Stewartby

Last updated

Stewartby
Stewartby Village Centre - geograph.org.uk - 404268.jpg
Stewartby
Bedfordshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Stewartby
Location within Bedfordshire
Population1,212  [1]
1,190 (2011 Census) [2]
OS grid reference TL020423
Civil parish
  • Stewartby
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Bedford
Postcode district MK43
Dialling code 01234
Police Bedfordshire
Fire Bedfordshire and Luton
Ambulance East of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Bedfordshire
52°04′09″N0°30′50″W / 52.0691°N 0.5139°W / 52.0691; -0.5139

Stewartby is a model village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, originally built for the workers of the London Brick Company. The village was designed and built to the plans of the company's architect Mr F W Walker, laid out on 'Garden City' principle, a later and more modern development than such better-known Victorian model villages as Saltaire. Started in 1926, [3] Stewartby is also a later model than Woodlands which was first planned in 1905. The later retirement bungalow development of the 1950s and 1960s with the pavilion community centre in their midst was designed by the neo-Georgian architect Professor Sir Albert Richardson. Today, Stewartby parish also includes Kempston Hardwick.

Contents

Brickworks

Originally two Wootton farming settlements, Wootton Pillinge and neighbouring Wootton Broadmead, the Wootton Pillinge LBC village was in 1936 renamed Stewartby, taking its new name from the Stewart family, directors of London Brick Company since 1900. The family's son Sir Malcolm Stewart had amalgamated LBC with the Forders Company in the village in the 1920s.

Stewartby was the largest brickworks in terms of output in the world. [3] The site closed in 2008 as the owners, Hanson, could not meet UK limits for sulphur dioxide emissions. [4] The four remaining chimneys were due to be demolished upon closure but these were initially listed for preservation of Bedfordshire's brick-related history and were due to remain, [5] however this since changed and the chimneys were demolished on 26 September 2021. [6]

The brickworks was home to the world's biggest kiln and produced 500 million bricks at the height of production. [7]

BJ Forder & Son opened its first brickworks in Elstow in 1897 before relocating to Wootton Pillinge in 1920. [8]

Wootton Pillinge was renamed Stewartby in 1937 in recognition of the Stewart family who had been instrumental in developing the brickworks. [9]

The firm became London Brick Company and Forders Limited in 1926, and shortened to London Brick Company in 1936. [10]

At the height of the industry's production there were 167 brick chimneys in the Marston Vale. There were four chimneys in Stewartby, but these were demolished in 2021. [11]

In the 1970s, Bedfordshire produced 20% of England's bricks.[ citation needed ]

At its peak London Brick Company had its own ambulance and fire crews, a horticultural department and a photographic department, as well as its own swimming pool inside the factory, and ran a number of sports clubs.[ citation needed ]

More than £1 million was spent on Stewartby Brickworks in 2005–7 in an attempt to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions.[ citation needed ]

The factory used Lower Oxford Clay, which contains circa 5% marine organics, formed 150 million years ago when it was on the sea bed. This reduced the coal requirement, as the organic material burned. [12]

Stewartby Brickworks closed in May 2008. [3]

In 2021, it was announced that the four remaining chimneys were to be demolished, as the landowners deemed them unsafe; they were later demolished on 26 September 2021 at 11:15am. [6]

In December 2023, Universal Destinations & Experiences announced that it had purchased 480 acres of land on the site of the brickworks, with the company exploring the possibility of building a theme park and resort in the area, citing nearby Bedford's proximity to London and Luton Airport. [13]

Infrastructure

The village is served by Stewartby railway station on the Marston Vale Line.

The village was to have been the planned location for the proposed National Institute for Research into Aquatic Habitats (NIRAH). This project was scrapped in June 2015 due to lack of investment funding. [14]

The new housing development is called Hanson's Reach. Phase one involves 750 new houses being built.

It is planned to construct a very large waste incinerator in an abandoned clay pit next to the village. [15]

Education

Kimberley College is a sixth form centre which opened in Stewartby in September 2013. [16]

There is a lower school in Stewartby called Broadmead Lower School, which was opened in 1965. The middle school is Marston Vale, which takes in children from the surrounding area.

Sport and leisure

Stewartby has been home to Stewartby Village Football Club since 1999. In the 2009/10 season it was in the Bedfordshire County League Division 4.

Stewartby is also home to Stewartby Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society which has been putting on performances of concerts and Gilbert and Sullivan operettas since 1951. [17]

There is a large park in Stewartby which has a new slide and zip wire. There are plans to extend the park. A BMX track has been built behind the club house.

The railway in Stewartby was opened in 1905 and used to form part of the Varsity Line, from Oxford to Cambridge. There are plans to reopen the closed parts of the line under the East West Rail scheme. The line now sees an hourly service Monday to Saturday between Bedford and Bletchley, operated by London Northwestern Railway using Class 230 trains.

The lake is home to Stewartby Water Sports Club, a not for profit organisation which promotes Angling, Power Boat Racing, Sailing, Wakeboarding and Waterskiing. There are also opportunities for open-water swimming, paddleboarding, canoeing and wind-surfing which are organised from within the club.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedford</span> Town in Bedfordshire, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kempston</span> Human settlement in England

Kempston is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, situated around 2 miles (3.2 km) south-west of Bedford town centre. It had a population of 19,330 in the 2011 census, and forms part of the wider Bedford built-up area. The River Great Ouse separates it from the Queen's Park area of Bedford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borough of Bedford</span> Unitary authority area in Bedfordshire, England

Bedford, or the Borough of Bedford, is a local government district with borough status in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Its council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. The council is based in Bedford, the borough's namesake and principal settlement, which is the county town of Bedfordshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wootton, Bedfordshire</span> Human settlement in England

Wootton is a large village and civil parish located to the southwest of Bedford, in the north of Bedfordshire, England. The parish also includes the hamlets of Hall End, Keeley Green and Wootton Green.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid Bedfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1918 onwards

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest of Marston Vale</span>

The Forest of Marston Vale is an evolving community forest in Marston Vale, which runs south west from the towns of Bedford and Kempston in Bedfordshire, England towards the M1 motorway. It is operated by a registered charity called the Forest of Marston Vale Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lidlington</span> Human settlement in England

Lidlington is a small village and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire, England surrounded by farmland, in the Marston Vale. The hamlets of Boughton End and Thrupp End are also part of the parish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kempston Hardwick</span> Human settlement in England

Kempston Hardwick is a small hamlet on the edge of the town of Kempston in Bedfordshire, England. Historically it was one of the hamlets or "ends" scattered across the parish of Kempston. It is served by Kempston Hardwick railway station on the Marston Vale Line, which was one of the least-used stations in the UK railway network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millbrook railway station (Bedfordshire)</span> Railway station in Millbrook, Bedfordshire, England

Millbrook railway station serves the villages of Millbrook and Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire, England. It is on the Marston Vale Line, between Stewartby and Lidlington. Millbrook is also the principal stop for the Marston Vale Millennium Country Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stewartby railway station</span> Railway station in Bedfordshire, England

Stewartby railway station is a station on the Marston Vale line, which serves the Bedfordshire village of Stewartby in England. It is the nearest station to the Marston Vale Millennium Country Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kempston Hardwick railway station</span> Railway station in Bedfordshire, England

Kempston Hardwick railway station serves the village of Kempston Hardwick in Bedfordshire, England. It should not be confused with the nearby town of Kempston. The station has two platforms next to a half-barrier level crossing.

The London Brick Company, owned by Forterra plc, is a leading British manufacturer of bricks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marston Vale</span>

Marston Vale is an area of Bedfordshire. It lies to the south west of Bedford and Kempston, near Junction 13 of the M1 motorway. Historically it was one of the main brickmaking districts in England, home of the London Brick Company, now a division of Hanson plc. The brickmaking activity left scars across the landscape of the Marston Vale as large tracts of land were dug for clay. Most of the claypits are now exhausted, and most of the brickmaking chimneys have been demolished. The legacy of the abandoned brickworks also adds to the impression that the Marston Vale has been despoiled by decades of industrial activity and it is now searching for a new identity. In more recent years the local authorities have taken the opportunity to reuse the clay pits for landfills at Stewartby and Brogborough, both of which are recently capped and closed down.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wixams</span> Human settlement in England

Wixams is a new town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England, which has been under construction since early 2007. It is expected to become the third largest settlement in the Borough of Bedford after Bedford itself and Kempston, and one of the largest new settlements founded in England since the British new towns movement of the first twenty five years after World War II.

Wootton Upper School is an academy school located on Hall End Road, in Wootton, England. It teaches years 9–11 in compulsory education and years 12–13 in compulsory education at Kimberley College. Approximately 75% of students previously in compulsory education stay on to the sixth form college. The school specialises in performing arts, such as music, drama and dance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wootton Broadmead Halt railway station</span> Former railway station in Bedfordshire, England

Wootton Broadmead Halt was a railway station on the Varsity Line which served the settlement of Wootton Broadmead near Stewartby in Bedfordshire, England. Opened in 1905, it was closed temporarily during both world wars and did not reopen after 1941, officially closing in 1952.

The National Institute for Research into Aquatic Habitats was a planned freshwater public aquarium in Stewartby, Bedfordshire. Originally sited at a 100 hectare location, with an expected cost of £350 million, the project failed to meet its planned completion date in 2012. The site of the aquarium was sold in 2015, with an expected loss of £4 million.

References

  1. ↑ "Neighbourhood Statistics - Stewartby (CP) Parish". Office for National Statistics . Retrieved 11 February 2008.
  2. ↑ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Morrison, K (2018). "The Historical Significance of Stewartby Brickworks, Stewartby, Bedfordshire. Historic England Research Report 6/2018". research.historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  4. ↑ "Brickworks closure axes 200 jobs". BBC News. 28 November 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
  5. ↑ "Listing saves brickworks chimneys". BBC News. 10 January 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
  6. 1 2 "Historic Stewartby Chimneys come down". ITV News. Bedfordshire. 26 September 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  7. ↑ Toufexi, Ioanna (31 January 2021). "The Bedfordshire village that was home to the largest brickworks in the world". Bedfordshire Live. Bedfordshire. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  8. ↑ "London Brick Company in Stewartby". Bedford Council. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  9. ↑ "The Parish of Stewartby in General". Bedford Council. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  10. ↑ "London Brick Company and Forders". Grace's Guide. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  11. ↑ "Stewartby historic brickworks chimneys demolished". BBC News. 26 September 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  12. ↑ "Origin and alteration of organic matter of the Oxford Clay Formation (U.K.) determined from bulk geochemical analyses". Cambridge University Press. 26 July 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  13. ↑ "Universal Studios buys Bedford brickworks for theme park plan". BBC News. 19 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  14. ↑ "Site of NIRAH aquarium plan at Quest Pit Stewartby sold". Bedford Today. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "Permit No EPR/WP3234DY" (PDF). Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  16. ↑ "New Sixth Form College | University of Bedfordshire | Bedford College & Schools in Bedfordshire". Bedfordshire-news.co.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  17. ↑ "Website". saods.org.uk. Stewartby Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society. Retrieved 24 December 2023.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.