officer & public vaccinator, Aspley & Woburn districts, Woburn union
Thomas Gregory, Swan Public House
Samuel Hack, shopkeeper
Henry Thomas Hall, land & estate agent
David Hallworth, boot & shoe maker
David Hammond. saddler & harness maker
George Harris, seedsman & florist
John Harris, coach builder
Holmes & Lane, news agents & refreshment rooms
George Holmes, news agent, see Holmes & Lane
Thomas Daniel Hill Holmes, M.D., C.M. surgeon, & medical officer, No. 8 district, Newport Pagnell union, see Lucas & Holmes
William John Horton, chemist
Alwyn Edward A. Hudson, plumber & decorator
Mary Ann Inwood (Mrs.), apartments
William Henry Inwood, tailor & outfitter
Thomas Jackson, market gardener
William Kent, builder
Frederick James Lane, news agent, see Holmes & Lane
Edward Last, coach builder
London & County Banking Co. Lim. (sub-branch), open on fridays, 10.30am to 1.30pm; draw on head office, 21 Lombard st. London EC
Lucas & Holmes, surgeons; & at Woburn
John. T Luttman, Station hotel & post house
William Mabley, lath render
James McMurtrie, cabinet maker
William Mead, butcher
George Edward Miller, printer & bookbinder
Edward Moore, insurance agent
Eliza Moore (Mrs.), boot & shoe maker & milliner
National Deposit Friendly Society (Edward George Miller, secretary)
John Negus, grocer & provision dealer, agent for W. & A. Gilbey Limited, wine & spirit merchants
Phillips Fanny (Mrs.), confectioner
Phipps P. & Co. Limited (George Stamford, branch manager), brewers & wine & spirit merchants
John Pikesley, stationer, Post Office
William Poole, architect
George E Popple, ironmonger
John Walter Pratt, butcher
Joseph Rice, blacksmith & horse & trap proprietor
Frederick Jacob Roberts, Weathercock public house
George Sanders, boot & shoe maker
Eliza Scrivener (Mrs.), apartments
Alfred Smith, insurance agent
Charlotte Smith (Miss), dress maker
William Smith, carter
George Spreckley, tailor
Edwin Spring, builder & joiner
John Frederick Steers, butcher
Edward Alfred Stevens, hair dresser
Stubbs & Brown, coal merchants, Railway station
Ernest Oliver Tansley, confectioner
George Tansley, glass, china &c. dealer
Mary Ann Thompson (Miss), apartments
Annie Tomlin (Mrs.), apartments
Thomas Tompkins, coal, corn, seed & forage merchant, Railway station; & Woburn & Railway station Ridgmont
William Brown Toogood, general draper & milliner
Watkin Bros, brick & tile manufacturers
Caroline White (Miss), dress maker
Richard E. Whitlock, chimney sweeper
William Whitlock, chimney sweeper
Maria Wickman (Mrs.), apartments
Frederick Wingrave, grocer & wine & ale merchant
Woburn Sands Permanent Benefit Building Society (E. G. Miller, secretary)
Woburn Sands Recreation Club (J. McMurtrie, secretary)
Woburn Sands Village Institute & Reading Room (Edward George Miller, secretary)
Thomas Wodhams, coal & corn merchant
George Woodhams, beer retailer
James Wright, draper & boot dealer & brewers’ agent
George William Young, builder
The northern end of the Woburn Sands parade of shops.
Aspley Heath
Private Residents
Alfred Allnutt, Edgebury
Baker, Miss
Rev. Canon James Tufton Bartlett M. A., Daneswood
Bevan, Mrs. Pine View
Cox, Mrs., Croyland
Cranmer Charles, The Mount
Cross, Mrs. Laperriere
William Charles Cross
Robert Sim Everley
Hugh Frazer L.L. D
John Giles, Alpha Vilia
Rev. Francis Fitzgerald Hort, M. A., The Knoll
John Kemp, Glenside
Charles Mann
Rev. Edward Francis Miller M. A., The Knoll
James Milne
Minty, Miss
John Elliot Page, Heather Bank
Palmer, Miss
Pennington, Mrs., Firdale
J. E. L. Pickering, Alderman’s Place
Arthur Charles Plater
Frederick George Sharp
Skottowe, Mrs., Holmwood
Summerley Miss
Turney, Mrs., The Limes
Wilkinson, Miss
Commercial
Noah Ambrose, beer retailer
Susannah Baker (Miss), apartments, Montrose Villa
Thomas Bodsworth, fishmonger
Frederick Bowler, apartments
Edward Brown, dairyman
British Fullers’ Earth Company Limited. (Jas. Milne, manager)
Charles Featherstonhaugh, rope &c. maker
Louisa Freeman (Mrs.), confectioner
Thomas Hallworth, boot &c. maker
Alfred Hopkins, baker
Knoll Preparatory School for Boys (Rev. Edward Francis Miller M.A. & the Rev. Francis Fitzgerald Hort M.A. proprietors), The Knoll
George Mann, apartments
George Newling, grocer, & school attendance officer Aspley Heath school board
Ann Paternoster (Mrs.), shopkeeper
Charles Dickins Purcer, baker
Henry Summerley, cooper
John Paul Summerley, joiner
Training Home for Girls (Mrs. Elizabeth Irons, matron)
Joseph Wilson, beer retailer
Aspley Guise
Aspley Guise formerly a town, is a parish and well-built village, a mile and a half from Woburn Sands station of the London and North Western railway, 52½ miles from London by rail and 44 by road, 2 north- by-west from Woburn and 12 south-west from Bedford, in the Southern division of the country, hundred of Manshead, petty sessional division and union of Woburn, county court district of Leighton Buzzard, rural deanery of Fleete, archdeanery of Bedford and diocese of Ely. The church of St Botoloph is an elegant building in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of a chancel, with organ chamber and vestry on the north, and a small chapel on the south, cleretorial nave of four bays, aisles and an embattled western tower with crocketed pinnacles and containing a clock and 6 bells; the south aisle was added and the whole fabric greatly enlarged and restored through the exertions and almost at the sole expense, as well as under the superintendence, of the Rev. J. Vaux Moore, formerly rector; all the windows, twenty-eight in number, are stained; there is a memorial window in the vestry to H.R.H. the Prince Consort, placed in 1862, and three memorial windows in the south side to the Moore family; in the north aisle is an altar tomb , with fine brass effigy of a knight in plate armour, worn over a hauberk, to one of the Guise family, circ. 1490, from whom the village derives its adjunct; there is also an ancient slab, from which a florinated cross and marginal inscriptions are lost, but at the foot are figures in brass of a priest kneeling and St John the Baptist standing, c.1410, and there is a tomb with life-sized effigy in stone to Sir – de Tyrington, 1400; another marble monument is to the Rev J. V. Moore; the pulpit is richly carved in oak, representing the principle incidents in the life of Our Lord; the church was restored in 1855, and in 1884 the upper portion of the tower was rebuilt at a cost of £150 and the peal of 4 bells increased to 6; the organ was enlarged in 1897, at a cost of £350; in 1890 the church was entirely restored, an organ chamber, vestries and chapel erected, and the interior reseated at a total cost of £2,200; there are sittings for 325 persons. the burying ground has been increased by the addition of an acre, situated on the opposite side of the road, the gift of the Rev. H. R Moody, late lord of the manor: The register dates from the year 1563. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £173, including 86 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Duke of Bedford and held since 1880 by the Rev. James Chadwick Maltby M.A. of Keble College, Oxford. There are Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels. The village of Aspley contains a number of good houses, and is very beautifully situated on and below a range of sand hills, which rise to a height of about 420 feet above the level of the sea, commanding very extensive views of the surrounding country; it is much frequented as a place of residence by visitors during the summer season, who find accommodation in good and quiet lodgings. The atmosphere is dry and salubrious, and the temperature equable: there is a plentiful supply of pure, soft, spring water. Adjoining the village are large plantations of firs and evergreens, to the growth of which the soil is peculiarly adapted; some of the holly hedges are nearly thirty feet in height, and upwards of 150 years old. Avenue House, the residence of Mrs. Unwin. Avenue Lodge is the residence of Cecil Grimshaw esq.; both are approached by an avenue of Scotch pine dating from the Battle of Culloden (1746). Aspley House, the residence of Major C. V. S. Downes J.P. was built about 1690 from designs, it is said, of Sir Christopher Wren; nearly all the rooms are panelled throughout, and the house contains some fine portraits of the Hervey and Chernocke families. Oaklands, the residence of E. E. Dymond esq. J.P., D.L. commands a lovely view of Woburn and its park. The Holt is the residence of Henry Paul Harris esq. J.P.. The Duke of Bedford, F. Moody esq. who is lord of the manor, Major C. V. S. Downes, Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare bart. of Stourhead, Bath, George Annesley Derville Mahon esq John Gregory White M.D. Mrs Selina Ellis, Henry Paul Harris esq and the rector are chief landowners.
The soil is sand on the hills and clay in the lower parts of the parish; subsoil, clay. The chief crops are wheat, barley and beans. The area is 1899 acres; rateable value £6,191; the population in 1891 was; civil 1,230; ecclesiastical 927. The ecclesiastical parish of Woburn Sands has been formed partly out of this parish and partly out of Wavendon, Bucks, and will be found under a separate heading.
Sexton and verger, Thomas William Brown.
POST, M.O. & T.O, S.B. Express Delivery, Parcel Post, Annuity & Insurance Office – Sydney Jas. Chisnall, sub-postmaster. Letters arrive from Bletchley at 5 a.m. and 12.35 and 5.5 p.m.; dispatched 10.05 11.50 a.m. & 4.15, 7.45 & 10 p.m. & on Sundays at 10.10 a.m. Sunday, open from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. for sale of stamps and telegraph business.
WALL LETTER BOX, Duke Street and Mount Pleasant, cleared at 11.30 a.m. & 5.30 p.m. week days only.
A School Board of 5 members was formed April 12 1879; Fras. Smith, 4 Bedford street, Woburn, clerk to the board; James Page Chapman, Woburn Sands, attendance officer.
This place contributes a member to the Aspley Heath School Board.
Board School (mixed and infants) built about 1850, for 199 children; average attendance 131; George H. Taylor, master.
Conveyance – Omnibus (from Bedford Arms, Woburn) to & from Woburn Sands station, meeting all trains.
CARRIERS: F. Tomkins, to Woburn, daily.
Joseph Rice, from Woburn Sands to Leighton & Woburn, tues.
Thomas Clarke, from Woburn Sands to Bedford, sat.; & to Newport Pagnell, tues and fri.
William Beesley, from Woburn to Bedford, wed & sat.
PRIVATE RESIDENTS
Mrs Bacchus, Wood lane
Mrs. Bird, Woodcote
Robert Lewis Brander M.B., C.M., Grant cottage
Miss Burrell, The Laurels
Miss Courtney, Grasmere
Mrs. Crisp, Wood lane
Mrs. Dixon, Wood lane
Major C. Villiers S. Downes J.P., Aspley house
Mrs Downes, The Shrubbery
Edward Ernest Dymond J.P. Oaklands
Major Francis Herbert England, The Lindens
General Reginald Onslow Farmer, Grove house
Mrs. Farmer, Firdale
Miss Fitzroy, Wood lane
Cecil Grimshaw, The Avenue
Miss Good, Woodville house
Henry Paul Harris J.P., The Holt
Miss Henderson, Mentone avenue
Miss Keens, Mentone avenue
John Langston, Pine Dale, Mentone avenue
William Large, West street
Mrs Laws, Inglewood
George Annesley Derville Mahon, The Mount
Miss Malcolm, The White cottage
Rev. James Chadwick Maltby M.A. (rector) The Rectory
Charles Minter, Caxton house
Charles John Minter, Caxton house
Henry Mordaunt, Sillwood house
Thomas Newitt
Mrs Roby
George Augustus Simcox, Guise house
Miss Carter Smith, The Hoo
Miss E. H. Carter Smith, The Hoo
Miss Sparry, Hollydale
Robert Stark, Pine ridge
Henry E. Sullivan, Westridge
Miss Swann, Holly cottage
Mrs Tite
Captain Oswald Tatham, Rectory cottage
William Tetley, Wood lane cottage
Charles Matthew Turney, Mount Pleasant
Mrs Twitchell
Mrs. Unwin, Avenue house
Henry Veasey
Miss Westrop, Lodge
Miss White, Station road
Surtees George Wilkinson, Mentone avenue
Howard Williams, Mount Pleasant
The Misses Wing, Larchfield
COMMERCIAL
William Charles Adams, Red Lion P.H.
Aspley Guise & Woburn Sands Gas Light & Coke Co. Limited (George Whitman, sec)
John Atterbury, beer retailer
James Brandon Barnwell, butcher
John Billington, watch maker
Charles Bishop, Bell P.H. & posting house
Robert Lewis Brander M.B., C.M. physician & surgeon, Grant cottage
(Mrs) Kitty Britten, Wheatsheaf P.H.
Frederick Brown, bootmaker
Thomas William Brown, boot maker
Edward Brown, farmer, Rectory farm
Sydney James Chisnall, saddler, Post office
Henry Cook, jobbing gardener
John Cook, jobbing gardener
Thomas C. Cooke, gardener to Major C. Villiers S. Downes J.P.
John Cooper, farmer, Hayfield farm
Co-operative Stores Limited (Frederick William Hanscomb, manager)
Mrs Charlotte Crabb, apartments, East end
Samuel Daniels, greengrocer
Frederick Harris Day, grocer
Thomas Day, builder and undertaker
John Everett, beer retailer
Henry Fryer, cowkeeper & assistant overseer
John William Goodall, baker, confectioner & corn dealer
Mrs Martha & Jesse & Henry Gurney, farmers, Crabtree farm
Thomas Hames, stonemason
Alfred James Handscomb, nurseryman
George Handscomb, nurseryman, Mount Pleasant
Mrs Eliza Harriet Handscomb, dressmaker and registry office for servants
Henry Hayter, florist & gardener
Henry Hayter, beer retailer & carpenter
Miss Charit Higgins, apartments
Samuel Higgins, brick maker &c
Frederick Hutton, builder, Wood lane
John Thomas Hobbs, farmer, Rectory farm
John Kemp & Co., printers, bookbinders and publishers
William Lane, beer retailer
Steff W. Langston, professor of Music, Pine dale, Mentone avenue
William Lines, farmer, Malting farm
John Millard, farmer & sanitary inspector& surveyor, Woburn Rural District Council, Manor farm
Charles Minter, secretary to Powage Press Limited
John Odell, farmer, Aspley Hall farm
Joseph Perry, shopkeeper, Mount Pleasant
Frank Albert Pickering, butcher
The Powage Press Ltd printers, bookbinders and publishers
Mrs Elizabeth Rich, grocer
Charles Sinfield, builder, contractor & undertaker, house decorator, plumber & hot water apparatus fixer. See Advert
Charles Spring, joiner & undertaker
John Watkins Steers, butcher
George W. Taylor, waggonette proprietor
Joseph Harper Timms, wheelwright
John Turney, grocer & draper
Mrs. Kate Usher, dressmaker
Richard Walters, blacksmith
George Whitman, house & estate agent & licensed valuer & registrar of marriages, Woburn district
Page last updated Mar. 2020.