After the purchase of Oakley House by the 4th Duke, the old house was demolished and a new (present) one was built on its site. It served as a hunting box for successive dukes, being just a small fraction of the size of their main seat thirteen miles away at Woburn. In 1795, the Oakley Reynes Pre-Enclosure map was drawn, and in 1803 Oakley was enclosed. As a matter of interest, records have been discovered that show the annual expenditure of the Church from Easter 1821 to Easter 1822 as being £2.7s.3d. (£2.36). There was widespread poverty in the early 19th century after the Battle of Waterloo.