Comment: Keeping it in-house
In 1823 Charles Warren built Simpson House on the site of the Goodman’s ancient farmhouse, his wife, Leonora, being a member of that family.
By his marriage Charles acquired a great deal of property in the village, and, to include rock features, pools and a fountain, upon the site of farm labourers’ dwellings he created magnificent gardens for the House.
However, in recent times a reminder of this ornamental grandeur was only apparent by a few plants and a gazebo, situated against the wall of the village shop.
For an improved access to his new residence Charles had the main road raised by three and a half feet, since because of the several springs in the area it was usually flooded for many months of the year.
During his occupancy he would also make several alterations to the House, which descended to his second wife, Sophia, following his death in 1872. In Simpson church he is commemorated by a marble slab on the north wall of the nave, as is his first wife, Leonora, who died in 1841. Among the future tenants of the House would be a ‘dandy of diminutive size’, but having put Ada Maud White in the family way he absconded during the subsequent trial for paternity, ‘and was never heard of again.’
During the Second World War, Simpson House became an ARP centre and Home Guard Quartermaster’s Store, and with the arrival of the New City it then accommodated the quantity surveyors’ department of the Milton Keynes Development Corporation.
As for the present situation, much of the former grounds are now covered by the aptly named Warren Bank.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Milton Keynes
Sunday 19 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 10 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North
