Cauldwell is an

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

and area within the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The boundaries of Cauldwell are approximately Rope Walk to the north, Redwood Grove and Willow Road to the east, with the

Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line (MML), sometimes also spelt Midland Mainline, is a major Rail transport in Great Britain, railway line from London to Sheffield in Yorkshire via the East Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras railway ...

railway line to the south. The area is sometimes known as St John's.

History

Cauldwell derives its name from Cauldwell

Priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

which was built to the north of the area by

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

Friars in 1238. ''Cauldwell'' comes from the Old-English ''Cauldwella'' meaning cold well or spring. The priory included a

leper colony A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. '' M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East ...

dedicated to

St Leonard Leonard of Noblac (also Leonard of Limoges or Leonard of Noblet; also known as Lienard, Linhart, Lenart, Leonhard, Léonard, Leonardo, Annard; died 559) is a Frankish saint closely associated with the town and abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, ...

. The 19th Century saw Bedford transform into an important engineering hub. Many large industries located to the Cauldwell area, including Bedford Igranic on

Elstow Elstow is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, about south of Bedford town centre. History The Countess Judith of Lens, niece of William the Conqueror, founded a Benedictin ...

Road. The Britannia Iron Works were opened on

Kempston Kempston is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, situated around south-west of Bedford town centre. It had a population of 19,330 in the 2011 census, and forms part of the wider Bedford built-up area. The ...

Road in 1859, and General

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

visited the works in 1864. Bedford

Infirmary Infirmary may refer to: *Historically, a hospital, especially a small hospital *A first aid room in a school, prison, or other institution *A dispensary (an office that dispenses medications) *A clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambul ...

was established in Cauldwell in 1803, becoming

Bedford Hospital Bedford Hospital is a 400-bed district general hospital located in the English town of Bedford, serving the Borough of Bedford and parts of Central Bedfordshire, run by the Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital wa ...

in 1897.

Bedford Lunatic Asylum The Bedford Lunatic Asylum was a mental health facility. It opened in 1812 and closed in 1860. History Samuel Whitbread headed the committee which commissioned the asylum. The Bedford Lunatic Asylum, designed by John Wing, was opened in April ...

was built on Ampthill Road in 1812, but closed in 1860. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Cauldwell area was significantly redeveloped and expanded, and new residential estates were constructed to the south of the existing area.

Governance

Cauldwell is an

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparis ...

, with all community services under the direct control of

Bedford Borough Council Bedford Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Bedford, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. The town of Bedford was a borough from at least the 12th century until 1974, when the moder ...

. Cauldwell elects two councillors to Bedford Borough Council, both of whom are currently from the Labour party.

Economy

Technology House is an office complex located on Ampthill Road, which is next to a

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom, fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Sco ...

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

and then an

Aldi Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...

supermarket.

is also located on Ampthill Road, as is

Bedford St Johns railway station Bedford St Johns is one of two railway stations in Bedford in Bedfordshire, England, on the Marston Vale Line linking and . It is unstaffed and is operated by London Northwestern Railway. St Johns was Bedford's first station, on the Varsity L ...

. A small rail depot (

Bedford Cauldwell Walk depot Bedford Cauldwell Walk depot,Also referred to as Bedford Cauldwell depot, Bedford depot, Cauldwell depot.. also .. EMU depot, .. E.M.U.D, .. Traction Maintenance Depot (TMD) etc is an electric multiple unit maintenance depot located on the Mid ...

) servicing passenger trains opened in 2004. Most of the shops and services in Cauldwell are located on Ampthill Road. These include small convenience stores, a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

and a variety of

take away A take-out (US, Canada, Philippines) or takeaway (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) is a prepared meal or other food items purchased at a restaurant or fast food outlet with the intent to eat elsewhere. A concept found in many ancient cultures, take ...

restaurants. Bedford-Hospital-Britannia-Road

There are more local shops located on

Road and Gostwick Road.

Education

There are two

primary schools A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

in Cauldwell – Shackleton Primary School located on Pearcey Road, and Cauldwell School situated on Edward Road. There is no

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

in the area. Cauldwell is in the catchment area for

Bedford Academy Bedford Academy (formerly John Bunyan Upper School) is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in the Kingsbrook area of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. The school mainly attracts pupils from the Kingsbrook, Cauldwell and Newnham ar ...

which is situated in the nearby area of Kingsbrook. The

University of Bedfordshire The University of Bedfordshire is a Public university, public research university with campuses in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England. The university has roots in further and higher education from 1882: it gained university status in 19 ...

operates a nurse-training site at Bedford Hospital.

Religious sites

* South Bedford Islamic Cultural Centre & Masjid, located on Elstow Road * The

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

Holiness Church, located on Offa Road * Southend

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Church, also on Offa Road * The Living Word Tabernacle holds meetings at the community centre on Faraday Square and Kelvin Avenue * The Potters House Christian Fellowship Church also holds meetings at the community centre on Faraday Square and Kelvin Avenue * The King's Arms Church (

Newfrontiers Newfrontiers (previously New Frontiers International) is a neo-charismatic church network of evangelical, charismatic churches founded by Terry Virgo. It forms part of the British New Church Movement, which began in the late 1950s and 1960s ...

), on Ampthill Road * Bhagwan Valmik Sabha, on Muswell Road * Daarul Huda

Madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

Masjid A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were simple p ...

(Bedford Islamic Education Centre), on Offa Road

Community facilities

There are two

community centres A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a sp ...

in Cauldwell. The Faraday Community Centre located on the corner of Faraday Square and Kelvin Avenue, and the Cauldwell Community Centre located just off Ampthill Road, on Althorpe Street. There are two open spaces in the area located on Miller Road and Moor Lane.

References

External links

Kingsbrook and Cauldwell Urban Community Council

{{Areas of Bedford Areas of Bedford