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Church of St. Andrew, Ampthill - Photo:
John Salmon
CCL |
An ancient market town with
more than 200 listed buildings, including
bow-fronted shops, Ampthill is now a busy
commercial centre with a weekly market that has
survived for an astonishing 750 years.
Katherine of Aragon lived at Ampthill Castle for
two years before her divorce from Henry VIII in
1533. Although the structure fell into ruin,
Charles II gave its 300-acre park to the
Ashburnham family and it is now open to the
public. |
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Nearby Houghton Hall was called 'House Beautiful'
in John Bunyan's allegorical book ‘The Pilgrim’s
Progress’ while a slope leading into Ampthill
became his 'Hill of Difficulty'.
The church of St Andrew contains a monument to
Richard Nicolls who, in 1664, became the first
English governor of New York. The cannon ball
which later killed him rests on his tomb. |
Houghton Hall, Ampthill - Photo:
Dennis Jackson
CCL |
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The county town of
Bedfordshire, this bustling business and
industrial centre has been an important place
since the days of the Anglo Saxons, mainly because
it lies on the River Great Ouse. The town famously
gave its name to Bedford vans made by the Vauxhall
company which opened a factory here in 1905.
The town is particularly
associated with John Bunyan who was born here. The
preacher was twice incarcerated in the local jail
for his unorthodox views and began writing his
allegorical masterpiece, ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’,
in the mid-17th century while behind bars. The
site of his house is marked by a plaque. There is
also a Bunyan Museum.
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Bridge and St Pauls Church, Bedford - Photo:
John N Dix
CCL |
All that is left of a
Norman castle destroyed after a six-week siege
in 1224 is the mound on which it stood.
However, the town has no less than four
historic churches and a five-arched bridge
spanning the river.
The Cecil Higgins Gallery
has a superb collection of prints and
decorative arts as well as a display of
Victorian life; the latter includes a room
created by William Burges, a leading exponent
of the Gothic Revival movement.
During the Second World War
the US bandleader Glenn Miller was stationed in
Bedford and broadcast from the local Corn
Exchange.
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A picturesque
village full of colour-washed and thatched
roofs, Biddenham boasts a 12th century church
which possesses a colourful cloth used during
Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation at Westminster
Abbey. |
A typical Biddenham cottage - Photo:
2202
CCL |
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St Andrew's Church, Biggleswade - Photo:
Rodney Burton
CCL |
Lying on the banks of the
River Ivel - just a few miles from Bedford –
this fascinating village hosts the
Shuttleworth Collection of Historic Aeroplanes
and Cars. The collection, displayed in an
aerodrome, was launched in the 1920s by
Richard Shuttleworth and is now run by a
trust. His museum contains an array of
aircraft (including a 1909 Bleriot plane and a
1941 Spitfire) as well as old carriages,
motorcars and bicycles, while special flying
displays are staged each summer. |
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This small village
possesses the remains of a Saxon burial site
and has important royal connections. Lady
Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, lived
here while King James I stayed in the
locality. |
Bletsoe Church - Photo:
Oliver White
CCL |
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Airship Hangars at Cardington - Photo:
Amanda Kerr-Munslow
CCL |
At the very heart of this
surprisingly important village lies a green
edged by cottages built by the famous prison
reformer John Howard. He lived in a Georgian
house on the green while another famous ‘son’
of the village, brewery founder Samuel
Whitbread (1720-96), was born close by at
Maltings Farm.
The village is
overshadowed by two great airship hangars in
which the ill-fated R101 was built. In 1930
this colossal airship crashed in France,
killing 48 people. They are buried in
Cardington’s churchyard. The church itself has
another unusual claim to fame – it contains
one of only two Wedgwood black basalt fonts to
be found in England. |
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Lying on the banks of the
mighty River Great Ouse, this village has added
poignancy because it was the scene of the American
bandleader Glenn Miller’s fateful last flight. He
never returned after taking off from a now-disused
airfield after performing for US troops here and
at Bedford’s Corn Exchange.
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The Romans named this
place Durocobrivis. It lies at the junction of
two ancient roads, the Roman Watling Street
and the prehistoric Icknfield Way. Henry I
gave the area to an Augustinian priory which
survives, in part, as the parish church of St
Peter. It was here that Archbishop Cranmer
announced the divorce of Henry VIII and
Catherine of Aragon in 1533.
At one time Dunstable was famous for the
making of straw bonnets but in the 20th
century this industry was overtaken by the
production of Vauxhall motorcars. |
Dunstable Priory - Photo:
MYM
CCL |
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Slingsby T-31 at Dunstable Downs gliding club
- Photo:
Martin Addison
CCL |
Dunstable Downs lie at the eastern end of the
Chiltern Hills and not only afford panoramic views
but are popular with enthusiasts of both gliding
and hang-gliding while the Downs themselves are
home to rare wildlife including the Bee Orchid.
Nearby is the 600-acre Whipsnade Wild Animal Park,
owned by the Zoological Society of London.
The Oscar-winning Hollywood
actor Gary Cooper lived in Dunstable as a child
and for a time was a pupil at Dunstable School. At
the age of 13 he was injured in a road accident
and went to live on his father’s American cattle
ranch.
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One of Bedfordshire’s most
picturesque villages, Elstow has a number of
timbered cottages dating to the 13th century while
the 15th century Moot Hall contains an exhibition
of the life of the nonconformist John Bunyan. He
was born within the parish at Harrowden in 1628.
Bunyan lived in Elstow for a time before moving to
Bedford in 1655. He was christened here in the
Church of St Helena and St Mary and members of his
family are buried in the churchyard. At the rear
of the church are the remains of a nunnery founded
by the sister of William the Conqueror.
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Like many places in
Bedfordshire, this pretty village has always
relied on bridges to get its citizens across
the waters of the River Great Ouse. Here you
will find not only a fine medieval five-arched
bridge and a 13th century church described as
‘the noblest in the county’ but also a
seven-arched bridge further south. |
Felmersham Bridge - Photo:
Colin Mitchell
CCL |
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Houghton Hall, Houghton Regis - Photo:
Rob Farrow
CCL |
A suburb of Dunstable,
Houghton Regis became an ‘overspill’ town in
the mid 20th century and continues to grow.
The local church has a Norman tower while the
remains of early 18th century Houghton Hall
can still be seen. |
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Picturesque cottages, a green
and a Maypole create a sense of timelessness in
this quaint Bedfordshire village which was the
home in the 17th century of Thomas Tompion, the
so-called ‘father of English watch making’. A
memorial plaque marks out his cottage.
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Although this one-time village
on the banks of the River Great Ouse is now a
dormitory town for bustling Bedford and Milton
Keynes, it oozes history. It was called "camestone"
in the Domesday Book and was the scene of the
crucial discovery of a perfectly preserved Anglo
Saxon drinking horn, now held by the British
Museum. The full story is told at a local Saxon
Centre.
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Best-known as
the home of the five-mile narrow-gauge
Leighton Buzzard Light Railway, this market
town lies on the banks of the River Great Ouse
and boasts a restored 15th century cross and a
palatial mansion, Mentmore, whose design was
based on that of Nottingham’s Elizabethan
Wollaton Hall. The village’s 13th
century church has a 190ft spire and has been
described as a regional ‘cathedral’. |
Leighton Buzzard narrow gauge railway - Photo:
Nigel Cox
CCL |
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Wardown Park, Luton - Photo:
Nigel Cox
CCL |
With Britain’s
fastest-growing airport, industrial Luton is
part of Bedfordshire for ceremonial purposes
only and has long been a unitary local
authority. It was the original home of
Vauxhall cars and at one time had a major lace
and hat-making industry, hence the nickname of
its football team, ‘The Hatters’.
Away from the hustle and
bustle, however, it boasts a number of
picturesque parks that include Wardown, which
has a lace museum, and Stockwood, which has
both a craft museum and the Mossman
Collection. Each year the town stages Europe’s
largest one-day carnival.
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Luton’s St Mary’s Church
dates to the 12th century while Luton Hoo is a
magnificent, restored Robert Adam mansion set
in beautiful parkland designed by ‘Capability’
Brown. The ruin of 15th century Someries
Castle lies nearby. |
St Mary's Church, Luton - Photo:
Nigel Cox
CCL |
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Harrold Odell Country Park - Photo:
Nigel Homer
CCL |
The River Great Ouse
rushes through this pleasant village and
nearby are a number of gravel pits containing
wildlife - from birds and wildflowers to
butterflies and moths. |
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Philanthropy lies at the
heart of this village which was created by
Lord Ongley in the 19th century for
his tenants, providing some beautiful cottages
with thatched roofs. The village produced the
first Warden pear. Nearby is Biggleswade and
the remarkable Shuttleworth Collection of
aircraft, cars, carriages and bicycles. |
Old Warden Post Office - Photo:
Richard Thomas
CCL |
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Podington High Street - Photo:
Nigel Stickells
CCL |
A slow-moving rural
village, Podington dates back to the days of
the Saxons and has many fine stone cottages.
Its Norman church has a crocketed spire while
inside is a memorial to the men of the 92nd
Bomb Group of the US Air Force who flew from
the local airfield during World War II. |
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Roxton Hall gate house - Photo:
Oliver White
CCL |
An ancient village,
peaceful picturesque Roxton boasts a 14th
century church. It lies on the banks of the
Great Ouse. |
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A centre for market
gardening, Sandy lies on the River Ivel
overlooked by the Sand Hills where there is an
ancient hill fort known as Caesar's Camp.
Sandy Lodge is the long-time home of the Royal
Society for the Protection of Birds, which
operates a local nature reserve; among its
more notable residents are not-so-common
common lizards. |
Sandy Lodge Gardens - Photo:
Katie
CCL |
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View from the Sharpenhoe Clappers - Photo:
Peter Roberts
CCL |
This Bedfordshire village
is overshadowed by the Barton Hills, which are
thought to have provided the inspiration for
John Bunyan’s ‘Delectable Mountains’ in his
book ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’. Part of the
area is owned by the National Trust. |
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This pretty village is
best-known as the home of Wrest Park, the
former estate of the de Grey Family whose
origins date back to the 12th
century. The house – built in the 19th
century – has since become an agricultural
college but its fine gardens are, on occasion,
opened to the public. |
Wrest House, Silsoe - Photo:
Rodney Burton
CCL |
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This village is best known for
its important local bird reserve covering eight
acres and containing more than 1,000 species,
including rare pheasants. The reserve was created
by the private bird collector F.E. Johnson.
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Stewartby Lake water sports club - Photo:
Phil Davies
CCL |
Unlike many of
Bedfordshire’s historic villages, Stewartby
was deliberately created in the 1920s as a
mini-version of a garden city. Nearby is
picturesque Stewartby Lake Country Park. |
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This large village was
once the centre of an important straw-plaiting
industry and boasts a magnificent church lying
at one end of a village green. Around the
green are numerous historic buildings which
include chequerbrick Old Wentworth House,
built around 1700. Here also is the mound of a
medieval motte and bailey castle known as
Conger Hill. Close by is Toddington Manor; a
previous mansion on the site was visited by
Queen Elizabeth I. The Manor’s gardens are
open to the public. |
All Saints Church, Toddington - Photo:
Rob Farrow
CCL |
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Parkland at Turvey House - Photo:
Nigel Stickells
CCL |
Lying on the
Bedfordshire-Buckinghamshire border, this is
an attractive village on the banks of the
Great Ouse. The local church has an
Anglo-Danish tower while Turvey Abbey is an 18th
century Jacobean house. Landmark statues of a
man and a woman stand on an island beside a
medieval 16-arch river bridge. |
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While the village has a
large green, timber-framed houses and a ‘tree
cathedral’ in the possession of the National
Trust, it is most famous for Whipsnade ‘zoo’
which first opened to visitors in 1931. The
animal park takes in part of Dunstable Downs,
much of which is owned by the Trust, where a
white lion – emblem of the Zoological Society
– has been carved into the chalk earth. |
White Lion at Whipsnade - Photo:
George Mahoney
CCL |
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Old Stables and Willington Parish Church -
Photo:
Oliver White
CCL |
While the parish church
dates to the 15th century, the most
ancient part of this interesting village is a
harbour created by the Vikings after they
navigated the Great Ouse. Two 16th
century buildings are all that remain of the
demolition of a manor house once owned by Sir
John Gostwick, Cardinal Wolsey’s Master of
Horse. One is a dovecot containing 1,500
nesting boxes. The second is Henry VIII’s
stables. Both are now in the hands of the
National Trust. |
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A small village with many
listed buildings, Woburn is best known for its
great house, Woburn Abbey, ancestral seat of the
Dukes of Bedford. Woburn’s vast park - landscaped
by Humphry Repton – has been transformed into
Woburn Safari Park, a process that began with the
11th Duke who was determined to save the
endangered Pere David’s deer. Following World War
II, the 13th Duke opened his property to the
public before creating the first drive-through
wildlife park in Britain.
Woburn
Abbey was founded in 1145 but was granted to the
Russell family by Henry VIII at the dissolution of
the monasteries. The present house was rebuilt in
the mid 18th century and contains a wealth of
important paintings.
Near
the village is Abbot’s Oak; it was from its
branches that the Abbot of Woburn was hanged by
Henry VIII.
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This small village lies
near the Bedfordshire-Northamptonshire border
and still possesses the mounds on which a
medieval castle was built. The spired, 14th
century church contains a carved pulpit from
which John Bunyan delivered sermons. |
Yeldon Church - Photo:
Colin Mitchell
CCL |
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