Whipsnade

Last updated

Whipsnade
St.Mary Magdelen, Whipsnade - geograph.org.uk - 222462.jpg
Church of St Mary Magdelene, Whipsnade (August 2006)
Bedfordshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Whipsnade
Location within Bedfordshire
Population455 (parish) [1]
OS grid reference TL010179
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town DUNSTABLE
Postcode district LU6
Dialling code 01582
Police Bedfordshire
Fire Bedfordshire and Luton
Ambulance East of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Bedfordshire
51°51′03″N0°32′06″W / 51.8509°N 0.5349°W / 51.8509; -0.5349

Whipsnade is a small village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills, about 2+1⁄2 miles (4.0 km) south-south-west of Dunstable on the top of the Dunstable Downs, which drop away steeply to the south of the village. [2]

Contents

Etymology

Whipsnade is a compound of the Anglo-Saxon personal name, Wibba, with the word "snæd", an area of woodland. Therefore, the name means "Wibba's wood". [2] A variation may be seen as "Wystnade" in a legal record of 1460, where named people in Dunstable were accused of trespassing. [3]

History

The village was first mentioned in a coroner's roll of 1274 when Whipsnade Wood was described as being within the parish of Houghton Regis. [2] The Old Hunters Lodge at the Crossroads in the village is a Grade II listed building, built in the early 17th Century. It is now a hotel and the only licensed premises outside the ZSL grounds in the village. [4]

Edward John Eyre, explorer of Australia, was born in Whipsnade in 1815. [5]

The parish of Whipsnade used to have a detached part at Ballingdon Bottom, which formed an exclave of Bedfordshire, surrounded by Hertfordshire. The county boundary was changed in 1844, transferring Ballingdon Bottom to Hertfordshire. For parish purposes, it remained a detached part of Whipsnade. When district councils were established in 1894, the main part of Whipsnade parish was included in the Luton Rural District in Bedfordshire, whilst Ballingdon Bottom became part of the Markyate Rural District in Hertfordshire. The parish boundaries were rationalised in 1897 when Ballingdon Bottom was transferred to the parish of Flamstead. [6] [7] [8]

In the 2021 census, the population of Whipsnade was 455. [1]

Landmarks

Whipsnade is home to Whipsnade Tree Cathedral, a 9+1⁄2 acres (3.8 ha) arboretum planted in the arrangement of a cathedral, and Whipsnade Zoo. A chalk hill figure of a lion can be found on Bison Hill, created in 1933; it is owned by the zoo. It is the longest hill figure in England at 483 feet (147 m). During the Second World War, the lion was covered with a black tarp to prevent German bomber planes from using it for navigation. [9] Whipsnade Park Golf Club is also in the vicinity, though it is actually in neighbouring Dagnall. [10]

The local Wildlife Trust manages a small nature reserve north of the village called Sallowsprings ( 51°51′21″N0°32′21″W / 51.8559°N 0.5391°W / 51.8559; -0.5391 (Sallowsprings) ). [11]

Related Research Articles

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

Luton is a town and unitary authority with borough status in Bedfordshire, England, with a population at the 2021 census of 225,262.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedfordshire</span> County of England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ampthill</span> Town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England

Ampthill is a town and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It lies between Bedford and Luton. At the 2021 census it had a population of 8,825.

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

Dagnall is a village in the parish of Edlesborough, in Buckinghamshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whipsnade Zoo</span> Zoo near Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England

Whipsnade Zoo, formerly known as ZSL Whipsnade Zoo and Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, is a zoo and safari park located at Whipsnade, near Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England. It is one of two zoos that are owned by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunstable Downs</span> Part of Chiltern Hills, England

Dunstable Downs are part of the Chiltern Hills, in southern Bedfordshire, England; and are located near the town of Dunstable. They are a chalk escarpment forming the north-eastern reaches of the Chilterns. At 243 m (797 ft), Dunstable Downs are the highest point in the county of Bedfordshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Markyate</span> Village in Hertfordshire, England

Markyate is a village and civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, close to the border with Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

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

Ickleford is a large village situated on the northern outskirts of Hitchin in North Hertfordshire in England. It lies on the west bank of the River Hiz and to the east of the main A600 road. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 1,833.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Bedfordshire</span> History of Bedfordshire County in England

Bedfordshire is an English ceremonial county which lies between approximately 25 miles and 55 miles north of central London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caddington</span> Village and civil parish in England

Caddington is a village and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England.

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

Barton-le-Clay is a large village and a civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England, bordering Hertfordshire. The village has existed since at least 1066 and is mentioned in the Domesday Book.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luton Rural District</span> History of Bedfordshire

Luton Rural District was a local authority in Bedfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It covered an area which almost surrounded but did not include the towns of Luton and Dunstable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Counties Act 1844, which came into effect on 20 October 1844, was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which eliminated many outliers or exclaves of counties in England and Wales for civil purposes. The changes were based on recommendations by a boundary commission, headed by the surveyor Thomas Drummond and summarized in a schedule attached to the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832. This also listed a few examples of civil parishes divided by county boundaries, most of which were dealt with by later legislation. This Act was repealed in its entirety by the Local Government Act 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Luton</span> History of the town in Bedfordshire, England

Luton is a town located in the south of Bedfordshire, England.

Ballingdon Bottom is a valley in Hertfordshire, England. It forms part of the boundary between the civil parishes of Flamstead and Great Gaddesden.

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

Sutton is a rural village and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It lies 11 miles (18 km) east of Bedford. At the 2001 Census, its population was 299. Main features are the packhorse bridge over the Potton Brook, the adjacent ford, and the Grade I listed All Saints' Parish Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunstable</span> Market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England

Dunstable is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, 30 miles north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is the fourth largest town in Bedfordshire and along with Houghton Regis forms the westernmost part of the Luton/Dunstable urban area.

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

Kensworth is a village and civil parish located in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. The parish is located on the edge of Dunstable Downs, and includes the hamlets of California and Kensworth Lynch.

The town of Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England was governed as an ancient borough between the twelfth century and the sixteenth century. The town’s borough status was effectively lost after 1541, following the English Reformation. Urban local government returned to the town in 1863 with the establishment of a local board. The following year borough status was restored to the town when it was made a municipal borough.

Markyate Rural District was a short-lived rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1897, on the borders with Bedfordshire.

References

  1. 1 2 ONS, Census 2021 Parish Profiles
  2. 1 2 3 "The Parish of Whipsnade in General". Bedford Borough Council. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  3. ↑ first entry in http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no799/aCP40no799fronts/IMG_0332.htm
  4. ↑ "Old Hunters Lodge Hotel: The Cross Roads, Whipsnade". Bedford Borough Council. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  5. ↑ "Eyre, Edward John (1815–1901)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  6. ↑ "Whipsnade Tithe Apportionment 1842–1844". Bedfordshire Archives Catalogue. Bedford Borough Council. Retrieved 28 September 2021. Parish, including detached portion called Ballingdon Bottom.
  7. ↑ Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. 61)
  8. ↑ Local and Personal Acts. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1897. p. 561. Retrieved 26 September 2021. The Counties of Bedford and Hertford (Caddington, &c.) Order 1897
  9. ↑ "Whipsnade Zoo's Big Help Out volunteers weed giant lion for Coronation". BBC News. 8 May 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  10. ↑ "Whipsande Park Golf Club". Whipsnade Park Golf Club. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  11. ↑ "Sallowsprings". Bedfordshire Cambridgeshire Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 17 March 2020.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Whipsnade at Wikimedia Commons

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.