Biggleswade

See also: Biggleswade (hundred) and Biggleswade (UK Parliament constituency)

Biggleswade
Town council logo and de facto town crest
Biggleswade town centre
Biggleswade  Biggleswade shown within Bedfordshire
Population	15,383
OS grid reference	TL1944
Civil parish	Biggleswade
Unitary authority	Central Bedfordshire
Ceremonial county	Bedfordshire
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BIGGLESWADE
Postcode district	SG18
Dialling code	01767
Police	Bedfordshire
Fire	Bedfordshire and Luton
Ambulance	East of England
EU Parliament	East of England
UK Parliament	North East Bedfordshire
List of places: UK • England • Bedfordshire

Biggleswade is a market town and civil parish located on the River Ivel in Bedfordshire, England. It is well served by transport routes, being close to the A1 road between London and the North, as well as having a railway station on the main rail link North from London (the East Coast Main Line).

Geography

Located about 40 miles (60 km) north of Central London and 20 miles (30 km) west-south-west of Cambridge, the fastest train to London, King's Cross, takes 35 minutes, while a car journey to central Cambridge takes about 35 minutes. In 2001 the population of the town was about 15,383. The Biggleswade civil parish also includes the nearby hamlet of Holme, Bedfordshire.

The town lies on the B1040, which leads to Potton to the north and the A6001 (a section is the former A1), which leads to Langford and Henlow to the south.

History

Romans

The area around Biggleswade is thought to have been inhabited from around 10,000 BC, with arrowheads dating from this period found in the region. In Roman times, a loop road known as the White Way passed through Biggleswade (possibly along the course of the present-day Drove Road), linking up with the Ermine Way at Godmanchester.

The Saxons

In the 5th century AD, Saxon invaders settled here - the name Biggleswade is thought to be derived from Biceil, an Anglo-Saxon personal name and Waed, the Saxon word for ford.

In 2001 a gold coin bearing the name Coenwulf was discovered at Biggleswade on a footpath beside the River Ivel. The 4.33 g (0.15 oz) mancus, worth about 30 silver pennies, is only the eighth known Anglo-Saxon gold coin dating to the mid to late Anglo-Saxon period. The coin's inscription, "DE VICO LVNDONIAE", indicates that it was minted in London. Initially sold to American collector Allan Davisson for £230,000 at an auction held by Spink auction house in October of that year, the British Government subsequently put in place an export ban in the hope of saving it for the British public. In February 2006 the coin was bought by the British Museum for £357,832 with the help of funding from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the British Museum Friends making it the most expensive British coin purchased until that date.

Medieval times

The Crown Inn.
The 1785 fire started here.

In 1132, Henry I granted the manor of Biggleswade to Bishop Alexander - Alexander the Magnificent - of Lincoln to help endow Lincoln Cathedral. The town was granted a charter to hold a market during the reign of King John (1196–1216) - a market is still held in the market place in the centre of the town every Saturday. The church is dedicated to St. Andrew. Biggleswade Castle existed in earlier times.

On June 16, 1785, there was a large fire in the town. The fire started at the Crown Inn and spread rapidly through the neighbouring streets. By the time the fire had been brought under control, nearly one-third of the town had been destroyed, including 103 houses leaving 332 people homeless. A national appeal was launched to raise funds for the many people who had lost their homes and their livelihoods.

St. Andrew's Church

Biggleswade, June 2000

Transport history

The Great Northern Railway opened in 1850, and Biggleswade was the third town in Bedfordshire to have a mainline station (on the East Coast Main Line) after Bedford & Dunstable.

The town was bypassed in 1961.

Buses in the town were provided by Eastern National until 1952 when the western division of Eastern National was handed over to United Counties. The company had a garage in Shortmead Street opposite Ivel Gardens until 1989 when it was sold for redevelopment into flats. United Counties was acquired by Stagecoach in November 1987 and moved to the current site in Hitchin Street in 1989, which was acquired from Charles Cook. Other bus operators based in Biggleswade included Charles Cook European Travel who operated in the area between 1947 and 1998 and Fairway Coaches although both of these operators have ceased to operate.

Industrial history

Traditionally, Biggleswade has been a vegetable- and produce-growing area with trains often taking daily loads of vegetables to London's produce markets. Even though much of this has now stopped, Bedfordshire Growers, based on the outskirts of the town, still supplies major supermarkets with UK-grown potatoes and onions.

Biggleswade is also the base of the Jordan's cereals business who produce their own brand of breakfast Muesli, Country Crisp and Crunchy Oats and cereal bars which are sold across Europe as well as in Canada. There used to be a Felix cat food factory located on Potton Road. However, this moved away in 1970. There also used to be a glass bottle factory on Brunts Lane which was later destroyed by fire in 2000.

The town was also home to the Ivel Cycle Works, founded by Dan Albone. This factory ultimately produced bicycles, motorbikes and light tractors. It went into receivership in 1920.

Other goods which have been made in Biggleswade include Berkeley Caravans and Sportscars, who had a factory in the town, which was later used by Kayser Bondor who made ladies' underwear and stockings in the town until the mid-1990s. The factory was demolished and is now a housing estate, with roads named Berkeley Close and Kayser Court after the businesses that used the factory.

The town had a large brewery in the town centre for many decades; its last owners were Greene King but it closed down in October 1997 and the site is now occupied by an Asda supermarket.

Biggleswade had two long serving motor dealers, A. W. Watkin were agents for locally made Vauxhall cars and Bedford lorries for many years and had a large showroom and repair site in Shortmead Street, but the dealership closed in 2002 and the was site redeveloped into houses which are in a road named Watkin Walk. The other dealer was the Mantle's business which originally had a site for Austin cars near the old Swan Hotel in the town. Mantle's moved to a larger site opposite the old work house on London Road where they sold British Leyland and later Austin Rover cars. They also had a caravan dealership. Mantle's still sell cars here, but since the collapse of MG Rover now sells Mitsubishi and Ford cars. The caravan business closed in the early 1990s.

Facilities

Biggleswade Swimming Club website at www.biggleswadesc.org celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2006. It now uses the new indoor Saxon Pool and Leisure Centre. The town has two football clubs - Biggleswade Town and Biggleswade United. Biggleswade also homes a Skatepark.

Biggleswade is the home of Biggleswade Rugby Club, which has 3 senior sides and an active Mini and Youth section with sides from under 7 through to 17 years. See Biggleswade rugby.

Culture

The town is mentioned twice in the diaries of Samuel Pepys. On 22 July 1661, Pepys stopped off in Biggleswade (called 'Bigglesworth' by Pepys) to buy a pair of warm woollen stockings. John Byng, 5th Viscount Torrington often refers to the town and the Sun Inn.

Nearby is the Shuttleworth Collection of vintage aeroplanes.

Education

Biggleswade, as part of the former authority of Bedfordshire County Council, has a three-tier schooling system with lower schools catering for ages between 5 to 9, middle schools from 9 to 13 and Stratton Upper School continuing education up and into Sixth Form.

List of schools:

• Stratton Upper School and Community College
• Holmemead Middle School
• Edward Peake Middle School
• St Andrew's Lower School [3]
• Lawnside Lower School
• Southlands Lower School
• Ivel Valley School, a special school for children with moderate or severe learning difficulties
• Holme Court School, a private school for dyslexic children, which was opened in 2005 just off the A1 to the west of Biggleswade (note - although still signposted from the A1, this school has relocated to Cambridge as of September 2011)

Twinned towns

Erlensee, Germany since 2000.

Notable residents

• Dan Albone, inventor, manufacturer and cyclist, credited with making the first practical farm tractor, 'The Ivel Agricultural Motor'.
• Chris Roycroft-Davis, journalist
• Philip E. High, science fiction writer
• Charles Penrose, radio comedian and singer of The Laughing Policeman.
• Henry Ryland, Pre-Raphaelite painter born in Biggleswade in 1856.
• Mary Tealby, one of the founders of the Battersea Dogs Home, is buried in St. Andrew's Churchyard.
• Stevie V, dance act famous for the song Dirty Cash (Money Talks), that reached #2 in the UK Top 40 in 1990.
• Richard Walker, angling journalist, author and photographer.
• John Buglass, archaeologist
• Pam Rhodes, novelist and BBC Songs of Praise presenter
• Gurpareet Bains, chef and food writer, attended Stratton Upper School in the town

External links

• Biggleswade History Society
• Community Web site