Dunstable

Information about Dunstable

For the town in Massachusetts, see .


Dunstable
Enlarge picture
Dunstable (United Kingdom)

Dunstable (United Kingdom)

Dunstable shown within the United Kingdom
Population 33,805[1]
OS grid referenceTL0121
District South Bedfordshire
Shire county Bedfordshire
Region East
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town London
Postcode district LU5, LU6
Dialling code 023 92
Police Bedfordshire
Fire Bedfordshire and Luton
Ambulance East of England
UK Parliament South West Bedfordshire
European Parliament East of England
List of places: UK • England • Bedfordshire
Coordinates:

Dunstable is a town in the county of Bedfordshire. It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills. These form several steep chalk escarpments most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north.

Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 coming into force in 1974 Dunstable was a municipal borough. It is now a civil parish in the South Bedfordshire district.

History

Enlarge picture
A map of Dunstable from 1944
Dunstable lies on a crossroads of the ancient Roman road of Watling Street, which is the modern A5 trunk road, and the even older Icknield Way. In Roman times its name was Durocobrivis.[2] There are two theories concerning its modern name. Firstly there was a famous robber, Dunn. Wishing to capture Dunn, the king stapled a ring to a post daring the robber to steal it. It was, and he was subsequently caught. Hence the name, Dunn staple. The Second is that it comes from Anglo-Saxon Dunstaple, meaning "Hill Market".

One of the reasons for the town's prosperity, and the large number of Inns or public houses in the town, is the fact that it was one or two day's ride (approx 35 miles) from London, and therefore a place to rest and spend the night. There are two Pubs which still have coaching gates to the side that show this: the Sugar Loaf in High Street North, and the Saracens Head in High Street South. The Saracens Head, normally a name given to pubs frequented by Knights of the crusades, can be seen to be considerably lower than the road to its front, witness to the fact that the road has been resurfaced a number of times during the lifetime of the pub.

Dunstable was the site of an Eleanor cross. The Dunstable Priory Church of Saint Peter was founded in 1132 by Henry I and was later the setting for the divorce between Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, which led to the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. The first battles or skirmishes of the English Civil War occurred in Dunstable.

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Dunstable's Grove House
Dunstable's first railway opened in 1848. It was a branch of the London and North Western Railway, joining the West Coast Main Line at Leighton Buzzard. A second railway linking Dunstable with Hatfield on the Great Northern Railway via Luton opened in 1858. Dunstable Town station was closed when passenger services to Dunstable were withdrawn in 1965 and the track between Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard was removed. Dunstable is now one of the largest towns in south-east England without a railway connection.[3] The line between Dunstable and Luton on the Midland Main Line remained open for freight traffic for many years and the track is still in place. There have been a number of campaigns for the re-establishment of a passenger railway; although none of them has proved to be successful, plans are now going ahead for a guided bus service, "The Luton to Dunstable Busway", much of which will run along the lines of the old track.[4]

Dunstable was a significant market town, but its importance diminished as the neighbouring town of Luton grew.

In the twentieth century, the local economy was dominated by the printing and motor vehicle industries but with the closure of the main factories and the decline of manufacturing in the area, this distinctiveness has been lost. Most of the remaining factories and warehouses are on the Woodside Estate to the east of the town centre.

Places of interest in and around Dunstable

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Dunstable's New Grove Theatre

Areas and housing estates within Dunstable

Downside
Oldhill Estate
Langdale estate
Queensbury
Spoondell
Meadway
Beecroft
Aldbanks
Priory
Woodside Industrial Estate
Luton & Dunstable Borders
Katherine Drive
Northfields
Jeansway

Famous people who have lived in Dunstable

Twinned Towns

Dunstable is twinned with:

See also

Notes and references

1. ^ 2001 UK census
2. ^ There was a general assumption that the nominative form of the name had been Durocobrivae, so that is what appears on the map of 1944 illustrated above. But current thinking is that the form Durocobrivis, which occurs in the Antonine Itinerary, is a fossilised locative that was used all the time (A. L. F. Rivet and C. Smith, The Place Names of Roman Britain, Batsford, 1979, p. 349) and the Ordnance Survey now uses this form.
3. ^ Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service Guides to Collections: British Railways Board.
4. ^ Busway website [1].

Further reading

  • Prehistory: C. L. Matthews (revised J. Schneider), Ancient Dunstable, 2nd edition, Manshead Archaeological Society, 1989, ISBN 0-9515160-0-0.
  • Historical town-centre locations: N. C. Benson, Dunstable in Detail: An Illustrated Guide to the Town of Dunstable, Book Castle, 1986, ISBN 0-9509773-2-2.
  • Second World War: J. Yates and S. King, Dunstable and District at War from Eyewitness Accounts, Book Castle, 2006, ISBN 1-903747-79-1.
  • Development of the town: R. Walden, Streets Ahead: An Illustrated Guide to the Street Names of Dunstable, Book Castle, 1999, ISBN 0-871199-54-9 (h/b), ISBN 0-871199-59-X (p/b).

External links

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Towns and villages in Bedfordshire
Ampthill Arlesey Aspley Guise Astwick Barton-le-Clay Battlesden Beadlow Bedford Beeston Biddenham Biggleswade Billington Bletsoe Blunham Bolnhurst Brogborough Bromham Broom Caddington Campton Cardington Carlton Chalgrave Chellington Chicksands Clapham Clifton Clipstone Clophill Cockayne Hatley Colmworth Colworth Cople Cranfield Dean Dunstable Dunton Eastcotts Eaton Bray Edworth Eggington Elstow Eversholt Everton Eyeworth Farndish Felmersham Flitton Flitwick Goldington Great Barford Great Billington Harlington Harrold Haynes Heath and Reach Henlow Higham Gobion Hinwick Hockliffe Hockwell Ring Holwell Houghton Conquest Houghton Regis Hulcote Husbourne Crawley Hyde Ickwell Ickwell Green Kempston Kempston Hardwick Keysoe Knotting Langford Leagrave Leighton Buzzard Lidlington Limbury-Cum-Biscot Linslade Little Barford Little Staughton Lower Gravenhurst Lower Stondon Luton Marston Moretaine Maulden Melchbourne Meppershall Millbrook Milton Bryan Milton Ernest Moggerhanger Northill Oakley Odell Old Warden Pavenham Pertenhall Podington Potsgrove Potton Pulloxhill Putnoe Radwell Ravensden Renhold Ridgmont Riseley Roxton Salford Sandy Sharnbrook Shefford Shefford Hardwick Shelton Shillington Silsoe Souldrop Southcote Southill Stagsden Stanbridge Stanford Steppingley Stevington Stewartby Stotfold Streatley Studham Sundon Sutton Tempsford Thurleigh Tilsworth Tingrith Toddington Totternhoe Turvey Upper Caldecote Upper Gravenhurst Upper Stondon Westoning Whipsnade Wilden Willington Wilstead Wilshamstead Woburn Woodside Wootton Wrestlingworth Wyboston Wymington Yielden
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See also South Bedfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)


South Bedfordshire is a local government district in Bedfordshire, England. Its main towns are Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Leighton Buzzard.
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Bedfordshire

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Size 1,235
Population 0.6 million
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Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service area
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Size 1,230 km²
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1.1 East Midlands Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire
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