Leagrave

Leagrave
Population
OS grid reference	TL0523
Unitary authority	Luton
Ceremonial county	Bedfordshire
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LUTON
Postcode district	LU3, LU4
Dialling code	01582
Police	Bedfordshire
Fire	Bedfordshire and Luton
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	Luton North

For other uses see Leagrave (disambiguation)

Leagrave is a former village and now a suburb of Luton in Bedfordshire in the northwest of the town. Connected by train from Leagrave station into London and Bedford by First Capital Connect. The M1 is close at hand as well as Luton Airport.

History

The first settlement in the area was Waulud's Bank which is a Neolithic D-shaped enclosure in Leagrave Park at the source of the River Lea and is now a protected monument. Waulud's bank consists of a bank and external ditch of around 7 hectares with a turf reveted chalk and gravel bank (built from the excavated ditch material). The ditch itself is about 9 m wide and 2 m deep. Finds at the site have included neolithic Grooved Ware and flint arrow heads. It is a similar site to Durrington Walls and Marden and the site was later re-used in the Iron Age and during the Roman occupation.

The Icknield Way, a Roman road, passes though Leagrave. Local road names give away its location, 'Roman Road' runs from Oakley Road to Marsh Road. On the other side of Marsh Road as the road enters Limbury it continues as 'Icknield Road' where there is a gap before the road continues as Icknield Way.

Main station building on Platform 4 at Leagrave

Map of Leagrave from 1889

The River Lea/(Lee) starts in Leagrave before making its way eventually to the Thames, joining in London. The Lee crosses Leagrave Common and receives a tributary called Knapps Brook which joins from culverts under the railway embankment and Toddington Road. Napps Brook is a combination of brooks from East End, Houghton Regis and from the Lewsey Estate near the old Lewsey Farm. The river once formed one boundary of the Danelaw. Leagrave Marsh used to be a popular place for the Luton hatters on their (rare) days off and was, consequently, known as "Blockers' Seaside". The hatmaking industry originally relied on straw plaits, made by farmers' wives, bought and collected by a "plaitman" and brought into the Luton hat factories to be made into straw hats. A new artwork has been unveiled in the area, reflecting on this former use of the area.

The manor of Leagrave was held by the Lucy family from 1305 to 1455. The Lucys gave their name to the area of Luton known as Lewsey.

Leagrave station was built by the Midland Railway company in 1868 on its extension to St Pancras. The old Midland station buildings still exist, having been carefully restored in the 1980s.

In 1866 the villages of Leagrave and Limbury were formed into the ecclesiastical parish of 'Holy Trinity, (Biscot)'. Thirty years later, in 1896 Leagrave civil parish was formed under the provisions of the 'Local Government Act 1894', in the ecclesiastical parish of Limbury-cum-Biscot.

In 1914 Hewlett & Blondeau Limited, an aircraft manufacturing business, opened a factory at Leagrave called The Omnia Works. The company was managed by Hilda Hewlett who lived on site. During the First World War the factory produced more than 800 aircraft and employed up to 700 people. The business closed in 1920 and in 1926 the factory site was sold to Electrolux.

The area grew significantly in between the wars and in 1928 the parish was abolished when the boundaries of Luton were extended to include Leagrave, as well as Limbury and Stopsley. Further expansion of the area took place during the 1930s; much of the housing stock of the area dates from the 1920s and 1930s. Further large scale construction continued post-war with the construction of the Hockwell Ring estate and nearby Marsh Farm. Some of the old farm names live on in the modern road names, Strangers Farm lends its name to the current Strangers Way, and at the edge of Leagrave Marsh was Marsh Farm, which gives its name to the 1960s estate famous for the Marsh Farm riots which took place in 1995.

Until recently Electrolux was one of the larger employers in the area, however much of the old factory site was sold off over the last ten years or so for re-development into housing. The most recent development on the site was Saxon-Gate. Leagrave is increasingly a commuter area with many people taking advantage of the train and motorway connections into London and to the North. There have been many smaller developments of former industrial land creating many new apartment blocks and also infil housing.

Etymology

The town was recorded in 1224 as Littegraue, intimating that its name means 'Light-coloured, or lightly-wooded, grove'. However, another source suggests its name originates from Lygegrove: "Lyge" being an old name for the River Lea.

Geography and geology

Leagrave is located in a break in the eastern part of the Chiltern Hills. The Chilterns themselves are a mixture of chalk from the Cretaceous period (about 65-146 million years ago) and deposits laid at the southernmost points of the ice sheet during the last ice age (the Warden Hills area can be seen from much of the town).

Leagrave has a temperate marine climate, like much of the British Isles, with regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year. The weather is very changeable from day to day and the warming influence of the Gulf Stream makes the region mild for its latitude. The average total annual rainfall is 584 millimetres (23 in) with rain falling on 109 days of the year.

Climate data for Bedford (The nearest weather station to Leagrave at 20 miles to the North.)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Source:

Demographics

The United Kingdom Census 2001 showed that Leagrave had a population of 11,194. Luton Council estimates for 2007 have show a revised figure of 12,910.

Ethnicity

Luton and consequently Leagrave has seen several waves of immigration. In the early part of the 20th century Irish and Scottish people arrived in the town, these were followed by Afro-Caribbean and Asian immigrants. More recently a new wave of immigrants from Eastern Europe has made Luton their home. As a result of this Leagrave has a diverse ethnic mix, with a significant population of Asian descent, mainly Pakistani (9.8%), Indian (4.2%) and Bangladeshi (4.3%). The 2005 Office of National Statistics figures revealed that town had a white population of 68% (of which white British amounted to 61.3%) compared to an East of England average of 92.8%.

Luton: Ethnicity: 2005 Office of National Statistics estimates
	Luton %	East of England %	England %
White	68.0	92.8	89.1
Mixed	2.8	1.4	1.6
Asian or Asian British	19.3	3.1	5.3
Black or Black British	7.9	1.6	2.7
Chinese or Other Ethnic Group	2.0	1.1	1.3
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0

Religion

According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, 66% of the inhabitants in Leagrave are Christian and 7% are Muslim.

The full statistics are as follows

Religion	Leagrave %	Luton %	National %
Christian	66.2%	59.6%	71.7%
Muslim	7.1%	14.6%	3.0%
Hindu	2.6%	2.7%	1.1%
Sikh	0.5%	0.8%	0.6%
Jewish	0.3%	0.3%	0.5%
Buddhist	0.2%	0.2%	0.3%
Other	0.5%	0.3%	0.3%
No religion	15.0%	14.1%	14.8%
Religion not stated	7.5%	7.2%	7.7%

Trivia

The current site of the McDonald's restaurant on Marsh Road was the site of the Three Horseshoes pub, which was demolished in 1994. The roundabout next to McDonalds takes its name from the old pub, and the old pub sign can still be seen in the planting scheme.

Transport

Air

Main article: Luton Airport

Luton Airport

Leagrave is about 4 miles (6 km) from Luton Airport. The airport was renamed London Luton Airport in 1990, just before Ryanair took its business to Stansted. The growth of new low-cost flights rejuvenated the airport and passenger numbers more than doubled from 1992 to 1998.

Rail

Main article: Leagrave railway station

Leagrave enjoys good rail connections via its station. Luton has two further train stations (Luton and Luton Airport Parkway) both of which are serviced by First Capital Connect (like Leagrave) but also Midland Mainline, which offers a much faster connection into London.

Road

Leagrave is connected to the motorway network by the nearby Junction 11 of the M1 motorway, (Junction 10 serves Luton South).

The M1 was built to the west of Leagrave in 1959, and provides access to London and the North. The A6 passes through Luton heading north to Bedford and south to St Albans (although south of the town the road has been re-numbered as the A1081).

Local Schools and Education

• Leagrave Primary School, Strangers Way
• Beechwood Primary School, Linden Road
• Moorlands School, Leagrave Hall
• Lealands High School, Sundon Park Road
• Leagrave Library, Marsh Road

Moorlands School and Nursery was founded in 1891. It was originally located in the town centre before moving to Dunstable Road. In 1958 the school had grown significantly and new premises were needed. The school relocted to Leagrave Hall (built in 1850), a former home of the Filmer family.

Churches

St Lukes, Leagrave

The largest church in the parish is St Lukes on Leagrave High Street.

Leagrave Methodist Church is also on Leagrave High Street.

Politics

See also Politics in Luton

Leagrave ward is represented by Cllr Derrick Patten (Labour), Cllr Sheila Roden (Labour) and Cllr Desline Stewart (Labour).

The ward forms part of the parliamentary constituency of Luton North, and the MP is Kelvin Hopkins (Labour). Leagrave is within the East of England (European Parliament constituency).

Map of Luton showing Leagrave location

Local Attractions

Dunstable Downs Chiltern Hills Leagrave Park Leighton Buzzard Light Railway Luton Museum & Art Gallery The hat Factory Luton Hoo Mossman Collection Someries castle Stockwood Craft Museum Stockwood Park Wardown Park Waulud's Bank Whipsnade Tree Cathedral Whipsnade Wildlife Park Woodside Farm and Wildfowl Park Wrest Park Gardens

Local Newspapers

Two weekly newspapers are delivered free to all houses in Leagrave, with news about Leagrave and the surrounding area.

• Herald and Post (Luton based) – Delivered every Thursday
• Luton on Sunday – Delivered every Sunday

External links

• Luton Borough Council
• Leagrave Primary School
• Lealands High School
• Moorlands School
• Leagrave Library
• Kelvin Hopkins homepage
• St Lukes Church
• Views of Leagrave and Limbury from 1906