Astwick is a hamlet and

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 ...

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 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 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 t ...

. Its population is included within Stotfold civil parish.

Geography

Astwick is by the

River Ivel The River Ivel is a north-flowing river in the western part of east of England. It is primarily in Bedfordshire; it is a tributary of the River Great Ouse and has sources including in the Barton Hills. Course The river Ivel has four headwater ...

just to the north of Stotfold and lies south 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 e ...

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 ...

. The Great North Road forms the eastern parish boundary with

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

. The A1 was improved around 1958; known as the

Edworth Edworth is a hamlet and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England about south-east of the county town of Bedford. It sits just off the Great North Road (A1) between Baldock and Biggleswade. There ...

to Astwick Turn scheme. It is the first non-motorway section of dual-carriageway north of the Baldock motorway bypass. Altitude The hamlet is above sea level. The land rises to in the north of the parish towards Topler's Hill. Geology and soil type Land north of the main road through the hamlet is arable farmland and 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 ...

. To the south are pastures on largely grey and grey-blue clay but by the River Ivel is alluvium and river gravel. The north of the parish has highly fertile lime-rich loamy and clayey soils with slightly impeded drainage. There is a narrow east–west band of freely draining lime-rich loamy soils followed by loamy soils with naturally high groundwater beside the River Ivel. The night sky and light pollution

Light pollution Light pollution is the presence of unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive use of artificial lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term ''light pollution'' refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting, during the day or night. Light po ...

is the level of radiance (night lights) shining up into the night sky. The hamlet has an index of 1-2 nanoWatts (nW). This brightens to 2-4 nW alongside the A1 road but darkens to 0.5-1 nW in the western part of the parish.

History

Archaeologist, William Ransom unearthed an Anglo-Saxon cemetery near Astwick in 1886. Finds, including a short sword and spearheads are in the collection of the Department of Medieval and Later Antiquities at the British Museum. Astwick was first recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

in 1086. Until the mid-19th century, the parish formed part of the

hundred of Biggleswade Biggleswade was a historic ' hundred' of English county of Bedfordshire. The hundred consisted of the town of Biggleswade and its surrounding area. The name Biggleswade comes from a concatenation of the Anglo Saxon words 'Biceil' (being a person ...

. The Parish Church of

St Guthlac Saint Guthlac of Crowland ( ang, Gūðlāc; la, Guthlacus; 674 – 3 April 714 CE) was a Christian hermit and saint from Lincolnshire in England. He is particularly venerated in the Fens of eastern England. Life Guthlac was the son of Penwalh ...

dates from the 15th-century, although there is evidence of an earlier structure on the site. The present tower was likely the central tower of a cruciform church. An unusual feature is the protruding chimney; not normally something found on a church. Another notable building is the

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

ed Astwick Bury, which dates from around 1700 and is

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. Astwick Mill on the River Ivel was built in 1847 as a water-powered stone mill. It was converted to steam power in 1891 with the installation of six roller mills. In use as a corn mill until 1922; it is now a Grade II listed private residence.

Governance

The parish is too small to have a parish council and instead has a

parish meeting A parish meeting, in England, is a meeting to which all the electors in a civil parish are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish cou ...

. Astwick is part of ''Stotfold and Langford'' ward for elections to the

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

Hundred of Biggleswade Biggleswade was a historic ' hundred' of English county of Bedfordshire. The hundred consisted of the town of Biggleswade and its surrounding area. The name Biggleswade comes from a concatenation of the Anglo Saxon words 'Biceil' (being a person ...

. 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, which ...

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 ...

. Astwick was in the Mid Bedfordshire parliamentary constituency until 1997. Now in North East Bedfordshire, the elected member is Richard Fuller 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 ...

Economy

There is a high intensity poultry unit at Vine Farm. The facility, as completed in July 2016, consists of eight poultry houses with a permitted capacity of 336,000 broilers. Permission was given by the Environment Agency in October 2018 for an additional two sheds and an increase in total capacity to 442,000.

Public services

Astwick 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 responsibility ...

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. The Eastern Power Area of UK Power Networks is the distribution network operator for electricity. Cadent Gas owns and operates the area's gas distribution network. The two nearest general hospitals are

(Bedford Hospital NHS Trust) and

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 wa ...

(East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust). 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 Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service for the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire in England, consisting of the unitary authorities of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, and Luton. Bedfordshire Fire Brigade was recr ...

and

Bedfordshire Police Bedfordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire in England, which includes the unitary authorities of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton. Its headquarters are in Kempston, B ...

cover the parish. The nearest public library is Stotfold.

References

External links

*
Tudor Oaks Lodge
* {{authority control Villages in Bedfordshire Civil parishes in Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire District