Stopsley is a suburb in the north-east of

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

, in the

district, in 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. The area is roughly bounded by the edge of Luton to the north, Vauxhall Way and Turners Road North to the south, Bradgers Hill to the west, and Cannon Lane, Stapleford Road and Brays Road to the east.

Etymology

Frederick Davis, writing in 1965 believed the name of Stospley to come from Scrobbale, (in Saxon;) Scrapes or Scroppeslie, (in Norman;) Shrubsley, (in English.;) meaning a hill covered with scrobbes (shrubs or underwood.) Most modern etymologists consider the name to be made up of two elements 'Stopp' and 'ley'. dating between AD 750 and AD 950. The ending comes from the Old English 'leah' meaning a wood or clearing in a wood. 'Stopp' was a personal name and indicated ownership of the wood or clearing. It appears as 'Stopeslegh in Soca de Luton' in a (Latin) law record, dated 1440. Originally a hill-top village settlement, most of the urbanised part of 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 Stopsley became part of

when the boundaries were extended in 1933, with the rural areas going to Hyde and Streatley.

Local area

The centre of Stopsley is made up of a variety of shops around a village church. From a distance the skyline is dominated by Jansel House, an office block built in 1961 which houses the Luton

VAT A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...

office over a parade of shops at street level. One of Luton's two cemeteries, The Vale, is located nearby on the Hitchin Road.

Politics

Stopsley is part of the larger Stopsley ward which also includes

Putteridge Putteridge is a suburb at the north-eastern edge of Luton, in the Borough of Luton, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Putteridge is a little over from Luton town centre and bordered by Central Bedfordshire district to the north ...

and part of Ramridge End. The ward is represented by Cllr David Wynn ( Liberal Democrats) and Cllr Richard Underwood ( Liberal Democrats). The ward forms part of the

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

Luton South Luton South is a constituency in Bedfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Rachel Hopkins, a member of the Labour Party. History This seat was created in 1983, primarily from the former seat of Luton ...

and the MP is

Rachel Hopkins Rachel Louise Hopkins (born 30 March 1972) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Luton South since 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she has been a Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office since 2021. Hopkins ...

( Labour Party). Lutonwardmap

Local attractions

Education

Stopsley includes the specialist

Sports College Sports Colleges are senior secondary schools which promote sports alongside secondary education. United Kingdom Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The programme enabled seco ...

Stopsley High School Stopsley High School is a co-educational secondary school located in the Stopsley area of Luton, Bedfordshire, England. History In September 2002 Stopsley High became a designated specialist sports college. It was re-designated in 2007 with ...

. Notable alumni include professional cricketer

Monty Panesar Mudhsuden Singh "Monty" Panesar (born 25 April 1982) is a former English international cricketer. A left-arm spinner, Panesar made his Test cricket debut in 2006 against India in Nagpur and One Day International debut for England in 2007. In E ...

. In the 1960s, Stopsley Infant and Junior School pupils included

Alec Jeffreys Sir Alec John Jeffreys, (born 9 January 1950) is a British geneticist known for developing techniques for genetic fingerprinting and DNA profiling which are now used worldwide in forensic science to assist police detective work and to resolv ...

, who went on to discover the DNA genetic fingerprint. He is now Professor of Genetics at Leicester University and was Knighted in 1994. Another pupil,

David Renwick David Peter Renwick (; born 4 September 1951) is an English author, television writer, actor, director and executive producer, best known for creation of the sitcom ''One Foot in the Grave'' and the mystery series ''Jonathan Creek''. He was awar ...

, created the television series 'One Foot in the Grave' and 'Jonathan Creek'. Both went on to study at Luton Grammar School and

Luton Sixth Form College Luton Sixth Form College is a sixth form college in the Barnfield area of Luton, Bedfordshire, England. History In 1904 Luton Council acquired the Modern School, which was a mixed-sex secondary school. This school moved into new buildings in ...

Gallery

Image:Stopsley War Memorial.jpg, Stopsley War Memorial Image:The Sportsman.jpg, The Sportsman Public House in Stopsley Image:Luton Convservative Club.jpg, Luton Conservative Club in Stopsley Image:St.Thomas's.jpg, Parish Church of St.Thomas in Stopsley Image:StopsleyCommon.jpg, Stopsley Common