Facts and places of interest in Stewartby

Interesting Facts about Stewartby

• HRH Prince George visited the brickworks.  At he time the Stewartby brickworks had a weekly output of 9,000,000 bricks.

• In 1936 Stewartby was recognised as the largest brickworks in the world employing 2,000 people to produce 500 million bricks a year.

Places of Interest in and around Stewartby

Stewartby Lake

In the heart of the Marston Vale Community Forest, this former clay pit is now managed as a Country Park. The lake attracts a rich variety of birds, particularly in winter. Water sports also take place on the lake. It is very pleasant to walk around this lake and around the Millennium Park too.

Marston Vale Millennium Country Park

The Forest Centre at the Millennium Country Park is a conservation centre and has lots of information about the area and walks and there is also a cafe and children's playground.

There are eight kilometers of footpaths and cycle paths and there is also a horse route too. There is also a wetland nature reserve where you can observe the waterfoul from various hides.

The wetland reserve has been designed to include a range of habitats that will attract interesting and rare wildlife.

Houghton House

The ancient monument known as Houghton House lies to south on the hill towards Amptill and overlooks the Marston Vale. The house was built in 1615-1621 on Crown land and is though to have been built by John Thorpe. It has been suggested that Houghton House is the ‘House Beautiful' referred to in John Bunyan's ‘Pilgrim's Progress'.

Ampthill's Almshouses

Ampthill's Almshouses can be found in Church Square and some date back to the 15 th Century.

Wrest Park, Silsoe

Wrest Park was the home of the De Grey family from the 13 th Century until 1917. The old manor house was demolished and the one that now stands of the site was designed by Thomas, Earl de Grey, in 1834 in the French chateaux style; it is the third house to be built on the site.

The gardens amount to 90 acres and were inspired by the gardens of Versailles in France and are formal in style with wooded walks and canals centred around the pavilion designed by Thomas Archer in 1710.

Later additions to the gardens include the Bath House and the Chinese Pavilion. The Orangery, Italian garden and Parterre were added in the 19 th century.

The house was used in the early 19th century as a residence for the US Ambassador, but it is now used by the National Institute of Agricultural Engineering and is run by English Heritage.

Nearby at Flitton is the Grey Mausoleum, the family's burial place.

Regular events such as historical re-enactments take place in the grounds.