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Harrowden, Bedfordshire
Harrowden is a one-street hamlet in the civil parish of Shortstown, Bedfordshire, England. The street runs from east to west parallel and to the south of the A421 Bedford Southern Bypass, and 200 metres to the north of the village of Shortstown. There is a path at the west side of Harrowden named Bumpy Lane that leads to Abbey Fields. Like Shortstown, Harrowden is in the Eastcotts parish, of the Borough of Bedford. History Harrowden is mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086, though by the 13th century the area became known as Eastcotes or Cotes. The name derives from the Old English name for a cottage - 'cotum'. Prior to the creation of Shortstown civil parish in 2019, Harrowden was within Eastcotts civil parish. From 2023 Harrowden forms part of the Shortstown ward for elections to Bedford Borough Council. Other *John Bunyan, the noted Christian writer, was born in Harrowden. (See also Slough of Despond). *The name of the hamlet comes from the Old English ''Hearg-d� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North East Bedfordshire (UK Parliament Constituency)
North East Bedfordshire was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2024. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished. Subject to moderate boundary changes, it reverted to the name of North Bedfordshire, first contested at the 2024 general election. South eastern areas, including the communities of Arlesey, Langford and Stotfold, were included in the re-established, cross-county boundary, constituency of Hitchin. Constituency profile This is a mainly rural, professional area, with medium level incomes, low unemployment and a low proportion of social housing. The East Coast Main Line runs through the east part of the seat, with several stations connecting to Central London. Boundaries and boundary changes 1997–2010: The District of Mid Bedfordshire wards of Arlesey, Biggleswade Ivel, Biggleswade Stratton, Blunham, Langford, Northill, Old Warde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Bunyan
John Bunyan (; 1628 – 31 August 1688) was an English writer and preacher. He is best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress'', which also became an influential literary model. In addition to ''The Pilgrim's Progress'', Bunyan wrote nearly sixty titles, many of them expanded sermons. Bunyan came from the village of Elstow, near Bedford. He had some schooling and, at the age of sixteen, joined the New Model Army, Parliamentary Army at Newport Pagnell during the First English Civil War, first stage of the English Civil War. After three years in the army, he returned to Elstow and took up the trade of tinker, which he had learned from his father. He became interested in religion after his marriage, attending first the parish church and then joining the Bedford Meeting, a Puritan Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist group in St John's church Bedford, and later became a preacher. After the Restoration (England), restoration of the monarch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kempston
Kempston is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, situated around south-west of Bedford town centre. It had a population of 19,330 in the 2011 census, and forms part of the wider Bedford built-up area. The River Great Ouse separates it from the Queen's Park area of Bedford. History Until the 19th century Kempston was a mainly rural parish. It was one of the largest in Bedfordshire with an area of 5,025 acres (20 km2) at the time of enclosure in 1804, and was in Redbournestoke Hundred. Historically there was no central village, but instead settlement was divided between a number of hamlets called "Ends", including Up End, Bell End, Wood End and Box End. Kempston's parish church, All Saints, was in Church End, which was not the largest end but was fairly central to the parish. In the 19th century East End, Bell End and Up End began to coalesce into a larger settlement. In 1870 developers began to attempt to develop land on the road f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elstow
Elstow is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, about south of Bedford town centre. History The Countess Judith of Lens, niece of William the Conqueror, founded a Benedictine nunnery in Elstow in the year 1078. The Moot Hall, Elstow, Moot Hall, is an important example of Timber framing, timber frame construction, was built 1440-50 and extended sometime before1539. From about 1810, it was used as a day school and a night school, until the Education Act 1872 lead to the building of a school in Elstow's High Street. From 1810 to 1910, Moot Hall was used as a chapel and Sunday school for the Elstow congregation of the Bunyan Meeting church. It is now a registered Ancient Monument and is used as a museum of 17th century life and as a small music events venue. In 1538, Elstow Abbey was valued as being the eighth richest nunnery in England. On 26 August 1539, the Abbess surrendered the Abbey, the manor of Elstow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wixams
Wixams is a new town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England, which has been under construction since early 2007. It is expected to become the third largest settlement in the Borough of Bedford after Bedford itself and Kempston, and one of the largest new settlements founded in England since the British new towns movement of the first twenty five years after World War II. Part of the site is in Central Bedfordshire. At the 2011 Census the population of the new town was included in the civil parish of Wilstead. History The 750 acre (3 km²) brownfield site for the Wixams development is located just to the south of Bedford, and was formerly known as the Elstow Storage Depot; and in World War II, as ROF Elstow. The provisional name of the development during the early planning stages was Elstow Garden Villages. Elstow is a nearby village famous for its association with John Bunyan. The name 'Wixams' derives from Wixamtree, an ancient hundred near to where the n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cotton End
Cotton End is a small village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It became a parish as of 1 April 2019, having previously been part of the parish of Eastcotts. It is within the Borough of Bedford. Ordnance Survey maps from the 1880s show its name as 'Cardington Cotton End'. The village is set along the A600, Bedford - Hitchin road, south-east of Bedford town centre. Cotton End Forest School is a primary school established in 2019 catering for children from age 2 to 11, with an outdoor approach to education. It was designed by Nottingham-based Lungfish Architects and built by Wilmott Dixon largely of timber and has a capacity of 630. It replaced Cotton End Lower School, which was in school buildings dating back to 1875. A Baptist meeting house was founded here in 1777. It was replaced by the current chapel, which was formerly opened on 12 April 1837. A census return carried out in 1851 reported the chapel had three galleries and 76 pews allowing up to 600 worshippe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cardington, Bedfordshire
Cardington is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. Part of the ancient hundred of Wixamtree, the settlement is best known in connection with the Cardington airship works founded by Short Brothers during World War I, which later became an RAF training station. However most of the former RAF station is actually in the parish of Eastcotts, as is the settlement of Shortstown, which was originally built by Short Brothers for its workers. The village of Cardington is located to the north east of Shortstown and the RAF station, and houses most of the population of the parish, which was 270 in 2005, making it one of the least populated parishes in Bedfordshire. Sites of interest The Church of St Mary the Virgin has pieces dating from the 12th century, although the church itself was mostly rebuilt between 1898 and 1902. It is a Grade II listed building. Airships, barrage balloons and RAF Cardington Cardington became one of the major Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fenlake
Kingsbrook is an electoral ward and area within the town of Bedford, England. The boundaries of Kingsbrook are approximately the River Great Ouse and Priory Country Park to the north, Cambridge Road and the A421 to the south and east, with Redwood Grove and Willow Road to the west. The Fenlake and Silver Jubilee neighbourhoods are both part of the Kingsbrook ward, as is the Priory Business Park and the Cambridge Road Industrial Estate. Kingsbrook is the largest ward (in terms of population) in Bedford. History There is evidence of a late Neolithic or early Bronze Age settlement and ritual site, located next to the Bunyan Centre in Kingsbrook. Excavations in 1995 uncovered three skeletons and a complete Beaker pot. There was some settlement in the northern part of Kingsbrook (by the river) in the 19th century. However the area was not properly developed until the 20th century, with the construction of the Silver Jubilee neighbourhood in the 1930s, which was named after the S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossing), ford on the River Great Ouse and is thought to have been the burial place of King Offa of Mercia, who is remembered for building Offa's Dyke on the Welsh border. Bedford Castle was built by Henry I of England, Henry I, although it was destroyed in 1224. Bedford was granted borough status in 1166 and has been represented in Parliament since 1265. It is known for its large Italians in the United Kingdom, population of Italian descent. History The name of the town is believed to derive from the name of a Saxon chief called Beda, and a Ford (crossing), ford crossing the River Great Ouse. Bedford was a market town for the surrounding agricultural region from the early Middle Ages. The Anglo-Saxon King Offa of Mercia was buried in the town ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in English, while those of other religions are not, even though they fulfill very similar functions. The religions for which the terms are used include the great majority of ancient religions that are now extinct, such as the Ancient Egyptian religion and the Ancient Greek religion. Among religions still active: Hinduism (whose temples are called Mandir or Kovil), Buddhism (whose temples are called Vihar), Sikhism (whose temples are called gurudwara), Jainism (whose temples are sometimes called derasar), Zoroastrianism (whose temples are sometimes called Agiary), the Baháʼí Faith (which are often simply referred to as Baháʼí House of Worship), Taoism (which are sometimes called Daoguan), Shinto (which are often called Jinja), C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old English Language
Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th century, and the first Old English literature dates from the mid-7th century. After the Norman Conquest of 1066, English was replaced for several centuries by Anglo-Norman (a type of French) as the language of the upper classes. This is regarded as marking the end of the Old English era, since during the subsequent period the English language was heavily influenced by Anglo-Norman, developing into what is now known as Middle English in England and Early Scots in Scotland. Old English developed from a set of Anglo-Frisian or Ingvaeonic dialects originally spoken by Germanic tribes traditionally known as the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. As the Germanic settlers became dominant in England, their language re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slough Of Despond
Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the population of the town was 143,184. The wider Borough of Slough had a population of 158,500. Slough's population is one of the most ethnically diverse in the United Kingdom, attracting people from across the country and the world for labour since the 1920s, which has helped shape it into a major trading centre. In 2017, unemployment stood at 1.4%, one-third the UK average of 4.5%. Slough has the highest concentration of UK HQs of global companies outside London. Slough Trading Estate is the largest industrial estate in single private ownership in Europe, with over 17,000 jobs in 400 businesses. Blackberry, McAfee, Burger King, DHL, Telefonica and Lego have head offices in the town. History The name was first recorded in 1195 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
