sentences:  Before the construction of the Grand Union Canal and Tring reservoirs Wilstone consisted mostly of a marsh in the south called 'the moors' and mills in the northern part of the village known as the milloppers.After the Moors drained into the Canals and reservoirs new land for workers to live became available and up to four pubs or ale houses, a chapel, a church, two or three shops, a forge and all the trades needed to support a village were constructed, however the only one of these 18th century developments to remain in their past form is The Half Moon, the local pub and the St. Cross church as the rest have been turned into houses because the invention of the automobile has made it possible for the villagers to travel to the surrounding towns for their services instead of using the inferior shops inside the village.In 1861 the villages population was recorded as around 455 however when a depression caused by international food trade and outbreaks of disease amongst workers hit the British agricultural industry the population declined.