Kingsbrook is an

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

and area within the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The boundaries of Kingsbrook are approximately the

River Great Ouse The River Great Ouse () is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the Wa ...

and Priory

Country Park A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment. United Kingdom History In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a special meaning. There are around 250 recognised coun ...

to the north,

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 ...

Road and the

A421 The A421 is an important road for east/west journeys across south central England. Together with the A428 road, A428, the A43 road, A43 and A34 road (England), A34, it forms the route from Cambridge through Milton Keynes to Oxford. The sectio ...

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 The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

or early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

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 Silver Jubilee of

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

in 1935. The final part of southern Kingsbrook was settled by the 1970s, and named Fenlake.

Governance

Kingsbrook is an

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparish ...

of Bedford, with all community services under the direct control of

Bedford Borough Council Bedford Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. The executive of the council is the direct ...

. Kingsbrook elects two councillors to Bedford Borough Council, currently, after the 2015 election, one is

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

and the other

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

Economy

There are many local shops and services located on London Road, including a

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

, petrol station,

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who ...

and a

Mecca Bingo Mecca Bingo (formerly called Top Rank) is a British operator of bingo clubs, with 76 locations throughout the country. Mecca Bingo is owned by the Rank Group, which operates bingos, casinos and online gambling in Belgium, Spain and Britain. The Ra ...

hall. There is a large

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

superstore sited on Cardington Road, as well as the Barns Hotel. There are two large business parks in Kingsbrook. The first is the Cambridge Road Industrial Estate which houses many companies including

Fujifilm , trading as Fujifilm, or simply Fuji, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the realms of photography, optics, office and medical electronics, biotechnology, and chemicals. The offerings from th ...

. The second is Priory Business Park on Cardington Road, which houses many other firms including the head offices of

Autoglass Belron is a vehicle glass repair and replacement group operating worldwide across 34 countries and employing over 25,000 people. Headquartered in Egham, Surrey, United Kingdom, Belron's brands include Autoglass and Autoglass bodyrepair in the Uni ...

and the National Hairdressers' Federation.

Education

There is one

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

in Kingsbrook - King’s Oak Primary School located on Canvin Way and Oak Road. King’s Oak Primary School was formed in September 2014 from an amalgamation of Stephenson Lower School (Canvin Way) and Harrowden Middle School (Oak Road). The main

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

in Kingsbrook is

Bedford Academy Bedford Academy (formerly John Bunyan Upper School) is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in the Kingsbrook area of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. The school mainly attracts pupils from the Kingsbrook, Cauldwell and Newnham ar ...

sited on Mile Road.

Religious sites

* Christ the King

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Church, located on Harrowden Road * St Michael's and All Angels Church (

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

), located on Barford Avenue * The Bedford

Nirankari Nirankari ( pa, ਨਿਰੰਕਾਰੀ, ''lit.'' "formless one") is a sect of Sikhism.Harbans Singh, Editor-in-Chief (201Nirankaris Encyclopedia of Sikhism Volume III, Punjabi University, Patiala, pages 234–235 It was a reform movement found ...

Satsung Bhawan

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

Temple, located on Cardington Road * There is a

Kingdom Hall A Kingdom Hall is a place of worship used by Jehovah's Witnesses. The term was first suggested in 1935 by Joseph Franklin Rutherford, then president of the Watch Tower Society, for a building in Hawaii. Rutherford's reasoning was that these bu ...

for

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

on Goodmayes Close * Christ United Pentecostal Church holds meetings at the Jubilation Centre situated on Moulton Avenue * The

Redeemed Christian Church of God The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) is a Pentecostal megachurch and denomination founded in Lagos, Nigeria. The General overseer (most senior pastor) is Enoch Adeboye, ordained in 1981. The church in Lagos had an average church attendanc ...

also holds meetings at the Jubilation Centre situated on Moulton Avenue JubilationCentreBedford

Community facilities

Kingsbrook's open spaces include Jubilee Park on Canvin Way, and Fenlake Meadows on Cardington Road. There are two

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

s in the area - The first is Scott Hall Community Centre located on Barford Avenue, and the second is the Jubilation Centre situated on Moulton Avenue. The Oasis Beach Pool (a public

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

) is situated on Cardington Road. The Bunyan Centre is a

leisure centre A leisure centre in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia (also called aquatic centres), Singapore and Canada is a purpose-built building or site, usually owned and operated by the city, borough council or municipal district council, where people ...

situated on Mile Road. The centre acts as a main sports venue for the whole of south Bedford.

References

External links

Kingsbrook and Cauldwell Urban Community Council

{{Areas of Bedford Areas of Bedford