Totternhoe is a village and civil parish in the

Manshead Manshead was a hundred of Bedfordshire in England. It covered an area in the south-west of the county stretching from Salford to Studham and from Leighton Buzzard to Houghton Regis and Dunstable. The hundred was named after a site in Eversholt ...

hundred of the county of Bedfordshire, England.

Overview

Totternhoe is an ancient village in southern Bedfordshire, near Dunstable and

Leighton Buzzard Leighton Buzzard ( ) is a market town in Bedfordshire, England, in the southwest of the county and close to the Buckinghamshire border. It lies between Aylesbury, Tring, Luton/Dunstable and Milton Keynes, near the Chiltern Hills. It is northwes ...

. Totternhoe Knolls has been a fort for many peoples including Romans and Normans. Totternhoe Castle, of

motte-and-bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

design, was built during the Norman period, probably during the years of

the Anarchy The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin, the only legiti ...

, only the mound survives. Behind the knoll is a large chalk quarry producing

Totternhoe Stone 250 px, The characteristic checkerboard design of many Bedfordshire churches built with alternating chalk and flint blocks: St Mary's (Luton). Totternhoe Stone is a relatively hard chalk outcropping in the middle of the Lower Chalk in the Chilt ...

and modern lime kilns. The parish church of Saint Giles dates from the 13th century. The village had 561 homes housing 1,172 people at the time of the 2011 census. There are several farms and a small

lower school Three-tier education refers to those structures of schooling, which exist in some parts of England, where pupils are taught in three distinct school types as they progress through the education system. Terminology In a three-tier local educ ...

, Totternhoe Church of England Academy. The village has two public houses, The Old Farm Inn in Church End and The Cross Keys in Middle End. Another pub in Church End, The Bell, was converted into a private home in about 1992.

Geography

The village is long and thin and is separated into three parts: * Church End, closest to Dunstable, includes the school and a pub. This area of the village centres around the junction of three of the four main roads into the village: Church Road (leading to Eaton Bray), Dunstable Road and Castle Hill Road (leading to Leighton Buzzard). Dunstable Road becomes Castle Hill Road as one heads West. * Middle End has a recreation ground and a

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

Hut (where the First Totternhoe Scouts and Guides meet) next to where the old school used to be. One entrance to the Knolls is up past the Scout Hut. * Lower End, towards Leighton Buzzard, is where the quarry is. It is overlooked by the old fort on the Knoll. The civil parish includes the foot of Dunstable Downs, including the London Gliding Club.

History

Totternhoe Roman villa dates to the fourth century. The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded the village as ''Totene Hou'', meaning "look out house" and "spur", presumably describing forts on the Knoll. The 1881 Census recorded Totternhoe's population as about 700, of whom 54% were female. Totternhoe's common lands were not enclosed until 1892.

Sport and leisure

Totternhoe has a

Non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

team

Totternhoe F.C. Totternhoe Football Club is a football club based in Totternhoe, near Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England. The club is affiliated to the Bedfordshire County Football Association. They play in the . History Totternhoe Football Club was formed in 190 ...

who play at Church End recreation ground.

Notable buildings and sites

Travelling west from Dunstable one may find the following buildings.

* Lancot Park, the Dunstable Cricket Club ground, built on farmland in the 1990s. * Totternhoe Football Club's building in the corner of the Church End recreation ground
The Old Farm Inn
an old thatched and timber-framed pub dating from the 17th century
The Cross Keys Pub
a thatched building, twice damaged by fire in the 1970s and early 2000s
Lockington Farm
* The current school * The former Bell pub * St Giles' parish church. The church was built using stone from local quarries and has a fine exterior. "Flint-flushwork" decoration is used in the gable of the nave. Building began in the 14th century and was not completed until the 16th.Betjeman, John, ed. (1968) ''Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches; the South''. London: Collins; p. 106 * Glebelands, St Giles church house, a former retirement home and now a private home * The site of the old school in Middle End * The scout hut * The old village shop, now a private home * The first village Post Office, now a private home
Totternhoe Memorial Hall
the village's war memorial * Poplar Farm * The former Methodist Chapel, now a private home * The second village shop and later Post Office, now a private home * Totternhoe Lime & Stone Co and the old quarry

Adjacent towns and villages

The village shares boundaries with the following parishes: * Dunstable * Sewell * Eaton Bray *

Tilsworth Tilsworth is a small village and civil parish in Bedfordshire. It lies to the north west of Dunstable, and the Roman Watling Street ( A5) forms the north east boundary of the parish of 1,200 acres (4.8 km2). The village lies on the gau ...

References

External links

Totternhoe pages
at the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service
Totternhoe Memorial Hall
{{authority control Villages in Bedfordshire Civil parishes in Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire District