Clifton | |
---|---|
![]() All Saints Church | |
Location within Bedfordshire | |
Population | 2,878 (2011 Census) [1] |
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 | |
Clifton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Bedfordshire. The original hundred of Clifton is named after it.
The original "hundred" comprised: The Parishes of Arlesey; Campton-Cum-Shefford; Chicksands; Clifton; Henlow; Holwell; Meppershall; part of Shillington; Lower Stondon; Little Holwell; Stotfold; Upper Stondon. [2]
The first recorded reference to Clifton is in 944 when it is referred to as Cliftune. Clifton is also mentioned in the Domesday Book. The entry reads:
Cliftone: William de Cairon from Bishop of Lincoln, Eudo FitzHubert and Nigel d'Aubigny; Leofwin from St. Benedict's of Ramsey; Alwin from Countess Judith. 2 mills.
All Saints Church, built in the 14th and 15th centuries was heavily restored in the nineteenth century.
Clifton village is now a popular place to live as a consequence of its good transport links and proximity to the railway station at Arlesey.
Clifton was voted Bedfordshire Village of the Year in 2003, 2005 and 2009. It is today largely residential, but in the past it was a centre for straw plaiting. The original All Saints school was a "Straw Plait School" where children were expected to learn to plait straw from as young as four years of age. They would also be taught to read.
There was also once a small factory producing bottled drinks. Harwoods Mineral Water Factory [3] operated from 1880 until 1947. Harwoods produced Hops Bitters, Cherry Cider, Stone Ginger Beer, Lime Juice and Soda, and Ginger Ale and sold them to the pubs and shops of all the surrounding villages.
Samuel Whitbread Academy is also located in the village of Clifton. Clifton was visited by the Queen and Prince Philip on 17 November 2006 as part of a visit to reopen the school.
Facilities in Clifton include a lower school, butcher, post office/village store and two public houses (The Golden Lion and The Admiral). There is also an Indian restaurant, garage, petrol station and a hairdresser. There is a small group of businesses located in converted farm buildings at Clifton Bury farm.
At the northern edge of the village is Clifton Cricket Club which plays at the Claybridge Ground.
Football is played at the Recreation ground. The Community Centre, with its large car park, is located at the Northern end of the Recreation Ground. All Saints’ Church Hall is situated in Stanford Lane.
There is a duckpond in the centre of the village.
English actor Ben Whishaw was born and grew up in Clifton.
Clifton is located in the valley of the River Ivel which used to be navigable through the village. [4] The highest point in the village is 62m above sea level at Hitchin Hill.
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Clifton Primary School is in the community. [5]
It is in the catchment zone for Samuel Whitbread Academy, which has an upper school and sixth form. [6]
Luton is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census.
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.
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.
Stotfold is a town and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. The town covers 2,207 acres (8.93 km2) and the River Ivel passes through the town. The population of the parish at the 2021 census was 9,014. The wider built-up area, which the Office for National Statistics defines to additionally include the adjoining Fairfield Park development, had a population of 12,310 at the 2021 census. For the purposes of postal addresses, Stotfold comes under the post town of Hitchin; it was therefore in the postal county of Hertfordshire despite actually being in Bedfordshire.
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'.
Henlow is a village and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England, about 11 miles (18 km) south-east of the county town of Bedford. The name Henlow is believed to derive from the old English henna hlaw, meaning in old English "hill of birds" or “hill frequented by birds”.
Shillington is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. In the south of the parish the hamlet of Pegsdon includes the Pegsdon hills nature reserve and is a salient of the county into Hertfordshire. Since 1985 its administration has included the village of Higham Gobion, south-west on the minor road leading to the main north–south road in the district, the A6. It has a population of 1,831 and is centred midway between stopping services railway stations on the Midland Main Line and East Coast Main Line 6 miles (9.7 km) away. Farmland and hedgerows forms 95% of the land use and to the south and north of the boundaries is intermittent woodland.
Houghton Regis is a market town and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England.
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.
Samuel Whitbread Academy is an Upper School and Sixth Form with Academy status serving the rural communities around the small market town of Shefford in Central Bedfordshire. Its school campus includes a nursery school and facilities for adult education.
Langford is a village and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England about 10 miles (16 km) south-east of the county town of Bedford. The 2011 census gives the population as 3,091.
Leagrave is a former village and now a suburb of Luton, in the Luton district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England, in the northwest of the town. The current council ward is roughly bounded by Vincent Road, Torquay Drive and High Street to the north, Roman Road and Stoneygate Road to the south, the M1 to the west, and Marsh Road and Leagrave Park to the east.
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.
Lower Stondon is a small village in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It is located close to the border with Hertfordshire, around 2.5 miles (4 km) south-west of Henlow. It is part of the larger Stondon civil parish, which at the 2001 Census had a population of approximately 2,000 increasing to approximately 2,300 at the 2011 Census.
Higham Gobion is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Shillington, in the Central Bedfordshire district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It is located between the villages of Shillington and Barton-le-Clay. In 1961 the parish had a population of 28. On 1 April 1984 the parish was abolished and merged with Shillington. It was in the hundred of Flitt.
Meppershall is a hilltop village in Bedfordshire near Shefford, Campton, Shillington, Stondon and surrounded by farmland.
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.
Stondon is a civil parish located in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. The parish includes the settlements of Lower Stondon and Upper Stondon.