Wrestlingworth is a village and former
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 authorit ...
, now in the parish of
Wrestlingworth and Cockayne Hatley, 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 ...
, England about 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 ...
. Wrestlingworth incorporates the hamlet of Water End, some half mile to the south of the village centre. At the 2011 census date it had a population of 591.
Amenities in the village include a pre-school group and a
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
VC Lower School. Wrestlingworth has a number of listed buildings including the
Church of St Peter, and the centre of the village is a Conservation Area.
Community groups in the village often meet at the Grade I listed 17th-century pub, The Chequers. These include the local Women's Institute, the Goodwill Fund, the Walking and Wildlife Group, The Bowls Club and the Pre-School support group.
Geography
Wrestlingworth lies east south-east of
Potton
Potton is a town and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England, about east of the county town Bedford. Its population in 2011 was 4,870. In 1783 the Great Fire of Potton destroyed a large part of the town. The ...
and south-west of
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a College town, 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. Cam ...
. The eastern parish boundary borders
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...
.
Elevation
The village centre is above sea level. The land falls to in the south-east corner of the parish. The highest point is in Cockayne Hatley Wood at .
Landscape
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, ...
has designated the area as part of The Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Claylands (NCA 88).
Central Bedfordshire Council has classified the landscape as Dunton Clay Vale. Not technically a 'vale', it is used here to mean a transitional landscape between a valley and a plateau. Medium to large fields of cereal crops dominate. The limited woodland cover and incomplete or unhedged roads reveal an open, undulating landscape. Former hedgerow lines are marked in places by trees.
Geology, soil type and land use
The majority of the parish is arable farmland but there are also a number of paddocks for horses, cattle and sheep grazing. Most of the parish lies on
boulder clay
Boulder clay is an unsorted agglomeration of clastic sediment that is unstratified and structureless and contains gravel of various sizes, shapes, and compositions distributed at random in a fine-grained matrix. The fine-grained matrix consists o ...
but there is a small strip of
gault
The Gault Formation is a geological formation of stiff blue clay deposited in a calm, fairly deep-water marine environment during the Lower Cretaceous Period (Upper and Middle Albian). It is well exposed in the coastal cliffs at Copt Point in ...
running through Wrestlingworth village centre. The whole parish has highly fertile lime-rich loamy and clayey soils with slightly impeded drainage.
Lousy Bush, a small nature reserve is at a former gravel pit to the south-west of the village. It is registered as
common land
Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel.
A person who has a ...
and owned by the Parish Council.
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. Wrestlingworth is in bands 3 and 4 with darker sky surrounding, particularly looking north-east.
Public footpaths and bridleways
A public footpath from Water End links with bridleways to
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 e ...
via Lousy Bush, The Lodge, Dunton Fen, Sunderland Hall Farm and West Sunderland Farm.
History
Wrestlingworth is not mentioned in the Domesday Book. However, by the mid-12th century two manor houses – Kendale's and Hereford's - are recorded as the village which was being established along the banks of a tributary of the River Cam. Historic names were ''Wrastlingewurde'' in the 12th century and ''Wrestlingforth'' in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The
Church of St. Peter was established in about 1300. Graves from the Great Plague are still clearly visible in St. Peter's churchyard, together with low set ‘leper’ windows.
There used to be a post office/shop and a local convenience store but now there is just a hairdressers and a public house, The Chequers.
In 1961 the parish had a population of 393.
The last woman to be publicly hanged in England
In the 1840s, notoriety hit the village when the case of the murderer
Sarah Dazley came to the fore. By the age of 25, Dazley had poisoned two husbands and a child. She was about to marry a third husband when villagers warned him of her past and subsequent investigations took place. These commenced with exhumation of the bodies and a Coroner's Inquest which was held in The Chequers Pub. Traces of arsenic were found and several local residents gave evidence against Dazley during her trial at Bedford Assizes.
At the end of the case, Dazley was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged outside Bedford Gaol. She was the last woman to be publicly hanged in England and it is said that the entire Wrestlingworth community walked or rode over to Bedford to see the event.
Governance
Wrestlingworth & Cockayne Hatley Parish Council has seven elected members and meets bi-monthly at the Memorial Hall.
Wrestlingworth is part of Potton ward for elections to 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 ...
Unitary Authority. On 1 April 1985 the parish was abolished and merged with
Cockayne Hatley
Cockayne Hatley is a small, rural village in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England east of the county town of Bedford. The population in 2007 was approximately 75 with 33 houses. It is in the civil parish of ...
to form "Wrestlingworth & Cockayne Hatley".
Prior to 1894, Wrestlingworth was administered as part of the
Hundred of Biggleswade.
From 1894 until 1974 the village 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 ...
.
Wrestlingworth was in the
Mid Bedfordshire parliamentary constituency until 1997. Now in
North East Bedfordshire, the elected member is
Richard Fuller of the
Conservative Party.
Public services
Wrestlingworth is in the Potton Public Water Supply Zone (RW50). The water supplied by
Anglian Water
Anglian Water is a water company that operates in the East of England. It was formed in 1989 under the partial privatisation of the water industry. It provides water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment to the area formerly the responsibilit ...
comes from groundwater
borehole
A borehole is a narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water ( drilled water well and tube well), other liquids (such as petrol ...
s and is
chloraminated and classed as
hard
Hard may refer to:
* Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture
* Hard water, water with high mineral content
Arts and entertainment
* ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV series
* Hard (band), a Hungarian hard rock supe ...
.
The Eastern Power Area of
UK Power Networks
UK Power Networks is a distribution network operator for electricity covering South East England, the East of England and London. It manages three licensed distribution networks (Eastern Power Networks, South Eastern Power Networks and London Pow ...
is the
distribution network operator
A distribution network operator (DNO), also known as a distribution system operator (DSO), is the operator of the electric power distribution system which delivers electricity to most end users. Each country may have many local distribution networ ...
for electricity. There is no mains gas supply.
The nearest general hospitals are
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 ...
(
Bedford Hospital NHS Trust),
Lister Hospital, Stevenage
The Lister Hospital is an NHS hospital based on the outskirts of Stevenage in Hertfordshire. It is operated by the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust along with the New QEII Hospital in Welwyn Garden City.
History
Prior to 1972 there was ...
(
East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust
East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust was created in April 2000, by merger of the former East Hertfordshire and North Hertfordshire NHS trusts. It runs Lister Hospital, Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, the New QEII Hospital, Hertford County Hospital ...
) and
Addenbrooke's Hospital
Addenbrooke's Hospital is an internationally renowned large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge, England, with strong affiliations to the University of Cambridge. Addenbrooke's Hospital is based on the Cambridge Biomedical Camp ...
, Cambridge (
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a British public sector healthcare provider located in Cambridge, England. It was established on 4 November 1992 as Addenbrooke's National Health Service Trust, and authorised as an NHS fou ...
). Ambulance services are provided by the
East of England Ambulance Service
The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) is an NHS trust responsible for providing National Health Service (NHS) ambulance services in the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, in the ...
NHS Trust.
Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and
Bedfordshire Police cover the village.
The closest public library is at Potton.
Public transport
Centrebus (South) runs bus route no. 188 south to
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 e ...
and
Hitchin (journey time 50 minutes) and to
Potton
Potton is a town and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England, about east of the county town Bedford. Its population in 2011 was 4,870. In 1783 the Great Fire of Potton destroyed a large part of the town. The ...
and
Sandy. The service is normally two hourly, daytime only, Monday to Saturday.
Ivel Sprinter runs bus route no. 3 to Cambridge each Wednesday.
The nearest railway stations are
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 e ...
and
Sandy.
Notable people
*
Sydney Beaumont
Sydney Beaumont (8 October 1884 – May 1939) was an English professional footballer and football manager, runner and cricketer. He played at both half back and left wing during his football career and won many trophies for middle-distance ru ...
, a former professional
football player and manager, runner and cricketer was born in Wrestlingworth.
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Villages in Bedfordshire
Former civil parishes in Bedfordshire
Central Bedfordshire District