Houghton Regis
Encyclopedia
Houghton Regis is a town and civil parish sandwiched between the major towns of Luton
to the east and Dunstable
to the west. The parish
includes the ancient hamlets of Bidwell
, Thorn and Sewell
. Houghton Regis, along with its near neighbours of Dunstable
and Luton
form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area
, with a population over 230,000.
Maiden Bower has some of the ramparts showing through the edge of an old chalk quarry where there are Bronze Age remains of an older Fort. According to W.H. Matthews (Mazes and Labyrinths, 1922), a turf maze once existed at "Maiden Bower".
when it was called Houstone. At the time of the Domesday Survey a great part of what is now Dunstable was included in Houghton parish. When Henry I founded Dunstable he gave in compensation to the men of Houghton a wood called Buckwood. . At that time it paid in tax the large amount of three pounds by weight and twenty shillings of blanch silver (to the King) and one ounce of gold for the Sheriff..
The men of Houghton claimed to be exempt from tolls in Dunstable market.. The inhabitants of Houghton Regis were for long employed in straw-plaiting. In 1689 they and those of neighbouring villages petitioned against the Bill that made it compulsory to wear woollen hats, pointing out that the straw-plaiters would be ruined and that the farmers also would suffer, as they now obtained good prices for their straw, and English wool not being suitable for the making of hats, they would not be in any way compensated.
Bordered by the Chiltern Hills
, the town was once a small village that had its character changed when it was earmarked for a massive "London overspill
" estate in the 1950s and 60s. The only remains of the areas around the small village centre are names such as Tithe Farm Road. An indication of the planners' attempts to make the London
migrants feel at home is the naming of the local estate roads after London landmarks; Chelsea
Gardens is an example. The town lacks identity due to being dwarfed by its much larger neighbours.
Remnants of the town's past are still apparent with, for example, the fifteenth century Parish Church
of All Saints (formerly St Michaels) with an excellent example of a Norman
tower and the former Squire's residence of Houghton Hall, built in the eighteenth century.
Between the town centre and Dunstable there is the Townsend Industrial Estate
, built on the former farm of the same name.
Between the late 1960s and the early 1970s, many of the high street shops were demolished along with a church to make way for industrial units, many of which have since been demolished themselves. The main shop in town was the Wavy Line store, which has since been used as a motorbike and car showroom.
A fish & chip shop was sited at the entrance to what is now the access road into the Co-op; the current fish and chip shop was a splendid toy shop in the 1960s boasting a working model railway in the window. The toy shop formerly being approximately on the site of the current low cost supermarket and adjacent to a now demolished church (in front of the existing graveyard) and opposite a hardware shop and woodstore.
Central Bedfordshire Council have announced that they will be closing Houghton Regis Leisure Centre Swimming Pool on Sept 4th 2011, and the remainder of the facilities will remain open until 31 March 2012 at least.
The trunk road (Dunstable Northern Bypass) joining the A505 to the M1, at a new junction 11a south of Chalton, to the north of Houghton Regis. The Secretary of State agreed with the M1-A5 proposals and announced the northern route as the preferred scheme, and this route is protected from development. The A5-M1 Link (Dunstable Northern Bypass) Public Inquiry planned to start on 29 June 2010 was postponed. Following the autumn spending review, the DfT has decided to continue preparatory work on this scheme, with a view to starting construction after 2015.
A proposed relief road by Central Bedfordshire Council would take traffic from the Woodside Industrial area (situated in the south of Houghton Regis) to a future M1 junction 11a (approximately where Sundon Road meets Luton Road at the M1.
A Luton-Houghton Regis guided busway is under construction.
About 26,000 new homes by 2021 are planned in the former South Bedfordshire area (now part of Central Bedfordshire) and Luton and 43,000 by 2031. The growth, proposed north of Houghton Regis is for an urban extension of 6,950 homes and 83 ha of employment land by 2026 with potential for a further 4,050 homes and 17 ha employment land after that. In addition, further development is proposed within the existing urban area. For the Central Bedfordshire Planning Obligations Strategy, the Council will plan for contributions from housing growth till 2021, of 14,230 houses and 17,000 new jobs.
Central Bedfordshire came into being on 1 April 2009. The first-ever elections for Central Bedfordshire took place on 4 June, when the four places for Houghton Regis were won by the Liberal Democrats.
William the Conqueror took over the Manor of Houghton. He gave the church and its lands to William the Chamberlain
1100: Henry I of England
builds a market town on his estate at Houghton in an effort to raise revenue from rents and levies on trade. About 450 acres (1.8 km²) of land were used
1109: A royal residence for Henry I is completed in Houghton. This is called Kingsbury
1121: Henry I gives the church lands in Houghton to his illegitimate son, Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester
1130: Henry I gives the new market town of Houghton to Dunstable Priory
1153: Robert Earl of Gloucester gives Houghton church and its lands to St. Albans Abbey who continue to own and run them until the dissolution
1340: At this time Houghton was a very impoverished place. When the tax collectors came they found a small impoverished population who had "neither seed to sow, nor oxen to plough"
1538: Houghton Regis Parish Registers started
1652: Henry Brandreth, a rich London merchant, buys Sewell. He later purchased much land in the area including the Manor of Houghton. The Manor remained in the ownership of the family until 1913, when it was sold to Col. Dealtry Part. He built the original Manor House.
1654: The 'Free' School founded by Thomas Whitehead and built on the village green. Thomas Whitehead stipulated that the school be made up of 15 boys from poor families in Houghton and 5 boys from poor families in nearby hamlets. The school has been replaced by Red House Court old people's flats.
1700: Houghton Hall built and completed for Alice (daughter of Henry Brandreth ) and William Millard.
1829: A well was discovered during the building of the Dunstable-Leighton Buzzard railway line. It was at least 120 ft (36.6 m) deep and was filled with Roman material including pottery, tiles, human and animal bones, burnt wood and ashes. The well was recorded by James Wyatt and W. Monkhouse.
1863: Houghton Regis Baptist Church, foundation stone laid in July 1863. It closed in the 1970s and the congregation moved to a new church at Parkside in 1975.
1913: Houghton Hall sold by the Brandreth family to Col.(later Sir) Dealtry Charles Part
1926: A cement
plant began operation: it was acquired in 1932 by Blue Circle Industries
.
1936: The old 'Kings Arms' pulled down and replaced by the present building.
1958: The Crown beat teams from the Five Bells, the Red Lion and the Chequers in the Houghton Regis beer barrel rolling relay along High Street on May 31.
1964: The tithe barn demolished, as the timbers were too rotten to be preserved. This originally stood on the ground now occupied by the youth centre. It was originally built in the fifteenth century, possibly by Abbot John Moore (1396–1401)
1966: Carry On star Hattie Jacques
opened the Bedford Square shopping centre in September 1966.
1969: Parkside Estate built on land east of Sundon Road.
1975: Houghton Regis Baptist Church opens at Parkside, in November.
1976: The cement plant chimneys were blasted, production having ceased in 1971. Although these chimneys were blasted in 1976, the Blue Circle Cement works continued as a shipping depot until the 1990s. The first chimney was blown up and the second demolished with the aid of an enormous steel ball. (update required, the chimneys were only knocked down in the 1990s).
1983: The first Houghton Regis Carnival was held on the Green in July.This first year there was only a fun day and no procession.The following year saw the start of the first Houghton Regis Carnival Court and a Grand Procession through the streets of the Town. The first Houghton Regis Carnival Queen was Debbie Lyall and her Princesses were Lisa Wilson and Natalie Bowker. Founded and organised by the late Olive Burgess of Westminster Gardens and her Daughter Pam Gill. Houghton Regis Carnival was a member of the National Carnival Guild of Great Britain and supported approximately eighteen Carnivals every year and joined their processions. Carnival Courts from many parts of England visited Houghton Regis and bought their floats in the procession here. There were as many as 10,000 people estimated to be on The Green by our Police and approximately 100 charity stalls all out to raise their funds...
1986: New club house built for the Dunstablian's Rugby Club at Bidwell Hill, costing £400,000.
1986: Houghton Regis Community Centre opens on the High Street.
2006: 7 June. Houghton Regis Community Centre burnt down by an arson attack, along with the Co-Op.
2009: Houghton Regis Skate Park opens at Tithe Farm Recreation Ground.
2009: Bedford Square Centre opens. Facilities include library and health services.
2010: New brick built pavilion for Bowls Club opens at Moore Crescent.
Luton
Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....
to the east and Dunstable
Dunstable
Dunstable is a market town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills, 30 miles north of London. These geographical features form several steep chalk escarpments most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north.-Etymology:In...
to the west. The parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
includes the ancient hamlets of Bidwell
Bidwell, Bedfordshire
Bidwell is a hamlet located next to Houghton Regis in Bedfordshire, England.Originally a small rural settlement, the southern part of Bidwell has been largely merged into the wider Houghton Regis area over the years. However the northern part of Bidwell still opens out onto open countryside. It is...
, Thorn and Sewell
Sewell, Bedfordshire
Sewell is a hamlet located in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England.Sewell is a small rural settlement, though it is located near to the town of Dunstable . The settlement forms part of the Houghton Regis civil parish....
. Houghton Regis, along with its near neighbours of Dunstable
Dunstable
Dunstable is a market town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills, 30 miles north of London. These geographical features form several steep chalk escarpments most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north.-Etymology:In...
and Luton
Luton
Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....
form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area
Luton/Dunstable Urban Area
The Luton/Dunstable Urban Area according to the Office for National Statistics is the conurbation including the settlements of Luton, Dunstable and Houghton Regis....
, with a population over 230,000.
Ancient history
Relics of Palæolithic man, such as flint implements and the bones of contemporary wild animals, suggest prehistoric settlement. At Maiden Bower within Houghton Regis CP, near Sewell, there is an Iron Age hill fort. This is clearly marked on the Ordnance Survey maps.Maiden Bower has some of the ramparts showing through the edge of an old chalk quarry where there are Bronze Age remains of an older Fort. According to W.H. Matthews (Mazes and Labyrinths, 1922), a turf maze once existed at "Maiden Bower".
History
Houghton Regis is considerably older than Dunstable, and it is mentioned in the Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
when it was called Houstone. At the time of the Domesday Survey a great part of what is now Dunstable was included in Houghton parish. When Henry I founded Dunstable he gave in compensation to the men of Houghton a wood called Buckwood. . At that time it paid in tax the large amount of three pounds by weight and twenty shillings of blanch silver (to the King) and one ounce of gold for the Sheriff..
The men of Houghton claimed to be exempt from tolls in Dunstable market.. The inhabitants of Houghton Regis were for long employed in straw-plaiting. In 1689 they and those of neighbouring villages petitioned against the Bill that made it compulsory to wear woollen hats, pointing out that the straw-plaiters would be ruined and that the farmers also would suffer, as they now obtained good prices for their straw, and English wool not being suitable for the making of hats, they would not be in any way compensated.
Chiltern Hills
The Chiltern Hills form a chalk escarpment in South East England. They are known locally as "the Chilterns". A large portion of the hills was designated officially as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1965.-Location:...
, the town was once a small village that had its character changed when it was earmarked for a massive "London overspill
London overspill
London overspill is the term given to the communities created - largely consisting of publicly provided housing - as a result of the Government policy of moving residents out of Greater London, England into other towns around the South East, East Anglia and beyond.-Policy development:The policy...
" estate in the 1950s and 60s. The only remains of the areas around the small village centre are names such as Tithe Farm Road. An indication of the planners' attempts to make the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
migrants feel at home is the naming of the local estate roads after London landmarks; Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
Gardens is an example. The town lacks identity due to being dwarfed by its much larger neighbours.
Remnants of the town's past are still apparent with, for example, the fifteenth century Parish Church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of All Saints (formerly St Michaels) with an excellent example of a Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
tower and the former Squire's residence of Houghton Hall, built in the eighteenth century.
Between the town centre and Dunstable there is the Townsend Industrial Estate
Industrial park
An industrial park is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development...
, built on the former farm of the same name.
Between the late 1960s and the early 1970s, many of the high street shops were demolished along with a church to make way for industrial units, many of which have since been demolished themselves. The main shop in town was the Wavy Line store, which has since been used as a motorbike and car showroom.
A fish & chip shop was sited at the entrance to what is now the access road into the Co-op; the current fish and chip shop was a splendid toy shop in the 1960s boasting a working model railway in the window. The toy shop formerly being approximately on the site of the current low cost supermarket and adjacent to a now demolished church (in front of the existing graveyard) and opposite a hardware shop and woodstore.
Modern times
Houghton Regis Town Council organise a Carnival every summer on the Village Green. A cycle route runs through the town. The Greenway and the route through Dunstable and Houghton Regis forms part of National Route 6 of the National Cycle Network, which provides walking and cycling routes between Milton Keynes, Luton and London.Central Bedfordshire Council have announced that they will be closing Houghton Regis Leisure Centre Swimming Pool on Sept 4th 2011, and the remainder of the facilities will remain open until 31 March 2012 at least.
Plans for the area
This proosed road would help to relieve Houghton Regis town centre of traffic.The trunk road (Dunstable Northern Bypass) joining the A505 to the M1, at a new junction 11a south of Chalton, to the north of Houghton Regis. The Secretary of State agreed with the M1-A5 proposals and announced the northern route as the preferred scheme, and this route is protected from development. The A5-M1 Link (Dunstable Northern Bypass) Public Inquiry planned to start on 29 June 2010 was postponed. Following the autumn spending review, the DfT has decided to continue preparatory work on this scheme, with a view to starting construction after 2015.
A proposed relief road by Central Bedfordshire Council would take traffic from the Woodside Industrial area (situated in the south of Houghton Regis) to a future M1 junction 11a (approximately where Sundon Road meets Luton Road at the M1.
About 26,000 new homes by 2021 are planned in the former South Bedfordshire area (now part of Central Bedfordshire) and Luton and 43,000 by 2031. The growth, proposed north of Houghton Regis is for an urban extension of 6,950 homes and 83 ha of employment land by 2026 with potential for a further 4,050 homes and 17 ha employment land after that. In addition, further development is proposed within the existing urban area. For the Central Bedfordshire Planning Obligations Strategy, the Council will plan for contributions from housing growth till 2021, of 14,230 houses and 17,000 new jobs.
Politics
Houghton Regis Town Council has 14 elected councillors who receive no remuneration. Elections are held every 4 years. The make up of this council in 2011 is 13 Liberal Democrats and 1 Labour councillor.Central Bedfordshire came into being on 1 April 2009. The first-ever elections for Central Bedfordshire took place on 4 June, when the four places for Houghton Regis were won by the Liberal Democrats.
Timeline
1066: After the Battle of HastingsBattle of Hastings
The Battle of Hastings occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army under King Harold II...
William the Conqueror took over the Manor of Houghton. He gave the church and its lands to William the Chamberlain
1100: Henry I of England
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
builds a market town on his estate at Houghton in an effort to raise revenue from rents and levies on trade. About 450 acres (1.8 km²) of land were used
1109: A royal residence for Henry I is completed in Houghton. This is called Kingsbury
1121: Henry I gives the church lands in Houghton to his illegitimate son, Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester
Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester
Robert Fitzroy, 1st Earl of Gloucester was an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England. He was called "Rufus" and occasionally "de Caen", he is also known as Robert "the Consul"...
1130: Henry I gives the new market town of Houghton to Dunstable Priory
Dunstable Priory
The Priory Church of St Peter with its monastery was founded in 1132 by Henry I for Augustinian Canons in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England. St Peter’s today is a large and impressive building, but this is only the nave of what remains of an originally much larger Augustinian priory church...
1153: Robert Earl of Gloucester gives Houghton church and its lands to St. Albans Abbey who continue to own and run them until the dissolution
1340: At this time Houghton was a very impoverished place. When the tax collectors came they found a small impoverished population who had "neither seed to sow, nor oxen to plough"
1538: Houghton Regis Parish Registers started
1652: Henry Brandreth, a rich London merchant, buys Sewell. He later purchased much land in the area including the Manor of Houghton. The Manor remained in the ownership of the family until 1913, when it was sold to Col. Dealtry Part. He built the original Manor House.
1654: The 'Free' School founded by Thomas Whitehead and built on the village green. Thomas Whitehead stipulated that the school be made up of 15 boys from poor families in Houghton and 5 boys from poor families in nearby hamlets. The school has been replaced by Red House Court old people's flats.
1700: Houghton Hall built and completed for Alice (daughter of Henry Brandreth ) and William Millard.
1829: A well was discovered during the building of the Dunstable-Leighton Buzzard railway line. It was at least 120 ft (36.6 m) deep and was filled with Roman material including pottery, tiles, human and animal bones, burnt wood and ashes. The well was recorded by James Wyatt and W. Monkhouse.
1863: Houghton Regis Baptist Church, foundation stone laid in July 1863. It closed in the 1970s and the congregation moved to a new church at Parkside in 1975.
1913: Houghton Hall sold by the Brandreth family to Col.(later Sir) Dealtry Charles Part
Dealtry Charles Part
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Dealtry Charles Part was sheriff and Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire and an owner of race horses....
1926: A cement
Portland cement
Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world because it is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco and most non-specialty grout...
plant began operation: it was acquired in 1932 by Blue Circle Industries
Blue Circle Industries
Blue Circle Industries was a British public company manufacturing cement. It was founded in 1900, and was bought out by the French company Lafarge in 2001.-History:...
.
1936: The old 'Kings Arms' pulled down and replaced by the present building.
1958: The Crown beat teams from the Five Bells, the Red Lion and the Chequers in the Houghton Regis beer barrel rolling relay along High Street on May 31.
1964: The tithe barn demolished, as the timbers were too rotten to be preserved. This originally stood on the ground now occupied by the youth centre. It was originally built in the fifteenth century, possibly by Abbot John Moore (1396–1401)
1966: Carry On star Hattie Jacques
Hattie Jacques
Josephine Edwina Jaques was an English comedy actress, known as Hattie Jacques.Starting her career in the 1940s, Jacques first gained attention through her radio appearances with Tommy Handley on ITMA and later with Tony Hancock on Hancock's Half Hour...
opened the Bedford Square shopping centre in September 1966.
1969: Parkside Estate built on land east of Sundon Road.
1975: Houghton Regis Baptist Church opens at Parkside, in November.
1976: The cement plant chimneys were blasted, production having ceased in 1971. Although these chimneys were blasted in 1976, the Blue Circle Cement works continued as a shipping depot until the 1990s. The first chimney was blown up and the second demolished with the aid of an enormous steel ball. (update required, the chimneys were only knocked down in the 1990s).
1983: The first Houghton Regis Carnival was held on the Green in July.This first year there was only a fun day and no procession.The following year saw the start of the first Houghton Regis Carnival Court and a Grand Procession through the streets of the Town. The first Houghton Regis Carnival Queen was Debbie Lyall and her Princesses were Lisa Wilson and Natalie Bowker. Founded and organised by the late Olive Burgess of Westminster Gardens and her Daughter Pam Gill. Houghton Regis Carnival was a member of the National Carnival Guild of Great Britain and supported approximately eighteen Carnivals every year and joined their processions. Carnival Courts from many parts of England visited Houghton Regis and bought their floats in the procession here. There were as many as 10,000 people estimated to be on The Green by our Police and approximately 100 charity stalls all out to raise their funds...
1986: New club house built for the Dunstablian's Rugby Club at Bidwell Hill, costing £400,000.
1986: Houghton Regis Community Centre opens on the High Street.
2006: 7 June. Houghton Regis Community Centre burnt down by an arson attack, along with the Co-Op.
2009: Houghton Regis Skate Park opens at Tithe Farm Recreation Ground.
2009: Bedford Square Centre opens. Facilities include library and health services.
2010: New brick built pavilion for Bowls Club opens at Moore Crescent.