Old Warden is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the

Central Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It was created in 2009. Formation Central Bedfordshire was created on 1 April 2009 as part of a structural reform of local government in Bedfor ...

district of the county of

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

, England, about south-east of the county town of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

. The 2011 census shows its population as 328. The Shuttleworth Collection of historic airplanes and motor vehicles is at

Old Warden Aerodrome Old Warden Aerodrome is located east southeast of Bedford, in Bedfordshire, England. The privately owned aerodrome serves The Shuttleworth Collection The Shuttleworth Collection is a working aeronautical and automotive collection located ...

History

The village grew up under the protection of the Cistercian Wardon or Warden Abbey nearby. The first mention of a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

in the village is in 1873. The post office national archives record the issue to Old Warden in April 1890 of a type of

postmark A postmark is a postal marking made on an envelope, parcel, postcard or the like, indicating the place, date and time that the item was delivered into the care of a postal service, or sometimes indicating where and when received or in transit ...

known as a rubber datestamp. The village post office closed on 14 October 2008. It was one of about 2,500 compulsory compensated closures of UK post office branches announced by the Government in 2007. St Leonard's Parish Church is located in the village. Francis William Bourdillon (1852–1921), poet, translator, bibliophile, and scholar was a vicar of Old Warden of 1880th. The village is also noted for being the home of the Shuttleworth Trust, an organization committed to the preservation of transport artefacts – primarily bicycles, motor cars, and aeroplanes – produced in the early part of the 20th century. The corresponding collection is known as the Shuttleworth Collection. The estate also has buildings and gardens, and a small airfield from which many of the historic aircraft fly during the regular flying displays. The estate, museum, and airfield are open to visitors. The estate is also the home of Shuttleworth College founded in 1944.

Governance

There are seven elected parish councillors. It is part of Northill ward for elections to the

Unitary Authority. Prior to 1894, Old Warden was administered as part of the hundred of Wixamtree. From 1894 until 1974 it was part of Biggleswade Rural District and from 1974 to 2009 in

Mid Bedfordshire District Mid Bedfordshire was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district in Bedfordshire, England. Creation The district was formed on 1 April 1974 as part of a general reorganisation of local authorities in England and Wales carried out under the ...

. Old Warden is within the Mid Bedfordshire parliamentary constituency, whose

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

Nadine Dorries Nadine Vanessa Dorries (''née'' Bargery, 21 May 1957) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 2021 to 2022 under Prime Minister Boris Johnson. A member of the Conservative Party, she ...

of the Conservative Party.

Sport and leisure

Both the Greensand Ridge Walk and the Greensand Cycle Way pass through Old Warden. Old Warden Cricket Club play in the Bedfordshire Invitation League on a Saturday and Division 4 of the Bedfordshire County Cricket League on Sundays.

References

External links

Old Warden pages
at the

Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service is a county record office, holding archival material associated with Bedfordshire and Luton. Established in 1913 by George Herbert Fowler (1861-1940) as the Bedfordshire Record Office, it wa ...

The story of the Swiss Garden at Shuttleworth
retrieved 12 February 2017 Villages in Bedfordshire Civil parishes in Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire District {{Bedfordshire-geo-stub