Houghton Regis
Coordinates: 51°54′14″N 0°31′29″W / 51.9039°N 0.5247°W
| Houghton Regis | |
 Houghton Regis
Houghton Regis shown within Bedfordshire |
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| Population | 17,000 (est.)[1] |
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| Unitary authority | Central Bedfordshire |
| Ceremonial county | Bedfordshire |
| Region | East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | DUNSTABLE |
| Postcode district | LU5 |
| Dialling code | 01582 |
| Police | Bedfordshire |
| Fire | Bedfordshire and Luton |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | South West Bedfordshire |
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Houghton Regis (pron.: /ˈhaʊtən ˈriːdʒɨz/) 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.[2]
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Ancient history [edit]
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 [3] 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".[4]
History [edit]
Houghton Regis is considerably older than Dunstable, and it is mentioned in the Domesday Book when it was called Houstone.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7] Timeline for Houghton Regis.[8]
The men of Houghton claimed to be exempt from tolls in Dunstable market.[9] 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.[6]
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[10] 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.
Modern times [edit]
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.[11]
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 [edit]
The A5-M1 Link Dunstable Northern Bypass[12] is a proposed two-lane dual carriageway running east from the A5 north of Dunstable to join the M1 at a new Junction 11a south of Chalton. This proposed road would help to relieve Houghton Regis town centre of traffic. The planned completion date for this scheme is the end of 2016.
Woodside Connection[13](for the reference link, scroll to item 9 of the agenda). A proposed relief road by Central Bedfordshire Council would take traffic from the Woodside Industrial area (situated in the south of Houghton Regis) to the proposed M1 junction 11a. The Local Transport Plan puts a timescale of 2017 for the completion of this road.
A Luton-Houghton Regis guided busway is under construction.[14]
Houghton Regis North Framework Plan. A proposed north of Houghton Regis 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.[13](for the reference link, scroll to item 8 of the agenda). Within the Framework Plan, the Houghton Regis Development Consortium are planning for 5,150 homes, employment, retail, infrastructure, community, facilities and leisure on open farm land situated to the north of Tithe Farm estate and to the east of Parkside estate.[15]
Politics [edit]
Houghton Regis Town Council[16] has 14 elected councillors who receive no remuneration. Elections are held every 4 years.
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.[17]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Houghton Regis Town Council.
- ^ Luton Population
- ^ http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/s/stanbridgeford/index0.shtml
- ^ http://sacred-texts.com/etc/ml/ml14.htm
- ^ Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 2003. ISBN 0-14-143994-7 p.1361
- ^ a b http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42453
- ^ Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 2003. ISBN 0-14-143994-7 p.563
- ^ Timeline for Houghton Regis: http://houghtonregisheritage.blogspot.co.uk/p/timeline.html
- ^ Ann. Mon. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 377
- ^ http://www.houghtonregis.com/About_Us.html
- ^ http://www.sustrans.org.uk/webfiles/leaflets/sewell_greenway.pdf
- ^ http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/road-projects/A5-M1-Link--Dunstable-Northern-Bypass-
- ^ a b http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/modgov/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=577&MId=4051&Ver=4
- ^ http://www.luton.gov.uk/busway/
- ^ http://hrn1.co.uk
- ^ http://www.houghtonregis-tc.org.uk/index.asp
- ^ http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/elected_representatives/results/Houghton_Regis/default.aspx
External links [edit]
- Houghton Regis Town Council official site
- Google people and place name map for Houghton Regis
- Picture the Past ~ HOUGHTON REGIS BYGONES
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