Place Name
A “Fryers Style our backway” was mentioned in the Court Rolls as early as 1620, presumably in reference to the Friars Observant who gave nearby Friars Lane its name, but this is by no means certain. However, the route was referred to as Old Worple Way in documents of 1628, a worple being a pathway between fields, and as a right of way fiercely protected. In 1656 a William Stobbard found himself before the Court Baron “for not having a Worple of Twelve feet in Breadth leading to Friars Style” and warned that he would face a fine of 20s if he did not put it right. The name evidently stuck, featuring on a 1771 Manor map in the corner of a field number 641 named Friars Stile Close, which belonged to William Selwyn, Friars Stile appears at the junction with the present Marlborough Road. The road later incorporated several large villas.