Eastcotts | |
---|---|
![]() Eastcotts parish within Bedford | |
Location within Bedfordshire | |
Population | 4,004 (2016 Census including Harrowden and Shortstown) [1] |
OS grid reference | TL083344 |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BEDFORD |
Postcode district | MK42 |
Police | Bedfordshire |
Fire | Bedfordshire and Luton |
Ambulance | East of England |
UK Parliament | |
Eastcotts is an electoral ward within the Borough of Bedford, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It was formerly also a civil parish until its abolition on 1 April 2019, when Cotton End and Shortstown parishes were established. [2] [3]
The boundaries of Eastcotts are approximately Exeter Wood to the east, Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge to the south and Shocott Spring to the west. There are two woodlands; Shocott Spring and Exeter Wood, two villages; Shortstown and Cotton End and two hamlets; Harrowden and Herrings Green. And some landmarks such as the Cardington Sheds.
Eastcotts Castle a small motte castle constructed of timber was built during the 11th or 12th century. Located on the Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge, it overlooked the parish to the north. [4]
In 1831 Eastcotts was described as a chapelry in the parish of Cardington, in the hundred of Wixamtree, 3+1⁄2 miles south-east of Bedford. [5] It became a separate civil parish in 1866. [6]
In 1915 Short Brothers bought land in the parish to build airships for the Admiralty and constructed a 700-foot-long (210 m) airship hangar to build the two R31 class airships. They also built a housing estate for workers which they named Shortstown. The site was nationalized in 1919 and became known as the Royal Airship Works. The shed was extended in 1926 and its roof was raised to accommodate the R101. A second shed was moved here from RNAS Pulham, Norfolk, in 1928, but after the crash of the R101 in 1930, all work stopped in Britain on airships and the site became a storage station. It became known as RAF Cardington in 1936 and started building barrage balloons and became the No 1 RAF Balloon Training Unit. The site has since been used for a variety of other purposes by a number of organizations including the Royal Aircraft Establishment, the Building Research Establishment, the Meteorological Research Unit, Airship Industries and Hybrid Air Vehicles. The sheds are both listed buildings, [7] [8] but Hangar Number 1 is at risk, needing complete repair and refurbishment. [9]
On 1 April 2019 the parish was abolished and split to Cotton End and Shortstown.
As a result of the building of Shortstown, the population of Eastcotts rose from 848 in 1911 to 2,065 by 1921. [10]
With the ending of National Service and cuts in the armed forces the RAF’s presence at Cardington began to dwindle and largely disappeared in the 1970s. As a result, the population of Eastcotts declined from 3,675 in 1951 to 1,710 in 1981. [11]
The majority of the population of the parish, which was 4,004 in 2016, [12] lives in Shortstown in the northern part of the parish, which was built-in in the early 20th century to house workers from the Cardington airship works.
The population of the ward is expected to rise substantially in the near future, as planning permission for the development of 1,100 homes on the new site built in 2011 named New Cardington. 42 hectares (100 acres) site of the former RAF camp in Shortstown was granted in November 2005. [13]
Year | Eastcotts | Shortstown | Cotton End |
---|---|---|---|
1911 | 848 | - | - |
1921 | 2,065 | - | - |
1951 | 3,675 | - | - |
1981 | 1,710 | - | - |
2001 | 2,431 | 1,745 | 686 |
2011 | 3,239 | 2,401 | 838 |
2016 | 4,004 | 2,392 | 1,612 |
Eastcott's open spaces include Shortstown Playing Field near Southcote, Shocott Spring between Cotton End and Shortstown and Exeter Wood which is south-east of the parish.
A boarding school was established as a result of the Elementary Education Act 1870. The school was built in 1874, at a cost of £1,174, for 140 children with a schoolmaster’s house attached.
A primary school was built in Shortstown around 1957, which was then demolished in 2012 to create a new primary school, located in New Cardington, that was completed in September 2013.
There is currently two schools in Eastcotts. One in Shortstown, and another in Cotton End.
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckinghamshire to the west. The largest settlement is Luton (225,262), and Bedford is the county town.
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of its urban area, including Kempston and Biddenham, was 106,940. Bedford is also the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford, a unitary authority that includes a significant rural area.
R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airships completed in 1929 as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme, a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was designed and built by an Air Ministry–appointed team and was effectively in competition with the government-funded but privately designed and built R100. When built, it was the world's largest flying craft at 731 ft (223 m) in length, and it was not surpassed by another hydrogen-filled rigid airship until the LZ 129 Hindenburg was launched seven years later.
The Borough of Bedford is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Its council is based in Bedford, its namesake and principal settlement, which is the county town of Bedfordshire. The Bedford built-up-area is the 71st largest in the United Kingdom and comprises the boundaries of the pre-1974 Bedford Municipal Borough, the town of Kempston and the village of Biddenham, with the BUA surrounded by a rural area with many villages. 75% of the borough's population live in the Bedford Urban Area and the five large villages which surround it, which makes up slightly less than 6% of the total land area of the Borough.
Everton is a small rural village of about 200 dwellings and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England about 9 miles (14 km) east of the county town of Bedford.
His Majesty's Airship R100 was a privately designed and built British rigid airship made as part of a two-ship competition to develop a commercial airship service for use on British Empire routes as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme. The other airship, the R101, was built by the British Air Ministry, but both airships were funded by the Government.
Cardington is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England.
Pulham Saint Mary is a rural village and civil parish in Norfolk, that lies next to the village of Pulham Market. It is situated approximately 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Diss and 15 miles (24 km) south of Norwich, covers an area of 12.26 km2 (4.73 sq mi) and a population of 892 at the 2011 census.
Harrowden is a one-street hamlet in the civil parish of Eastcotts, in Bedfordshire.
Shortstown is a village and civil parish on the outskirts of Bedford, on a ridge above the River Great Ouse, originally called Tinkers Hill.
Eastcotts Castle was a medieval castle located in the parish of Eastcotts, at the edge of Exeter Wood, in the county of Bedfordshire, England.
Cotton End is a small village and civil parish on the outskirts of Bedford. It became its own parish as of 1 April 2019, having previously been part of the parish of Eastcotts. Ordnance Survey maps from the 1880s show its name as 'Cardington Cotton End'.
Airship hangars are large specialized buildings that are used for sheltering airships during construction, maintenance and storage. Rigid airships always needed to be based in airship hangars because weathering was a serious risk.
Cardington Airfield, previously RAF Cardington, is a former Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, with a long and varied history, particularly in relation to airships and balloons.
Cardington was a railway station on the Bedford to Hitchin Line which served the village of Cardington in Bedfordshire, England. Opened in 1857, it gave more than a century of service before closing in 1962.
Cardington Workmen's Platform was a railway station on the Bedford to Hitchin Line which served the Royal Air Force station near the village of Cardington in Bedfordshire, England. A short-lived halt, it opened during the First World War and closed in 1921.
Flight Lieutenant Herbert Carmichael "Bird" Irwin, AFC was an Irish aviator and Olympic athlete.
Major George Herbert "Lucky Breeze" Scott, CBE, AFC, was a British airship pilot and engineer. After serving in the Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force during World War I, Scott went on to command the airship R34 on its return Atlantic crossing in 1919, which marked the first transatlantic flight by an airship and the first east–west transatlantic flight by an aircraft of any kind. Subsequently, he worked at the Royal Airship Works in connection with the Imperial Airship Scheme and took part in a second return Atlantic crossing, this time by the R100, in 1930. He was killed later in the year aboard the R100's near-sister, the R101, when it crashed in northern France during a flight to India.
Thurleigh is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford, north Bedfordshire, England, situated around 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Bedford town centre.
eastcotts.