Houghton Regis

The name Houghton comes from the Saxon word 'hoe' meaning the spur of a hill, and 'tun' meaning a village. By the 11th century , much of South Bedfordshire had become royal land and Houghton became Houghton Regis or King's Houghton. [4]

Relics of Paleolithic man, such as flint implements and the bones of contemporary wild animals, suggest prehistoric settlement. At Maiden Bower within Houghton Regis CP, near Sewell, there is an Iron Age hill fort. This is clearly marked on the Ordnance Survey maps.

A 1944 OS map of Houghton Regis

Maiden Bower has some of the ramparts showing through the edge of an old chalk quarry[5] where there are Bronze Age remains of an older fort. According to W.H. Matthews (Mazes and Labyrinths, 1922), a turf maze once existed at "Maiden Bower".[6]

The Icknield Way Path passes through the parish on its 110-mile journey from Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire to Knettishall Heath in Suffolk. The Icknield Way Trail, a multi-user route for walkers, horse riders and off-road cyclists also passes through the parish.

Houghton Regis is considerably older than Dunstable, and it is mentioned in the Domesday Book when it was called Houstone.[7] At the time of the Domesday Survey a great part of what is now Dunstable was included in Houghton parish. When Henry I founded Dunstable he gave in compensation to the men of Houghton a wood called Buckwood.[8] At that time it paid in tax the large amount of three pounds by weight and twenty shillings of blanch silver (to the King) and one ounce of gold for the Sheriff.[9] Timeline for Houghton Regis.[10] Academy Award Winning American Actor Gary Cooper lived, and went to school, in Houghton Regis. The men of Houghton claimed to be exempt from tolls in Dunstable market.[11] The inhabitants of Houghton Regis were for long employed in straw plaiting. In 1689 they and those of neighbouring villages petitioned against the Bill that made it compulsory to wear woollen hats, pointing out that the straw-plaiters would be ruined and that the farmers also would suffer, as they now obtained good prices for their straw, and English wool not being suitable for hatmaking, they would not be in any way compensated.[8]

All Saints Church, Houghton Regis

Bordered by the Chiltern Hills, the town was once a small village that had its character changed when it was earmarked for a massive "London overspill" estate in the 1950s and 60s. The only remains of the manors, rectory land and cottage demesnes around the small village centre are names such as Tithe Farm Road. An indication of the planners' attempts to make the London migrants feel at home is the naming of the local estate roads after London landmarks; Chelsea Gardens is an example.

Remnants of the town's past are still apparent with, for example, the fifteenth century Parish Church of All Saints (formerly St Michaels) with an excellent example of a Norman tower[12] and the former Squire's residence of Houghton Hall, built in the eighteenth century.

Between the late 1960s and the early 1970s, many of the High Street shops were demolished along with a chapel to make way for industrial units, many of which have since been demolished themselves. The main shop in town was a Wavy Line store, which has since been used as a motorbike and car showroom. A fish and chip shop, Tansley's, was at the entrance to what was the access road into the Co-op Store; the current fish and chip shop on Bedford Road was previously occupied by Georges, a tobacconist and confectioner but in the early 1900s was a public house. In front of the existing closed All Saints Parish Church graveyard, facing onto the High Street, was a row of cottages, once the workhouses, complete with village lock-up at the end of the terrace. The door to the former lock-up can now be found on display at the Stockwood Discovery Centre museum in Luton. The White House, the home of a Miss Freeman, a school teacher and aunt of Gary Cooper, who lived in the town during his youth, plus Jasper Perry's green grocer and Birds bakery stood on the High Street on the opposite side of the road to the church.

Luton to Houghton Regis busway

Houghton Regis Town Council organises several regular free events every year. These include Pancake Race, Easter Egg Hunt, May Fayre, Carnival, Classic and Vintage Car Show.[22]

The Greenway and the route through Dunstable and Houghton Regis forms part of National Route 6 of the National Cycle Network. This provides walking and cycling routes between Milton Keynes, Luton and London.

Central Bedfordshire Council allowed Stevenage Leisure Limited (who operate the Houghton Regis Leisure Centre as Lifestyles (@) Houghton) to carry out major renovation.[23]

The Luton to Dunstable Busway guided bus system (route pictured) opened in 2013, proving bus rapid transit services from Houghton Regis to Luton Airport via Dunstable and Luton.[24]

Primary schools in the town include Hawthorn Park Community Primary School,[25] Houghton Regis Primary School,[26] St Vincent's RC Primary School,[27] Thomas Whitehead CE Primary School,[28] Thornhill Primary School[29] and Tithe Farm Primary School.[30] Secondary schools serving the area include Houghton Regis Academy[31] and All Saints Academy.[32] The Chiltern School is a special school which has a campus in Houghton Regis.

Central Bedfordshire College and Bedford College have sites in Houghton Regis, where they offer a range of further education courses.

Houghton Regis Town Council[42] has 14 elected councillors who receive no remuneration. Elections are held every 4 years.

Central Bedfordshire came into being on 1 April 2009. The first-ever elections for Central Bedfordshire took place on 4 June, when the three wards of Houghton Regis were won by the Liberal Democrats.[43]

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Town of Houghton Regis.[44]

• Regis (Place)
• List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Houghton Regis.

• Houghton Regis Town Council
• Picture the Past ~ HOUGHTON REGIS BYGONES