Stanford is a hamlet in the

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 ...

of Southill, 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 ceremonial 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 wa ...

, England. It is about 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 ...

. In 1870–72 it had a population of 385.

Geography

Stanford lies north-east of Shefford, south-west 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 es ...

and south-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 ...

. Landscape The village lies within the Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Claylands (NCA 88) as designated by

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, ...

. Central Bedfordshire Council has locally classified the landscape as Upper Ivel Clay Valley. Flat, open arable fields predominate. Elevation The village is above sea level. Geology, soil type and land use The village is surrounded by arable farmland and lies on glacial gravel (

till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

) over

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 ...

. The soil is highly fertile, freely draining and slightly acid but base-rich. Stanford Wood, a pine wood with a small lake is to the east of the hamlet between Stanford Road and the B658. A gravel pit is shown here on the Ordnance Survey map of 1900. A playing field in the middle of the village includes a playground area, basketball court and football pitch. Broom South sand and gravel quarry lies to the north-east. 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. Stanford has an index of 0.5–1 nanoWatts (nW) which places it in band 3. However, the night sky brightens towards Langford, Clifton and Shefford.

History

Stanford means "stone ford". The Domesday Book records eight land holdings in Stanford in 1086 and lists thirteen villagers, three smallholders and four slaves. A water mill at the end of Mill Road was fed by a mill race from the Ivel Navigation but by 1916 it was no longer in operation. A small school was opened in 1899 but a falling role led to its closure in 1921 and pupils transferred to Broom. The building on the junction of Old School Lane and the B658 road is now a residential dwelling . Stanford at one time had three public houses. Only the Green Man remains.

Governance

Stanford elects three councillors to Southill parish council. It is part of ''Northill'' ward for elections to the

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

Wixamtree Wixamtree is an ancient hundred located in Bedfordshire, England. Wixamtree was one of the hundreds of Bedfordshire, with its council being the primary form of local government in its area from the Anglo-Saxon times to the nineteenth century. P ...

. From 1894 until 1974 it 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 ...

. Stanford is in the Mid Bedfordshire parliamentary constituency and the elected member is

Nadine Dorries Nadine Vanessa Dorries (''née'' Bargery, 21 May 1957) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 2021 to 2022 under Prime Minister Boris Johnson. A member of the Conservative Party, she ...

of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Public transport

Grant Palmer operates route 200 a two-hourly Monday to Saturday daytime bus service to Biggleswade (journey time 9 to 15 minutes) and to

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

, Shefford and

Flitwick Flitwick () is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "a hamlet on the River Flitt". The spelling ''Flytwyk'' appears in 1381. The nearby River Flit runs through Flitwick Moor, a nature ...

(50 minutes). There is a weekly, Wednesday only service to Bedford by community bus operator, Wanderbus (journey time 26 minutes). Wanderbus also runs monthly services 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 ...

and

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...

. The nearest railway station is

References

External links

Southill Parish Council
{{Places in Bedfordshire Hamlets in Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire District