Billington is a
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...
about south of
Leighton Buzzard
Leighton Buzzard ( ) is a market town in Bedfordshire, England, in the southwest of the county and close to the Buckinghamshire border. It lies between Aylesbury, Tring, Luton/Dunstable and Milton Keynes, near the Chiltern Hills. It is northwes ...
and not far from the Buckinghamshire border. There are two settlements: Little Billington (a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
in the west of the parish) and one that is now called Great Billington (straddling the
A4146).
At the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 632, although by the 2011 Census the population had fallen to 291.
[ The name of the parish is recorded in 1196 as ''Billendon'', and may come from ]Anglo-Saxon language
Old English (, ), 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 was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th cen ...
''Billan dūn'' = "hill of a man named Billa". Another theorized original meaning is "hill with a sharp ridge".
The spelling ''Billyngdon'' appears in a legal record, dated 1440, where Hugh and Thomas Billyngdon of Billyngdon, Beds, gentlemen, are mentioned.
The village is known for its high density of Travellers, who outnumber the settled community. This community live in privately owned, but permitted, sites in the village, three in Little Billington and one between Billington and the nearby village of Stanbridge.
The centre of Great Billington is Billington Hill, on top of which is the small parish church. The church was originally a small mediaeval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
chapel
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
; however, in the late 1860s it was enlarged to a church, and a rectory built next to it to house the first incumbent. This was when Billington was first recorded as a parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
in its own right. The bell turret
Turret may refer to:
* Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building
* Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon
* Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope
* Mi ...
of the church (it has no tower) came to the church secondhand, from the church at nearby Linslade
Linslade is a town in the Central Bedfordshire unitary authority area of Bedfordshire, England. It borders the town of Leighton Buzzard, with which it forms the civil parish of Leighton-Linslade (where the 2011 Census population was included). ...
, which was being enlarged at the time. The interior of the church is very simple; a small stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
window in the west wall commemorates Edward Bradshaw, the first rector.
The village once had a common
Common may refer to:
Places
* Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
* Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts
* Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts
* Clapham Common, originally com ...
, where the peasants
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...
cultivated their own strips of land; the name 'common' still survives as a field name. It was enclosed at the time of the enclosures, and is today part of a local farm. It is traversed by two public footpaths.
The village contains some half-timbered thatch
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
ed cottages, in the area around the summit of the hill, and also some old farmhouses and cottages. One of the thatched cottages on top of the hill has the dubious honour of having featured on countless chocolate boxes and biscuit tins. One of the more attractive houses in the village is Walkers Farm, a brick and timber house dating from the 16th century. Its once-thatched roof is now tiled.
During the late 1870s and early 1880 large areas of the village were bought by Arthur Macnamara
Arthur Macnamara (1831 – 11 February 1906), was a squire of Billington near Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, England. He is known for building in and improving the village of Billington.
Early life
Macnamara was born in Grosvenor Street i ...
who built at this time the manor house, and transformed the village into a typical Victorian estate village. The village school, halfway up the hill, was built at this time. It closed in the 1950s.
In the early 20th century a point-to-point course was built on the estate, people came from all over England to attend the race meeting held there. Edward VIII
Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...
when Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
was a frequent competitor at the races. The races discontinued after World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Use of the name Great Billington
Mapmakers, from Thomas Jefferys
Thomas Jefferys (c. 1719 – 1771), "Geographer to King George III", was an English cartographer who was the leading map supplier of his day.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004. He engraved and printed maps for government and other offi ...
in 1765 to the Ordnance Survey
, nativename_a =
, nativename_r =
, logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg
, logo_width = 240px
, logo_caption =
, seal =
, seal_width =
, seal_caption =
, picture =
, picture_width =
, picture_caption =
, formed =
, preceding1 =
, di ...
in 2006, have consistently written the word "Billington" next to the settlement by the church and the words "Little Billington" next to the hamlet of that name.
In the 1990s, there was a campaign by villagers to use the name "Great Billington", with a claim that it was always used historically. This is not the case in most books on local history
Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context, often concentrating on a relatively small local community. It incorporates cultural and social aspects of history. Local history is not merely national history writ small bu ...
and place-names
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
, but there are examples of earlier use in a will dated 1543, Kelly's Directory
Kelly's Directory (or more formally, the Kelly's, Post Office and Harrod & Co Directory) was a trade directory in England that listed all businesses and tradespeople in a particular city or town, as well as a general directory of postal addresses o ...
("comprising Great and Little Billington"), the Victoria County History
The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...
("hamlets of Great and Little Billington"), and the Royal Mail
, kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga
, logo = Royal Mail.svg
, logo_size = 250px
, type = Public limited company
, traded_as =
, foundation =
, founder = Henry VIII
, location = London, England, UK
, key_people = * Keith Williams ...
Postcode
A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal a ...
Directory (either "Great" or "Little" in the official postal addresses). As a result of the campaign, the county council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.
Ireland
The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...
unveiled a new "Great Billington" village sign
In many parts of England, an ornamental village sign is erected to announce the village name to those entering the village. They are typically placed on the principal road entrance or in a prominent location such as a village green. The design ...
on 20 June 1997, and some of the road signs
Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones. Later, signs with directional arms were introduce ...
at entrances to the settlement now use the name.
On 1 September 1998 the parish was renamed from "Billington" to "Great Billington".
"Great Billington" has been used as the name of the whole civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
, but the parish council now uses the name "Billington" again. The ecclesiastical parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish priest ...
is called "Billington". On 1 April 2019 the parish was renamed from "Great Billington" back to "Billington".
2012 slavery case
On 11 July 2012, four members from one family were convicted of keeping workers in a state of servitude and forcing them to perform unpaid work. The family, who lived on one of the three travellers' sites in Little Billington, were found to have controlled, exploited, verbally abused and beaten the men for financial gain. The case was the first successful conviction under new slavery laws, following their introduction in 2010. The men, many of them homeless and addicted to alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
or other drug
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...
s, were recruited outside jobcentres or at soup kitchens, and were promised paid work, food and lodgings. On arrival at the site, their heads were shaved, and they were forced to work up to 19 hours a day in the family's paving business. They were routinely abused, underfed, and housed in littered, cramped sheds or horseboxes that were unfit for human habitation, with no heating or running water. One victim was paid just £80 during the 15 years he was with the family. Victims who had managed to escape informed police. In September 2011 armed police raided the site with sniffer dogs and helicopter support, removing 23 men. Although some of the released men subsequently returned to the site, eight testified against the family in court. Two of the accused, a husband and wife, were jailed for 11 years and 4 years respectively.
References
External links
Billington pages
at the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service
The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service is a county record office, holding archival material associated with Bedfordshire and Luton. Established in 1913 by George Herbert Fowler (1861-1940) as the Bedfordshire Record Office, it wa ...
History of Billington
{{authority control
Villages in Bedfordshire
Civil parishes in Bedfordshire
Central Bedfordshire District