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 ...
, England. It is located beside junction 13 of the M1 motorway, and close to
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
and Woburn Abbey. The 2001 census states the total population to be 418,Bedfordshire County Council archives reducing to 411 at the 2011 Census.
The parish is first mentioned in the
Domesday book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086, by its original name of Segenhoe, which was approximately 500 yards (metres) south east from where the village now lies. In 1227 the name Rugemund was first recorded, taken from the French 'rouge mont' which means red hill.
The modern village lies on top of a greensand ridge at approximately above sea level. The surrounding valley has underlying '
Upper Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987.
In European lithostratigraphy, the name ...
Oxford Clay' which is suitable for making bricks. In 1935 the
Ridgmont Brickworks
Ridgmont is a small village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is located beside junction 13 of the M1 motorway, and close to Milton Keynes and Woburn Abbey. The 2001 census states the total population to be 418,Fletton Brick Company. By 1979, as part of the London Brick Company, the works had 25 chimneys and was said to be the second-largest brickworks in the world.
The large
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
warehouse now occupies the site of the former brickworks, which is situated beside the
Ridgmont railway station
Ridgmont railway station is a small unstaffed railway station that serves the village of Ridgmont in Bedfordshire. The station is about away from Ridgmont on the other side of the M1 Motorway, (beside Junction 13), Brogborough and Husborne Cra ...
.
November 2006 saw work start on the Ridgmont Bypass, and the £15.5 million project was finished in June 2008. The A507 Ridgmont relief road is designed to carry 80 per cent of heavy traffic away from the neighbouring villages.Bedford Today /ref>