St Peter’s Bridge
Founded in 1827, the turnpike road, which largely follows today’s A428, started at the junction of Derngate with St Giles Street in Northampton.
From Derngate it followed the course of today’s A428 to the River Nene.
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| St Peter's Bridge on an 1885 Ordnance Survey Map |
The River Nene has been re-cut and redirected during the expansion of Northampton in the late twentieth century, leaving the modern road three stretches of water to cross, the old course of the Nene, the new course, and once more the old course.
The turnpike road only had on stretch of the old course to cross, and this was at St Peter’s Bridge, in what was countryside south east of Northampton, in what is now the Brackmills Trading Estate.
Map research shows that St Peter’s Bridge was in existence at the time of the founding of the turnpike.
The Britannia Inn which stands by the bridge, was established in 1827, the year the turnpike road opened for business. This was probably not a coincidence.
A new St Peter’s Bridge was erected in 1842. The records show that it was built by Edward Barwell’s Eagle Iron Foundry of Northampton. I have not yet tracked down a photograph of Barwell’s bridge, but one must assume that it was constructed of cast iron.
The present St Peter’s Bridge (now by-passed by the main road to Bedford A428) is a reinforced concrete bridge. I have no record of the date of its construction, but it looks to me to be from the 1960s.
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| St Peter's Bridge |
There is some deviation from the old turnpike by the modern A428, as the old road that crossed the Nene by St Peter’s Bridge has been subsumed into the Brackmills trading estate, having been converted into a cycle path for much of the way.
Today’s A428 takes up the course of the old turnpike once more at the roundabout junction with Liliput Road.
Little Houghton
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| Little Houghton and Brafield on the Green (1884 Ordnance Survey Map) |
The old turnpike road wound its way through Little Houghton Village, and continued to do so as the A428 until 1980.
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| Red: the old turnpike. Green: the 1980 bypass. |
In
its 1826 application to Parliament to become a turnpike, the trust
proposed to build a bypass south of Little Houghton. It never happened
because of the cost. The bypass was not completed until well after the
turnpike era in 1980 - that’s 154 years after it was first deemed
necessary.
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| The old turnpike road through Little Houghton in 1908 |
Shortly after the old road emerges back on to the A428, traces of the old road can be seen on the OS Map to the right of the A428. Along this stretch of old road, the 1884 Ordnance Survey Map shows Primrose cottages. Prospect Cottage is added to the 1952 version of this map. This map also shows a milestone on this trace of old road. The 1952 map does not show the milestone, nevertheless, the remnants may be worth looking out for.
Brafield on the Green
Just before the crossroads at Brayfield on the Green, a bend in the old road was removed and a staggered junction introduced at the crossroads, some time between 1946 and 1952 according to the Ordnance Survey Maps of those two dates.
Denton
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| Through Denton. Red: the old turnpike route. Green: the 1931 bypass. |
The old turnpike road wound its way through Denton village, and continued to do so as the A428 until 1931.
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| The old turnpike in Denton's pre-bypass days c.1920s |
In
its 1826 application to Parliament to become a turnpike, the
Northampton and Cold Brayfield Turnpike Trust proposed to build a bypass
south of Denton. It never happened because of the cost. The bypass was
not completed until well after the turnpike era in 1931, that’s 105
years after it was first deemed necessary. The concrete road bypassed 3
bends in the village. Note: concrete road.
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| The old turnpike from Denton and through Yardley Hastings (1884 Ordnance Survey Map) |
Yardley Hastings
There was an original proposal in 1827 for the much needed bypassing of Yardley Hastings, yet it was deemed too impractical to carry out.
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| Red: the old turnpike through Yardley Hastings. Green: the 1912 bypass. |
Bedford Road West was eventually opened on 27 November 1912 by S.G. Stopford Sackville, County Council Chairman. The 400 yard road bypassed the steep and twisty route through the village and was constructed by Council Labour.
Warrington toll bar roundabout (Warrington, just north of Olney in Buckinghamshire)
Shortly before the roundabout, the old road veers left. This is a trace of the old road before road realignment to remove bends and the construction of the roundabout at the crossroads in c.1980.
There was a plan to straighten this stretch of road in the 1826 application to Parliament to become a turnpike. That’s 154 years before it was eventually completed.
Lavendon
Road widening was completed next to the church in 1954. A plaque to commemorate the event is located on the churchyard wall.
End of the road
Just beyond Lavendon, the responsibilities of the Northampton and Cold Brayfield Turnpike Trust ended at the junction of today’s A428 Bedford Road with the B565 from Newport Pagnell, just short of the village of Cold Brayfield.
© John Dunn.