Priory Country Park is a country park located in the Newnham area 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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

alongside the River Great Ouse. The park is managed by Bedford Borough Council. The park was established after gravel extraction ended in 1977. It was officially opened in 1986 by

Valerie Singleton Valerie Singleton (born 9 April 1937) is an English television and radio presenter best known as a regular presenter of the popular children's series ''Blue Peter'' from 1962 to 1972. She also presented the BBC Radio 4 '' PM'' programme for t ...

. It covers an area of 300 acres (121 hectares), with habitats including

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...

. It includes the

Priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...

Marina and Cardington Artificial Slalom Course. There is also a Beefeater Grill and Premier Inn by the park entrance. Priory Country Park won a

Green Flag Award The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...

in 2007. The wall alongside the Marina is constructed from the stones once part of the former Augustinian Monastery that occupied that part of the site. It also contains Roman bricks from an earlier Roman farm house that preceded it.Bedford Borough Council circular walk guide No 5. 2022

References

External links

Flora and Fauna of Priory Country Park, Bedford

Priory Country Park (blog)

Priory Sailing Club

Priory Marina
Country parks in Bedfordshire Nature reserves in Bedfordshire Bedford 1986 establishments in England {{Bedfordshire-geo-stub

See also

References

External links