Church Street - A Tour Around the Streets of Ampthill

CHURCH STREET, leading off from the Market Square in the direction of Maulden contains many interesting buildings most notably Avenue House (number 20) formerly the home of Professor Sir Albert Richardson, KCVO, one-time President of the Royal Academy, whose love for the Georgian period is legendary and was reflected in his work as an architect. 'The Professor' died in 1964, and plaque on the wall of his former home carried a tribute from his old friend John Betjeman, 'He strove to preserve the best in English landscape and buildings' The house was built for John Morris, a brewer, to the design, it is thought, of John Wing the Bedford architect, in 1790, the easternmost section having been added in 1819. The house takes its name from a lime walk in the garden. On the opposite side of the road is the Ampthill Masonic Centre built in the early 1860s as a Court House, the architect being Sir John Taylor, KCB. In 1961 James Hanratty was brought before the magistrates here accused of the murder of Michael Gregson in a lay-by off the A6 at Clophill, a crime for which he was ultimately hanged in the last judicial hanging in this country. The courts moved to new premises In Woburn Street in 1963. At the brow of the hill is The Wingfield Club, opened as a United Services Club by the Princess Beatrice in 1921. The house, built in 1742 by Catherine Coppin, was for a time the home of the Revd Charles Cavendish Bentinck, one-time Rector of Ridgmont, and his wife Sinetta. For some years they had rented the house now 41 Church Street, but moved here in 1848. Two years later Mrs Bentinck died, and shortly her husband married again, the eldest daughter of that marriage eventually becoming Countess of Strathmore, mother of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Modem housing developments to the east and south of Church Street occupy what was formerly the estate of Sir Anthony Wingfield (1857-1952). Ampthill House, which stood where the eastern section of Brinsmade Road is now, had been built in 1829, but was considerably enlarged by Mr Wingfield (as he was then) to provide accommodation for the large number of visitors he entertained. His private zoo was a great attraction, stately Edwardian ladies and distinguished gentlemen (9ncoludlng minor and foreign royalty_ were pleased to be photographed on the most unlikely mounts, while camels, bison, pigs, ostriches and llamas roamed the estate freely, and were made to work where possible. Many of the animals were transferred to Whipsnade when that zoo opened, and all had long gone when following Sir Anthony's death, the house was pulled down and its parkland built upon. The Cloisters is a more recent development on the Ampthill House estate and marks the site of a modest 17th century mansion reputedly built for Ampthill's most famous son, Richard Nicolls. Nicolls was born in 1625 at Great Lodge in Ampthill Park where his father was a keeper, and early in life entered the royal service. He followed the royal family into exile on the continent after the execution of Charles I and became a friend of his son, James Duke of York (afterwards James II). After the restoration Richard Nicolls was sent as senior of three commissioners with a small supporting force, to recover the North American territories from the Dutch. In 1664 he received the surrender of Nieuw Amsterdam which he renamed New York, after the Duke of York, and here he remained for a while as Governor. Having retired to Ampthill, he was called to attend James, then Lord High Admiral, at the battle of Sole Bay (Southwold) in 1672. Mortally wounded by a Dutch cannon ball, his body was brought back to Ampthill for burial, the fatal cannon ball being incorporated into his memorial in the parish church. THE PARISH CHURCH, dedicated in honour of Saint Andrew, in its present 'form dates from 14th and 15th centuries with 19th and 20th century additions; but there was a church on the same site in Norman times, and perhaps earlier. A comprehensive guide book is available at the church. CHURCH SQUARE has on its east side Brandreth House, now two, built for Thomas Gibbs in about 1810. He was a noted seedsman to the Board of Agriculture for whom we did much experimental work on grasses, and married Sarah Brandreth of Houghton Regis, hence the house's name. Adjoining are the Feoffee Almshouses, maintained still by feoffees (trustees) using the income from charitable endowments made by townsfolk in earlier centuries. The almshouses were established before 1485, and those on the left of the gateway may be of even earlier date; but the houses which border the churchyard and the one to the right of the gateway were built in the 19th century. On the west side of Church Square the imposing three-storey Dynevor House has the initials S.V and the date 1725 on the rainwater heads. S.V. was Sir Simon Urlin, Recorder of the City of London from 1742 to 1746, who had the house refronted and remodelled at that time.