Everton is a small rural village of about 200 dwellings (including outlying) 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 authority ...

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

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 ...

, England about 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 ...

Geography

Everton is north-east of Sandy, west of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a 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. Cambridge bec ...

and north of

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

. Parish area and boundaries The civil parish covers an area of and is boot-shaped. The White Way, a former Roman road forms part of the parish's north-western boundary. The north and north-eastern boundary is with

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

. 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 categorised the landscape into National Character Areas. The village and higher land of the parish lie within the Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge. The western lower lying area is part of the Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Claylands. Central Bedfordshire Council further divides the landscape into more local areas. The west of the parish forms part of the predominantly flat, Biggin Wood Clay Vale. Mixed roadside hedgerows are a feature with grass verges and roadside trees of ash, field maple and oak. The occasional solitary farm dots the landscape. The surrounding area is mostly arable farmland. The village and higher ground are part of the Everton Heath Greensand Ridge, which has a fairly steep northwest facing slope backed by an area of undulating land forming the ridge top. Woodbury Park just to the north of the village is grassland and woodland. White Wood is an ancient woodland of about . Most of the trees are pine but the lime trees are about 200 years old and some of the oaks date back 300 years. Elevation The village centre at above sea level overlooks lower lying land to the west that falls to . Tempsford Road has a 14% gradient. The highest point is at White Wood to the northeast of the village. Geology and soil type The village itself lies on

Lower Greensand The Lower Greensand Group is a geological unit present across large areas of Southern England. It was deposited during the Aptian and Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous. It predominantly consists of sandstone and unconsolidated sand that were ...

whilst the western area of the parish is on

Oxford Clay The Oxford Clay (or Oxford Clay Formation) is a Jurassic marine sedimentary rock formation underlying much of southeast England, from as far west as Dorset and as far north as Yorkshire. The Oxford Clay Formation dates to the Jurassic, specifical ...

overlying Kellaways beds. The two areas are separated by a narrow band of

Corallian limestone The Corallian Group or Corallian Limestone is a geologic group in England. It is predominantly a coralliferous sedimentary rock, laid down in the Oxfordian stage of the Jurassic. It is a hard variety of "coral rag". Building stones from this geol ...

. Around the village the soil is freely draining, slightly acid and sandy with low fertility. The western lower lying area has highly fertile, lime-rich

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

y and clayey soils with impeded drainage. The night sky and light pollution

Light pollution Light pollution is the presence of unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive use of artificial Visible spectrum, lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term ''light pollution'' refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting, during the day ...

is the level of radiance (night lights) shining up into the night sky. The

Campaign to Protect Rural England CPRE, The Countryside Charity, formerly known by names such as the ''Council for the Preservation of Rural England'' and the ''Council for the Protection of Rural England'', is a charity in England with over 40,000 members and supporters. Forme ...

(CPRE) divides the level of night sky brightness into 9 bands with band 1 being the darkest i.e. with the lowest level of light pollution and band 9 the brightest and most polluted. Everton is in band 4. The built environment Thatched cottage, Everton, Bedfordshire

The earliest houses are thatched cottages dating from the 18th century. Most houses are 20th century including some council built houses along Potton and Sandy Roads. The

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...

railway passes through the western part of the parish. Public footpaths A public footpath runs west then north to

Tempsford Tempsford is a village and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England, about east north-east of the county town of Bedford. The village is split by the A1 Great North Road and is located just befo ...

Station Road. A stretch of the

Greensand Ridge Walk The Greensand Ridge Walk is a long-distance walk of that traverses the county of Bedfordshire in England, with brief sections in the neighbouring counties of Cambridgeshire and Buckinghamshire. Its southern endpoint is at Leighton Buzzard and ...

runs right through the village; north-east to its start/finish near

Tetworth Tetworth is a village in Cambridgeshire, England. Tetworth lies approximately south of Huntingdon, near Waresley south of St Neots. Tetworth is in the civil parish of Waresley-cum-Tetworth. Tetworth is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a ...

and south-west to Sandy and beyond.

History

The name Everton comes from

Old English 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 settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

and means ''farmstead where wild boars are seen''. St Mary's Church is substantially 12th century although the tower, nave

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

and south porch are 15th century. It is built of coursed ironstone and cobblestones with ashlar dressings. In 1974, the tower was damaged by lightning and reduced to two stages from three. Corner pinnacles topped with weather vanes were added. Everton was

enclosed Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

by Act of Parliament in 1802. The village is close to the

WWII 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 ...

airfield

RAF Tempsford RAF Tempsford is a former Royal Air Force station located north east of Sandy, Bedfordshire, England and south of St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, England. As part of the Royal Air Force Special Duty Service, the airfield was perhaps the most ...

Governance

Everton Parish Council has seven elected members and meets bi-monthly at the village hall. Everton is part of Potton ward for elections to the

Unitary Authority. Prior to 1894, Everton 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 ...

Community

Everton no longer has a shop (it having closed c. 1995) but is home to a pub, local church, and a primary school. There is a large recreation ground which contains both full-sized and five-a-side football pitches, a basketball net, and a fenced-in children's play area. Licensing records for the Thornton Arms public house go back to 1822.

Public services

Everton 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 Water privatisation in England and Wales, privatisation of the water industry. It provides water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment ...

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 petro ...

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 ...

. 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.

Cadent Gas Cadent Gas is a British regional gas distribution company that owns, operates and maintains the largest natural gas distribution network in the United Kingdom, transporting gas to 11 million homes and businesses across North West England, West ...

owns and operates the area's gas distribution network. 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. There nearest public library is Potton.

Public transport

Centrebus (South) runs bus route no. 190 south to

Gamlingay Gamlingay is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England about west southwest of the county town of Cambridge. The 2011 census gives the village's population as 3,247 and the civil parish's as 3,5 ...

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 ...

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 es ...

and

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce peopl ...

(journey time 1 hour 18 minutes) and west to Sandy. The service is normally two hourly, daytime only, Monday to Saturday. The Ivel Sprinter buses run a weekly service to

St Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

(Thursdays) and

(Wednesdays). The nearest railway station is Sandy.

Woodbury Park

To the north of Everton, off Everton Road, is Woodbury Park, originally part of the

parish but now part of Bedfordshire. The grounds of Woodbury Hall were laid out by Nathaniel Richmond in the 1760s for the landowner, the

Earl of Macclesfield Earl of Macclesfield is a title that has been created twice. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1679 in favour of the soldier and politician Charles Gerard, 1st Baron Gerard. He had already been created Baron Gerard, of Bran ...

who had married Woodbury heiress Mary Lane. From the 1860s, it was owned by the Astell family of Everton House. Woodbury Hall is now owned by the Countess of Erroll. an Astell heiress. In World War II the house was requisitioned for military use.

References

External links

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