| Leighton Buzzard | |
|---|---|
 Market Cross | |
  Leighton Buzzard Location withinBedfordshire | |
| Population | 42,727 [1] |
| OS grid reference | SP921250 |
| Civil parish | |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LEIGHTON BUZZARD |
| Postcode district | LU7 |
| Dialling code | 01525 |
| Police | Bedfordshire |
| Fire | Bedfordshire |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
| |
Leighton Buzzard (/ˈleɪtənˈbʌzərd/ ⓘLAY-tənBUZ-ərd) is amarket town in thecivil parish ofLeighton–Linslade, in theCentral Bedfordshire district, inBedfordshire, England, in the southwest of the county and close to the Buckinghamshire border. It lies betweenAylesbury,Tring,Luton/Dunstable andMilton Keynes, near theChiltern Hills.
It is 36 miles (58 km) northwest ofCentral London and linked to the capital by theGrand Union Canal and theWest Coast Main Line. The built-up area extends on either side of theRiver Ouzel (here about 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) wide) to include its historically separate neighbourLinslade,[2] and is administered by Leighton-Linslade Town Council.
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It is unclear when the town was initially founded, although some historians believe that there may have been settlement in the area from as early as 571.[3] There are a number of theories concerning the derivation of the town's name: ‘Leighton’ came fromOld EnglishLēah-tūn, meaning 'farm in a clearing in the woods', and one version of the addition of ‘Buzzard’ was that it was added by theDean of Lincoln, in whose diocese the town lay in the 12th century, fromBeau-desert.[4] Another version is that having two communities called ‘Leighton’ and seeking some means of differentiating them the Dean added the name of his local Prebendary or representative to that of the town. At that time it was Theobald de Busar and so over the years the town became known as Leighton Buzzard. The other Leighton becameLeighton Bromswold.[5] In theDomesday Book of 1086, Leighton Buzzard and Linslade were both called Leestone.A further variation may be seen in a legal record of 1424, where "William Dagenale of Leytun Busherd, Beds" appears as a defendant.[6]
Leighton Buzzard developed into a thrivingmarket town supported by good road, canal and, later, rail links to the agricultural hinterland and London. The town's market charter was granted in 1086 and is still active today.[7] The High Street has numerous historical buildings, more than 70 of which are listed.[8] They include the notable Bank Building on the Market Square (now home to Barclays Bank),[9] designed by the eminent architectAlfred Waterhouse, designer of London'sNatural History Museum, London. They also include theOld Town Hall, later used as a fire station and now as a restaurant.[10]
TheGrand Junction Canal opened in 1800. It skirted the western edge of the town, but lay just over the parish and county boundary (the River Ouzel), being in the neighbouring parish ofLinslade inBuckinghamshire.[11] TheLondon and Birmingham Railway was built in the 1830s and passed just over half a mile west of the centre of Leighton Buzzard;Leighton railway station opened with the line in 1838.[12] Although named after Leighton Buzzard, the station (like the canal) was actually in the parish of Linslade. When built, the station was in open countryside, with Linslade village lying 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the station at what is now known as Old Linslade. New development was subsequently laid out between the station and the canal, known initially as Chelsea or New Linslade, before assuming the name Linslade.[11]
Linslade has always had Leighton Buzzard postal addresses, forming part of the Leighton Buzzardpost town.[13] Linslade remained administratively separate from Leighton Buzzard until 1965, when it was transferred from Buckinghamshire to Bedfordshire, and theurban districts ofLeighton Buzzard andLinslade merged into a singleLeighton-Linslade Urban District.[14] TheOffice for National Statistics uses the name Leighton Buzzard for the whole built-up area, including Linslade.[15]
The town has had a long association with theRothschild family, sinceLionel de Rothschild bought neighbouring farmlands to the west of the town in 1873.[16] Over time the farm developed into theAscott House estate located less than 2 miles (3 km) from the town. In the late 19th century,Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild used the now demolished Leighton House and its stabling, on the High Street, as ahunting box. The family still maintain links with the town through their ownership of Southcourt Stud inSouthcote.
The town has a strong history ofdissenters and is home to one of the oldestFriends meeting houses in the region. Established in the 18th century, localQuakers continue to meet in the Meeting House on North Street.[17]
After thePoor Law Amendment Act 1834 Leighton Buzzard became the centre of apoor law union that consisted of 15 surrounding parishes with the union workhouse (still standing) being sited in Grovebury Road.[18]
In 1847, additional land was obtained adjacent to the workhouse on which to build an isolation hospital. It had twenty beds over three wards, one each for patients withDiphtheria,Scarlet Fever andTyphoid.[19] Jane Sarah Downer was appointed Nurse-Matron of the Isolation Hospital in 1899, and worked there until at least 1911.[20][21][22] Downer had trained underEva Luckes atThe London Hospital between 1895 and 1897,[23] and then worked on the Private Nursing Staff for one year,[24] before her appointment as Matron in Leighton Buzzard.[20]
DuringWorld War II,RAF Leighton Buzzard, a secret communications facility described as "the largest telephone exchange in the world", was located to the south of Stanbridge Road. Also the headquarters ofNo. 60 Group RAF, which controlled the air defence radar network across Britain, operated from Oxenden House (now demolished) off Plantation Road.[25][26]
TheGreat Train Robbery took place in 1963 at Bridego Bridge just outside Leighton Buzzard. The robbers were held at the Old Police Station on Wing RoadLinslade while waiting to be seen by the local magistrate after being captured a month after the robbery.[27]
Leighton Buzzard station was the location for part of the filmRobbery, which is based on the ‘Great Train Robbery’.
The UK's first and onlyTXE1 electronic telephone exchange went into service here in 1968.[citation needed] The large building, built on the site of the former Lake House, that housed this and later exchanges, can be found in Lake Street.
The population of Leighton-Linslade was originally recorded in the 2001 census as 32,417.[28] Part ofBillington parish was transferred in 2003 to Leighton-Linslade, and the revised census result including this area was 32,753.[29] At the 2011 census, the population of the Leighton-Linslade built-up area was recorded by theOffice for National Statistics as 37,469,[2] and was estimated to have reached 43,203 in 2020.[30]
The town is expanding southwards, with the development of sites in southern Leighton Buzzard[31] through the Southern Leighton Buzzard Development Brief.[32] It is also expanding eastwards, with several developments forming the Eastern Leighton Linslade Urban Extension Scheme.[33]
The town is home to theLeighton Buzzard Light Railway, anarrow-gaugeheritage railway, one of England's longest at just under 3 miles (4.8 km) long and oldest narrow-gauge lines, with an extensive collection of locomotives and rolling stock.[34]
TheGrand Union Canal runs through the town, alongside theRiver Ouzel.
All Saints' Church, anEarly Englishparish church dating from 1277. The church is the starting point for the annual Wilkes Walk, described as "a curious procession of the church choir, clergy, and churchwardens across town to the alms houses in North Street."[35] The church was damaged by fire in the 1980s, but has since undergone restoration. For information on the origin of the Medieval choir stalls see Tracy 1991.[36]
The town has a combined library and theatre (called the Library Theatre) where both live events and film screenings are regularly held.[37]
Rushmere Country Park andStockgrove Country Park are in nearbyHeath and Reach. TheNational Trust-operated country homeAscott House is located 2 miles (3 km) from the town in neighbouring Buckinghamshire.
Leighton Buzzard is close to theM1 motorway andA5 road, and is served byLondon Northwestern Railway services on theWest Coast Main Line railway atLeighton Buzzard railway station (in Linslade). The railway operates non-stop commuting services toEuston railway station, with the fastest journey times at 30 minutes.
The majority of Leighton Buzzard's bus services are operated byArriva Shires & Essex. Services X2 and X3 provide a directbus rapid transit service toMilton Keynes andLuton via theLuton to Dunstable Busway, with an onward connection toLuton Airport[38] Arriva also operate the X4 service through the town toAylesbury. Z&S and Red Rose also operate bus services into Leighton Buzzard which serve local estates and surrounding villages, with local, town services operated by Centrebus.[39][40][41]
Leighton Buzzard is now home to several UK head offices for national and international firms.Connells Group, the estate agents' chains, have their head offices in the town, as do the UK operations ofTupperware andGrundfos. FTSE 250 companyRightmove had their first ever office in the town, which at the time consisted of just 25 employees. Leighton Buzzard is also home to theVinci SA Technology Centre, where technology for London's newCrossrail stations was tested.[42] Since 2014, the town has had its ownbrewery.[43]
The town has a sizeablesandquarryingindustry, with good enough quality 'building' sand to export to Egypt. The town is, or has at one time been, the home to various other industries includingB/E Aerospace (Aircraft Interiors), Polyformes,Lipton Tea which has now closed down,Gossard clothing, and Lancer Boss (forklifts, etc.).
There are two tiers of local government covering Leighton Buzzard, atcivil parish (town) andunitary authority level:Leighton-Linslade Town Council andCentral Bedfordshire Council. The town council is based at the White House on Hockliffe Street.[44]
Leighton Buzzard was anancient parish. The parish historically comprised fivetownships, beingBillington,Eggington,Heath and Reach,Stanbridge and a Leighton Buzzard township covering the town itself and adjoining areas. Such townships were all reclassified ascivil parishes in 1866.[45]
In 1891 the civil parish of Leighton Buzzard was made alocal government district, administered by an elected local board.[46] Such local government districts were reconstituted asurban districts under theLocal Government Act 1894.
TheLeighton Buzzard Urban District was abolished in 1965, merging withLinslade Urban District to becomeLeighton-Linslade Urban District.[47] The merged council was based at the White House, which had previously been the headquarters of the Leighton Buzzard Urban District Council. In 1961 (the last census before the merger) the parish and urban district of Leighton Buzzard had a population of 11,745.[48]
Leighton-Linslade Urban District only existed for nine years; it was abolished in 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972. District-level functions passed toSouth Bedfordshire District Council, which in turn was replaced by the unitary Central Bedfordshire Council in 2009, which also took over the functions of the abolishedBedfordshire County Council. Asuccessor parish covering the abolished urban district of Leighton-Linslade was created in 1974, with its council taking the name Leighton-Linslade Town Council.[49]
Leighton Buzzard is represented by the sporting teams ofLeighton Town F.C. who playfootball in theSpartan South Midlands Football League. Also at the Bell Close Site are Leighton Buzzard Tennis Club who have been a part of the town since the 1930s. Leighton Buzzard Hockey Club[50] established in 1901, playfield hockey and run 4 Men's and 4 Ladies teams of all ability. The Men's teams play in the South Hockey League[51] and the Ladies teams play in the 5 Counties Hockey League.[52] Leighton Buzzard Hockey Club[53] also have junior sides; starting age of 5.Leighton Buzzard R.F.C. playrugby union inSouth West 1 East and the Ladies rugby team play in NC South East North 2.[54]
Leighton Buzzard Golf Club was established in 1925 and there is also an active running club, Leighton Buzzard Athletics Club. Established in 2011 Leighton Buzzard Road Cycling Club is a cycling club for riders of all abilities. Their race team LBRCC-Solgar compete in local, as well as national, cycling events.[55] Established in 2000, Leighton Linslade Croquet Club, a member of the Croquet Association, have three croquet lawns in Pages Park next to the pavilion.
Agreyhound racing track was opened by the Leighton Buzzard Greyhound Racing Association. The track which was located on Bridge Meadows, a flood plain and wharfage between the Grand Union Canal and the River Ouze, south of Bridge Street and is believed to have opened during 1931. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body theNational Greyhound Racing Club) known as a flapping track, which was the nickname given to independent tracks.[56][57] The date of closure is not known.
Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC East andITV Anglia.
Local radio stations areBBC Three Counties Radio on 103.8 FM,Heart East on 97.6 FM,Greatest Hits Radio Bucks, Beds and Herts (formerly Mix 96) on 96.2 FM.
The Leighton Buzzard Observer is the town's local newspaper.[58]
The education authority, for Leighton Buzzard, since September 2019, calculates distances from each residence to the nearest lower school (in most circumstances) and uses that to determine priority admissions; the education authority uses computer systems to do this. Designated catchment zones are, as of 2024, no longer used for lower schools in Leighton Buzzard.[59]
Leighton Buzzard was twinned withCoulommiers in France in 1958. The twinning was renewed in 1982.It was also twinned withTitisee-Neustadt in Germany in 1991.
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Leighton Buzzard experiences anoceanic climate (Köppen climate classificationCfb) similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.
| Climate data for Leighton Buzzard | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 6 (43) | 7 (45) | 10 (50) | 12 (54) | 16 (61) | 19 (66) | 21 (70) | 22 (72) | 18 (64) | 14 (57) | 9 (48) | 6 (43) | 13 (55) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 3 (37) | 3 (37) | 4 (39) | 5 (41) | 8 (46) | 10 (50) | 12 (54) | 13 (55) | 11 (52) | 8 (46) | 5 (41) | 3 (37) | 7 (45) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 69.3 (2.73) | 59.4 (2.34) | 46.5 (1.83) | 70.1 (2.76) | 58.1 (2.29) | 58.9 (2.32) | 46.0 (1.81) | 68.9 (2.71) | 51.7 (2.04) | 84.3 (3.32) | 93.9 (3.70) | 80.9 (3.19) | 788.0 (31.02) |
| Source:[73] | |||||||||||||
For further information on the history and archaeology of Leighton Buzzard see the following references:
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