diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/UmbracoMvcHandler.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/UmbracoMvcHandler.cs
index 1ace297bfd..649ac54f27 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/UmbracoMvcHandler.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Mvc/UmbracoMvcHandler.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 using System;
+using System.Collections;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Text;
 using System.Web;
@@ -38,6 +40,15 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Mvc
             routeDef.Controller = controller;
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// This is used internally purely to render an Umbraco MVC template to string and shouldn't be used for anything else.
+        /// </summary>
+        internal void ExecuteUmbracoRequest()
+        {
+            StoreControllerInRouteDefinition();
+            base.ProcessRequest(RequestContext.HttpContext);
+        }
+
         protected override void ProcessRequest(HttpContextBase httpContext)
         {
             StoreControllerInRouteDefinition();
@@ -54,4 +65,6 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Mvc
             return base.BeginProcessRequest(httpContext, callback, state);
         }
     }
+
+
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Standalone/StandaloneHttpContext.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Standalone/StandaloneHttpContext.cs
index 4cf64a8adf..55339e97b6 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Standalone/StandaloneHttpContext.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Standalone/StandaloneHttpContext.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 using System;
+using System.Collections;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Text;
 using System.Web;
@@ -11,11 +13,59 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Standalone
     /// </summary>
     internal class StandaloneHttpContext : HttpContextBase
     {
+        private readonly string _url;
+        private readonly HttpSessionStateBase _session = new StandaloneHttpSessionState();
+        private readonly HttpResponseBase _response;
+        private readonly HttpRequestBase _request = new StandaloneHttpRequest();
+        private readonly TextWriter _writer = new StringWriter();
+        private readonly IDictionary _items = new Dictionary<string, object>();
+
+        public StandaloneHttpContext()
+        {
+            //create a custom response with a custom writer.
+            _response = new HttpResponseWrapper(new HttpResponse(_writer));
+        }
+
+        public StandaloneHttpContext(string url)
+            : this()
+        {
+            if (url == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("url");
+            _url = url;
+            _request = new HttpRequestWrapper(new HttpRequest("", _url, ""));
+        }
+
+
         // fixme - what shall we implement here?
+        
+        public override IDictionary Items
+        {
+            get { return _items; }
+        }
+
+        public override HttpSessionStateBase Session
+        {
+            get { return _session; }
+        }
 
         public override HttpRequestBase Request
         {
-            get { return null; }
+            get { return _request; }
         }
+
+        public override HttpResponseBase Response
+        {
+            get { return _response; }
+        }
+
+    }
+
+    internal class StandaloneHttpSessionState : HttpSessionStateBase
+    {
+        
+    }
+
+    internal class StandaloneHttpRequest : HttpRequestBase
+    {
+
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Templates/TemplateRenderer.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Templates/TemplateRenderer.cs
index fe60c6959e..a13ed031f8 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Templates/TemplateRenderer.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Templates/TemplateRenderer.cs
@@ -137,12 +137,9 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Templates
 					requestContext.RouteData.Values.Add("controller", routeDef.ControllerName);
 					//add the rest of the required route data
 					routeHandler.SetupRouteDataForRequest(renderModel, requestContext, contentRequest);
-					//create and assign the controller context
-					routeDef.Controller.ControllerContext = new ControllerContext(requestContext, routeDef.Controller);
-					//render as string
-					var stringOutput = routeDef.Controller.RenderViewToString(
-						routeDef.ActionName,
-						renderModel);
+
+                    var stringOutput = RenderUmbracoRequestToString(requestContext);
+                    
 					sw.Write(stringOutput);
 					break;
 				case RenderingEngine.WebForms:
@@ -157,6 +154,33 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Templates
 			
 		}
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// This will execute the UmbracoMvcHandler for the request specified and get the string output.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="requestContext">
+        /// Assumes the RequestContext is setup specifically to render an Umbraco view.
+        /// </param>
+        /// <returns></returns>
+        /// <remarks>
+        /// To acheive this we temporarily change the output text writer of the current HttpResponse, then
+        ///   execute the controller via the handler which innevitably writes the result to the text writer
+        ///   that has been assigned to the response. Then we change the response textwriter back to the original
+        ///   before continuing .
+        /// </remarks>
+        private string RenderUmbracoRequestToString(RequestContext requestContext)
+        {
+            var currentWriter = requestContext.HttpContext.Response.Output;
+            var newWriter = new StringWriter();
+            requestContext.HttpContext.Response.Output = newWriter;
+
+            var handler = new UmbracoMvcHandler(requestContext);
+            handler.ExecuteUmbracoRequest();
+
+            //reset it
+            requestContext.HttpContext.Response.Output = currentWriter;
+            return newWriter.ToString();
+        }
+
 		private void SetNewItemsOnContextObjects(PublishedContentRequest contentRequest)
 		{
 			// handlers like default.aspx will want it and most macros currently need it