Dunton is a village and

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 authorit ...

in the

Central Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It was created in 2009. Formation Central Bedfordshire was created on 1 April 2009 as part of a structural reform of local government in Bedfor ...

district of the county of

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 ...

, England; about east south-east of the county town of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

. The civil parish includes the

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

of Newton and Millow.

Geography

Dunton lies about east of

Biggleswade Biggleswade ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the River Ivel, 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Bedford. Its population was 16,551 in the 2011 United Kingdom census, and its e ...

and south-west of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

. The eastern parish boundary borders Hertfordshire at the River Rhee. Landscape

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

has designated the area as part of The Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Claylands (NCA 88). Central Bedfordshire Council has classified the landscape as Dunton Clay Vale (5G). The majority of the parish is open, arable farmland with medium to large fields. Dunton lies on a ridge of land that forms part of the watershed between the River Ivel to the west and the Rhee to the east. Tributary streams and drainage channels run through the area. Field boundaries are largely short flailed, gappy hedges. The limited woodland creates a very open landscape. Occasional mature hedgerow trees and roadside oaks on grass verges are a feature. Elevation The village centre is above sea level. The land is gently undulating and falls away to in the north, west and south of the parish. Geology and soil type The centre and west of the parish lie on

boulder clay Boulder clay is an unsorted agglomeration of clastic sediment that is unstratified and structureless and contains gravel of various sizes, shapes, and compositions distributed at random in a fine-grained matrix. The fine-grained matrix consists o ...

; with

gault The Gault Formation is a geological formation of stiff blue clay deposited in a calm, fairly deep-water marine environment during the Lower Cretaceous Period (Upper and Middle Albian). It is well exposed in the coastal cliffs at Copt Point in ...

to the east. The whole parish has lime-rich loamy and clayey soils with slightly impeded drainage. Fertility is high.

Governance

Dunton Parish Council has seven elected members and meets bi-monthly at the Village Hall. Dunton is part of Potton ward for elections to the

Unitary Authority. Prior to 1894, Dunton was administered as part of the

Hundred of Biggleswade Biggleswade was a historic 'hundred' of English county of Bedfordshire. The hundred consisted of the town of Biggleswade and its surrounding area. The name Biggleswade comes from a concatenation of the Anglo Saxon words 'Biceil' (being a persona ...

. From 1894 until 1974 the village was in

Biggleswade Rural District Biggleswade was a rural district in Bedfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. As initially created the district entirely surrounded but did not include Biggleswade, which was an urban district in its own right. In 1927 the parish of Sandy, whi ...

and from 1974 to 2009 in

Mid Bedfordshire District Mid Bedfordshire was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district in Bedfordshire, England. Creation The district was formed on 1 April 1974 as part of a general reorganisation of local authorities in England and Wales carried out under the ...

History

Millom appears as ''Meluho'' or ''Melnho'', in 1396 and Dunton appears as ''Duntone''. Dunton probably means ''Duna's Farm''. In 1797, the Dunton Enclosure Act was passed. The March Hare public house, formerly The Wheatsheaf, opened in 1840. Dunton_Snow_181209

Parish church

Central to the village is the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in the

diocese of St Albans The Diocese of St Albans forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England and is part of the wider Church of England, in turn part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese is home to more than 1.6 million people and comprises the hi ...

. The earliest parts date from the 14th-century and consist of a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

of four bays, aisles and porch. The church steeple collapsed in 1660. The tall limestone ashlar embattled western tower dates from 1861 and is illuminated at night. The church's five bells were hung in 1887 in commemoration of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The south

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

was partially rebuilt and the chancel restored in 1861. The church is a focal point for the local community. The Dunton Folk Club host

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

concerts and traditional sessions in the church.

Public services

Dunton is in the Potton Public Water Supply Zone (RW50). The water supplied by

Anglian Water Anglian Water is a water company that operates in the East of England. It was formed in 1989 under the partial privatisation of the water industry. It provides water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment to the area formerly the responsibilit ...

comes from groundwater

borehole A borehole is a narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water ( drilled water well and tube well), other liquids (such as petrol ...

s and is chloraminated and classed as

hard Hard may refer to: * Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture * Hard water, water with high mineral content Arts and entertainment * ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV series * Hard (band), a Hungarian hard rock supe ...

. There is a water treatment works on the Cambridge Road. The Eastern Power Area of

UK Power Networks UK Power Networks is a distribution network operator for electricity covering South East England, the East of England and London. It manages three licensed distribution networks (Eastern Power Networks, South Eastern Power Networks and London Pow ...

is the

distribution network operator A distribution network operator (DNO), also known as a distribution system operator (DSO), is the operator of the electric power distribution system which delivers electricity to most end users. Each country may have many local distribution networ ...

for electricity. There is no natural gas supply. The two nearest general hospitals are

(Bedford Hospital NHS Trust) and

Lister Hospital, Stevenage The Lister Hospital is an NHS hospital based on the outskirts of Stevenage in Hertfordshire. It is operated by the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust along with the New QEII Hospital in Welwyn Garden City. History Prior to 1972 there was ...

(East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust). Ambulance services are provided by the

East of England Ambulance Service The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) is an NHS trust responsible for providing National Health Service (NHS) ambulance services in the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, in the ...

NHS Trust. Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and Bedfordshire Police cover the parish. The nearest public library is at Biggleswade.

Schools and public facilities

The village has a small

Voluntary Controlled A voluntary controlled school (VC school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a Christian denomination) has some formal influence in the running of the school. Such schools have less autonomy than ...

Lower School which teaches children up the age of 9. Dunton Village Pre-School was dissolved at the end of 2017, however the Boomerang Before and Afterschool clubs still run from the school. There is discussion of Dunton Village Pre-School being restarted under an academy scheme however this is unconfirmed. The Memorial Hall built in 1925 is available to hire.

Culture and community

The March Hare

freehouse A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

is the last of 5

pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

that once existed in the village. For a few years, the pub stood derelict and boarded up, but was restored and reopened in 2010. It now serves local ale and Dunton's own craft cider. In 2013, it was awarded the East Bedfordshire

CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is ...

branch pub of the year. A community shop is alongside. Opposite the March Hare is the former Post Office, which closed in 2006. Since January 2012 the annual Dunton

Wassail Wassail (, , most likely from Old Norse ''"ves heill"'') is a beverage made from hot mulled cider, ale, or wine and spices, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, an ancient English Yuletide drinking ritual and salutation ei ...

has taken place at Church Farm: a tradition where noise is made to waken the apple trees from their winter slumber and cider soaked toast is hung on the trees. There is

Morris dancing Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may ...

and mulled cider, and the evening ends with live folk music and acoustics at the March Hare. ''Dunton’s Big Weekender'' is the name for a programme of events over 3 or 4 days which include the village's annual summer fete, a car treasure hunt, race night, charity quiz and games evening. There is a one-and-a-half acre community garden at Church Farm.

Public transport

The 188 Centrebus service to Hitchin via Biggleswade, and to Sandy via

Wrestlingworth Wrestlingworth is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wrestlingworth and Cockayne Hatley, in the Central Bedfordshire district of the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England about east of the county town of Bedford. Wrestl ...

and

Potton Potton is a town and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England, about east of the county town Bedford. Its population in 2011 was 4,870. In 1783 the Great Fire of Potton destroyed a large part of the town. The ...

runs two hourly Monday to Saturday. There is no service on Sunday and bank holidays. The nearest railway station is

Sport

There is a playing field and sports pavilion maintained by the Dunton Recreation Association charity. Dunton Football club was formed in the early 1900s. The club joined the Biggleswade & District League in 1919 and the Bedford & District League for the 1952–53 season. In the 1968–68 season they were Bedford & District Jubilee Cup winners. 1973–74 saw the club win the Bedford & District Aubrey Tingey Memorial Cup. In 1974–75 they were Bedford & District League Division 2 champions and in 1974–75, 1975–76 and 2002–03 S.A. Butcher Cup winners. Perhaps their greatest achievement was becoming 1993–94 Bedford & District Premier League champions. The club folded at the end of the 2004–05 season but reformed for the 2007–2008 season. They played in the Bedfordshire Football League Division 1 and then the Premier Division until 2011–12 when the club finished 2nd from bottom and disappeared.

References

External links

Bedfordshire Virtual Library

Dunton Village Community Site

Dunton Garden

Dunton Cider

Dunton Folk
{{authority control Villages in Bedfordshire Civil parishes in Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire District