The story of Stratton – Part Three AFTER the Army left in 1944 the mansion slowly deteriorated until a local resident Walter Stratton purchased the derelict manor house in 1948 and used it to produce some of the first battery chickens in England. Stratto

The story of Stratton - Part Three

AFTER the Army left in 1944 the mansion slowly deteriorated until a local resident Walter Stratton purchased the derelict manor house in 1948 and used it to produce some of the first battery chickens in England.

Stratton Lodge was demolished in 1947/8 and disappeared without trace.

There were no objections from the planning authorities when the Manor House, a listed building, was demolished in 1960, leaving the stable buildings. Mr Stratton built a bungalow for himself using materials from the manor house.

Stratton Park Drive from Dunton Lane beyond the Lodge is now a site for mobile homes.

Stratton Business Park opened in 1988 by Doris Brunt, vice chairman of Bedfordshire County Council. Road names Normandy Lane, Pegasus Drive and Montgomery Lane are derived from the 1944 D-Day invasion of Europe. The park has been a success and is still expanding.

The last remains of Stratton Park, the stable buildings, were pulled down in March 1989 and is now Manor Court which consists mainly of mobile homes.

A large number of new houses and flats are built from Dunton Lane to Stratton School but eastwards it is still possible to see the original fields. This housing estate started in the 1990s originally bounded by Saxon Drive, the first part of an eastern bypass to Potton Road. The historic link evaporated when the estate roads were named after flowers although Chambers Way and Kingsfield Road are exceptions.

There have been several major archaeological digs since September 1991 discovering the deserted Saxon and medieval village of Stratton. The ancient clay-lined moat is still retained awaiting preservation work The Saxon Project, a joint venture between Biggleswade History Society and Mid Bedfordshire Trades Council, started with planting a hedge along a new linear wood and providing four oak bench seats now overtaken by woodland growth. A sculpture made from an oak tree and an information board are provided for the pocket park where a plaque marking the one-millionth tree planted by the county council is sited.

Another huge development, Kings Reach, is to continue the development towards Sutton. This will include the original Kings Field behind Stratton School.