Stanford is a hamlet in the

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Southill, in the

Central Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire is a Districts of England, local government district in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It is administered by Central Bedfordshire Council, a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority. It was created ...

district, in the ceremonial county of

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

, England. It is about south-east of the county town of

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 ...

Geography

Stanford lies north-east of Shefford, south-west 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, This figur ...

and south-west of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. Landscape The village lies within the Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Claylands (NCA 88) as designated by

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, ...

. Central Bedfordshire Council has locally classified the landscape as Upper Ivel Clay Valley. Flat, open arable fields predominate. Elevation The village is above sea level. Geology, soil type and land use The village is surrounded by arable farmland and lies on glacial gravel (

till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

) over

Lower Greensand The Lower Greensand Group is a geological unit present across large areas of Southern England. It was deposited during the Aptian and Albian ages of the Early Cretaceous. It predominantly consists of sandstone and unconsolidated sand that were d ...

. The soil is highly fertile, freely draining and slightly acid but base-rich. Stanford Wood, a pine wood with a small lake is to the east of the hamlet between Stanford Road and the B658. A gravel pit is shown here on the Ordnance Survey map of 1900. A playing field in the middle of the village includes a playground area, basketball court and football pitch. Broom South sand and gravel quarry lies to the north-east. The night sky and light pollution

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

is the level of radiance (night lights) shining up into the night sky. The

Campaign to Protect Rural England Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar produ ...

(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. Stanford has an index of 0.5–1 nanoWatts (nW) which places it in band 3. However, the night sky brightens towards Langford, Clifton and Shefford.

History

Stanford means "stone ford". The Domesday Book records eight land holdings in Stanford in 1086 and lists thirteen villagers, three smallholders and four slaves. In 1870–72 Stanford had a population of 385. A water mill at the end of Mill Road was fed by a mill race from the Ivel Navigation but by 1916 it was no longer in operation. Stanford at one time had three public houses. Only the Green Man remains.

Education

A small school was opened in 1899 but a falling role led to its closure in 1921 and pupils transferred to Broom. The building on the junction of Old School Lane and the B658 road is now a residential dwelling . It is in the catchment zone for Robert Bloomfield Academy. Stanford is also in the catchment zone for

Samuel Whitbread Academy Samuel Whitbread Academy is an Upper School and Sixth Form with Academy status serving the rural communities around the small market town of Shefford in Central Bedfordshire. Its school campus includes a nursery school and facilities for adul ...

, which has an upper school and sixth form.

Governance

Stanford elects three councillors to Southill parish council. It is part of ''Northill'' ward for elections to the

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

Wixamtree Wixamtree is an ancient hundred located in Bedfordshire, England. Wixamtree was one of the hundreds of Bedfordshire, with its council being the primary form of local government in its area from the Anglo-Saxon times to the nineteenth century. ...

. 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 a local government district in Bedfordshire, England, from 1974 to 2009. 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 ...

. Stanford is in the Mid Bedfordshire parliamentary constituency.

Public transport

Grant Palmer operates route 200 a two-hourly Monday to Saturday daytime bus service to Biggleswade (journey time 9 to 15 minutes) and to Clifton, Shefford and

Flitwick Flitwick () is a town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire, England. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "a hamlet on the River Flitt". The spelling ''Flytwyk'' appears in 1381. The nearby River Flit runs through Flitwick Moor, ...

(50 minutes). There is a weekly, Wednesday only service to Bedford by community bus operator, Wanderbus (journey time 26 minutes). Wanderbus also runs monthly services to

St Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

and

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second Garden city movement, garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first New towns in the United Kingdom, new towns (designated 1948). It is ...

. The nearest railway station is

References

External links

Southill Parish Council
{{Places in Bedfordshire Hamlets in Bedfordshire Southill, Bedfordshire