Chawston is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

Wyboston, Chawston and Colesden Wyboston, Chawston and Colesden is a civil parish located in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, in England. The parish includes the village of Wyboston, and the smaller settlements of Chawston and Colesden. These villages used to form pa ...

, a part of the

Borough of Bedford The Borough of Bedford is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Its council is based in Bedford, its namesake and principal settlement, which is the county town of Bedfordshire. The boro ...

in 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. Although mainly situated on the western side of the A1 trunk road, the settlement does have a number of residential properties on the eastern side. Chawston is some northeast 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 ...

and southwest of

St Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

History

Chawston was first recorded as a settlement in 1086 as part of the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

(it is actually recorded as Chauelestorne and Calnestorne). The Chawston manor estate dates to 1186, though the current Chawston Manor House is a 17th-century

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. A former M.P. for Bedfordshire, Robert Hunt, owned Chawston Manor in 1414. The manor passed to his son,

Roger Hunt Roger Hunt (20 July 1938 – 27 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Eleven years with Liverpool, he was the club's record goalscorer with 286 goals until being overtaken by Ian Rush. Nonetheless, Hu ...

, who was Speaker of the House of Commons in 1421 and 1433. He also became baron of the Exchequer. During the 1930s, much of Chawston was incorporated into the

Land Settlement Association The Land Settlement Association was a UK Government scheme set up in 1934, with help from the charities the Plunkett Foundation and the Carnegie Trust, to re-settle unemployed workers from depressed industrial areas,Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authori ...

. The new tenants of the land were required to sell any produce they grew through the LSA scheme. Approximately fifty years later, the LSA was abolished, and the properties in Chawston were sold on the open market, though some were secured by existing tenants. Many of the original LSA cottages have been extended and renovated since this time.

Chawston today

Chawston is mainly residential. The nearest shops and local services are in the neighbouring village of Wyboston.

References

External links

Bedford Borough Council pages on Chawston
{{Places in Bedford Borough Hamlets in Bedfordshire Borough of Bedford