PYRTLE SPRING
T
Pyrtle or Purtwell Spring, approached by a footpath from the Upper Icknield Way off the A4010 towards Culverton Farm, would have been a key factor in the early settlement of the area. The name probably derives from Old English "pritol wella" translated as "babbling brook".in Place Names of Britain & Ireland, John Field 1980, It still babbles to a degree, but nowadays its flow is usually sadly reduced.The Society's Collection includes good evidence of continuous use of the surrounding fields for communal as well as agricultural purposes at least as far back as the Roman Era.
THE MARKET SQUARE IN 1802
This image, privately owned, was painted by the local Curate, John Mountfort, from his house in the Market Square. Notably, it shows on the left a tiny portion of the original Market House before its upper floor was rebuilt in 1824. The small house behind the wagon to the right of the imposing late Georgian house was a boy’s boarding school in the 1830s - 40s and later a house-painter’s shop, destroyed by a fire in 1868 and rebuilt similarly to its neighbour on the right.
THE MARKET SQUARE IN 2012
This photograph was taken in 2012 for comparison with the 1802 image. Perhaps the most notable changes are to the buildings on the right, where what may have been a stable or malthouse has become a fish and chip shop with residence above, while its neighbour progressed from Maltster’s house to Chemist’s shop, wine and spirit merchant‘s and currently The Whiteleaf Cross public house.
THE BRITISH SCHOOL 1836 TO 2022
To read about The British School please click on this link The history of The British School 1836 to 2022
THE PATH TO WHITELEAF FROM BERRYFIELD ROAD
This late19th-early 20thC painting, privately owned, was found in a house in Wendover
.