Chicksands | |
---|---|
Priory House, Central Bedfordshire Council offices | |
Location within Bedfordshire | |
OS grid reference | TL124389 |
Civil parish | |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | SHEFFORD |
Postcode district | SG17 |
Dialling code | 01462 |
Police | Bedfordshire |
Fire | Bedfordshire and Luton |
Ambulance | East of England |
UK Parliament | |
Chicksands is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Campton and Chicksands in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. The village is on the River Flit and close to its parish village of Campton and the town of Shefford.
In 1961 the parish had a population of 607. [1] In 2007, the population was estimated to be 2,510. [2] By the 2011 census the figure was 1,699. [3]
Mid Bedfordshire District Council moved to a new office building on a part of the former RAF Chicksands sportsfield, adjacent to the A507, having previously been based in offices at Ampthill and Biggleswade. The new office, named Priory House, was officially opened by the Queen on 17 November 2006 accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh. [4] The offices are now home to Central Bedfordshire Council. [5]
Chicksands is mentioned in the Domesday Book the entry reads: Chichesana/e: William de Cairon from Bishop of Lincoln; Three freemen and Walter from Azelina, Ralph Tailbois' wife (it is of her dowry). Mill. [6] It means "Cicca's sands", where Cicca is a personal name. [7]
Chicksands was the site of RAF Chicksands, an RAF station during World War II. The station was used by the United States Air Force from 1950 to 1995. [8] It was the location for its first huge FLR-9 direction finding antenna from 1963 to 1995. The antenna was known as the 'Elephant Cage' and was dismantled before the USAF left in 1995. [9] It is now home to the Joint Intelligence Training Group (JITG) and the Headquarters of the British Army's Intelligence Corps. [10]
Chicksands Priory, a monastic house built in 1150, is located within the grounds of the Joint Intelligence Training Group. [11] It is open to the public, by appointment only, on the 1st & 3rd Sunday afternoons, April–October. [12] Chicksands Priory was formerly an extra-parochial tract, [13] from 1858 Chicksands Priory was a civil parish in its own right, it was later renamed to just "Chicksands", on 1 April 1985 the parish was abolished and merged with Campton to form "Campton & Chicksands". [14]
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It is in the school catchment area for Robert Bloomfield Academy. [15] It is also in the catchment area for Samuel Whitbread Academy, which has an upper school and sixth form. [16]
Mid Bedfordshire was a local government district in Bedfordshire, England, from 1974 to 2009.
Bedfordshire is an English ceremonial county which lies between approximately 25 miles and 55 miles north of central London.
Campton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Campton and Chicksands, in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It is about 9 miles (14 km) south of Bedford, and is about 9 miles (14 km) north-west from Letchworth and sits on a tributary of the River Ivel. It is just to the west of Shefford. The 13th century Church of All Saints is in the centre of the village. In 1961 the parish had a population of 358.
Mid Bedfordshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Blake Stephenson of the Conservative Party since the 2024 United Kingdom general election.
Shefford is a town and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. At the 2021 census it had a population of 7,311. It lies 10 miles (16 km) south-east of Bedford.
Arlesey is a town and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It is near the border with Hertfordshire, about three miles north-west of Letchworth Garden City, four miles north of Hitchin and six miles south of Biggleswade. Arlesey railway station provides services to London, Stevenage and Peterborough. The Domesday Book of 1086 mentions Arlesey. The town's name means the 'island of a man named Aelfric'.
Broom is a small village in the civil parish of Southill, in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England about 8.5 miles (14 km) south-east of the county town of Bedford.
Biggleswade was a rural district in Bedfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. As initially created the district entirely surrounded but did not include Biggleswade, which was an urban district in its own right. In 1927 the parish of Sandy, which bordered Biggleswade, also became an urban district, leaving an island of two urban districts surrounded by the rural district.
Campton and Chicksands is a civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Its main settlements are Campton and Chicksands. In 2011, it had a population of 1,699.
Beadlow is a hamlet in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census the population of the hamlet was included in the civil parish of Campton and Chicksands.
Stanford is a hamlet in the civil parish of Southill, in the Central Bedfordshire district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It is about 8.5 miles (14 km) south-east of the county town of Bedford.
Clifton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Bedfordshire. The original hundred of Clifton is named after it.
Ministry of Defence Chicksands, or more simply MOD Chicksands, is a tri-service British Armed Forces facility in Bedfordshire, approximately 35 miles (56 km) north of London. It is named after Chicksands Priory, a 12th-century Gilbertine monastery located within the perimeter of the camp.
Southill is a rural village and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England; about 8 miles (13 km) south-east of the county town of Bedford.
Central Bedfordshire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It was created in 2009.
Central Bedfordshire Council is the local authority for Central Bedfordshire, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. It has been under no overall control since 2023, being run by an independent-led administration. The council is based at Chicksands.
Sir Stanley John Odell was a British businessman who was Chairman of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations from 1989 to 1990, an organisation of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom.
The Church of All Saints is the Anglican parish church in the village of Campton, Shefford, Bedfordshire, England. Its official title is Campton and Chicksands Parish and encompasses the villages of Campton and Chicksands and the nearby military base, despite the base having its own church dedicated to Saint Gilbert of Sempringham. The military church is a non-denominational church, so it is not a part of the Anglican parish.
Media related to Chicksands at Wikimedia Commons