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General
Most of Woburn Sands lies in Milton Keynes, but one part of the road to Aspley Guise (Weathercock Lane) lies in Bedfordshire.
Until about 1860 Woburn Sands did not exist, instead the area was called Hogsty End. It was in 1860 that the Victorians began to develop the area as a residential town taking its name from the nearest market town, Woburn, and the major industry, sand extraction. The sand was Fullers Earth. This is very fine yellow sand used by wool fullers to clean and whiten the wool (full is from the Anglo-Saxon word fullian meaning to whiten). The sand has been dug in the area since 1539, or maybe even earlier. The railway reached Woburn Sands (Hogsty End) in November 1846 and the station was created thanks to the Duke of Bedford. Most of the railway line was built over the 7th Duke’s land and he wanted his own station near to Woburn Abbey; unfortunately for him Woburn Sands was the nearest point at which it could be built.
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Weathercock Lane
In Weathercock Lane (once known as Aspley Lane) the sounds of galloping hooves have been heard made by a phantom man on horseback (allegedly Dick Turpin). Two lovers are said to haunt Woodfield House at the top of the lane though some say it is the ghost of Dick Turpin. The story seems to have no basis in truth, but was the invention of a tenant who wanted his rates reduced! A phantom white lady has been seen at the top of the embankment (towards the Aspley Hill end of the road).
On the site which Woodfield House now occupies it is believed that there used to stand an Inn some two hundred and fifty years ago. It was here that a double murder took place. The story has it that the inn was occupied by a girl and her father. The girl had a lover who she was keeping secret from her father. The lover would come to the inn on the nights when her father was away but one night he returned unexpectedly. The lovers panicked and hid themselves in a large pantry to avoid being caught by the girl’s father. But it was too late as the man had been watching them through the window and in a fit of rage he locked them in the cupboard and jammed furniture against the door so they couldn’t escape. It is here that they died and one legend has it that their ghosts are trying to return to the pantry. There is a second version of the legend in which the father shot both his daughter and her lover.
The legend then has it that Dick Turpin broke into the house whilst looking for somewhere to hide and discovered the bodies. He then proceeded to blackmail the father so that he could use the premises as a safe house. The bodies were buried under the cellar floor and it is said that the girl and her lover haunted the house from that point on. A séance was held in the house in the 1960’s and the ghost of the daughter, Bessie, agreed to stop the haunting.
To view a map of the area click on the button below
To view images see:
Woburn Sands Album
To view a report about Weathercock Lane see:
27-02-2004
Woburn Sands, Weathercock Lane
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