Sewell is 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 ...

located 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. Sewell is a small rural settlement, though it is located near to the town of

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the ...

(and therefore the wider Luton/Dunstable/Houghton Regis Urban Area). The settlement forms part of the

Houghton Regis Houghton Regis is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, East of England. The parish is located in Central Bedfordshire, which includes the hamlets of Bidwell, Bedfordshire, Bidwell, Thorn, Bedfordshire, Th ...

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 ...

. It is north of

Dunstable Downs Dunstable Downs are part of the Chiltern Hills, in southern Bedfordshire in England, located near (and named after) the town of Dunstable. They are a chalk escarpment forming the north-eastern reaches of the Chilterns. At , Dunstable Downs are ...

at the northern edge of the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England. The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire. ...

. The hamlet is beside

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

's disused

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industri ...

that linked Dunstable with the main line at Leighton Buzzard. This is now a

cycle route Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except wher ...

and consists of

Sewell Cutting Sewell Cutting is a nature reserve at Sewell, Bedfordshire, Sewell in Houghton Regis in Bedfordshire. It is owned by Central Bedfordshire Council and managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. The site w ...

which heads towards Dunstable and a long embankment in the direction of Stanbridge. One hundred and fifty metres south of the former railway track are Maiden Bower, an

Iron Age hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

and

Totternhoe Chalk Quarry Totternhoe Chalk Quarry is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Totternhoe in Bedfordshire. Part of it lies in Totternhoe nature reserve, which is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire ...

. Sewell hosts a collection of listed homes and barns but one of the most prominent properties in the hamlet is Sewell Manor. This grade II list manor house dates back to around the 13th century and is full of character and history. It was purchased by Henry Brandreth 1652 from the Civil War Sequestrators. In recent years it has fallen into disrepair but has now recently been purchased by the Roche family to become their main residence and restoration work has begun to restore this manor back to former glory. Maiden Bower used to consist of a roughly circular bank topped with wooden posts. It had a diameter averaging around 225 metres. It now has a 3 metre high hedged bank, 100 metres of which has been undermined by the cliffs of the adjacent quarry. The enclosure contains the buried remains of a small Roman building. Previous excavation of the ditches has discovered ancient human remains. An early Bronze Age hoard was found in Sewell in 1968 and consists of a beaker,

wrist-guard A wrist-guard is a device to protect the wrist. Wrist-guards are sold in skateboard, snowboard and sporting goods stores. They are worn also by people using a balance board. Purpose The purpose of a wrist guard is to prevent the wearer from ...

, toggle and pin, all now in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

's collection.British Museum collection
/ref>

References

Hamlets in Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire District {{Bedfordshire-geo-stub