Chicksands is a village and former

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, now in the parish of Campton and Chicksands in the

Central Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire is a Districts of England, local government district in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It is administered by Central Bedfordshire Council, a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority. It was created ...

district of

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, 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 Buckin ...

, England. The village is on the

River Flit The River Flit is a short river in Bedfordshire, England. Its name is not ancient, but rather a back formation from Flitton which originally meant that the river was spelt with as ''Flitt'' rather than ''Flit''. Course The river rises as a sma ...

and close to its parish village of Campton and the town of Shefford. In 1961 the parish had a population of 607. In 2007, the population was estimated to be 2,510. By the 2011 census the figure was 1,699. Mid Bedfordshire District Council moved to a new office building on part of the former RAF Chicksands sportsfield, adjacent to the A507, having previously been based in offices at

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

and

Biggleswade Biggleswade ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the River Ivel, 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Bedford. Its population was 16,551 in the 2011 United Kingdom census, This figur ...

. The new office, named Priory House, was officially opened by the Queen on 17 November 2006 accompanied by the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, is a substantive title that has been created four times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not pr ...

. The offices are now home to

Central Bedfordshire Council Central Bedfordshire Council is the local authority for Central Bedfordshire, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functi ...

History

Chicksands is mentioned in 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

the entry reads: ''Chichesana/e: William de Cairon from Bishop of Lincoln; Three freemen and Walter from Azelina, Ralph Tailbois' wife (it is of her dowry). Mill.'' It means "Cicca's sands", where Cicca is a personal name. Chicksands was the site of RAF Chicksands, an RAF station during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The station was used by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

from 1950 to 1995. It was the location for its first huge FLR-9 direction finding antenna from 1963 to 1995. The antenna was known as the 'Elephant Cage' and was dismantled before the USAF left in 1995. It is now home to the Joint Intelligence Training Group (JITG) and the Headquarters of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

's Intelligence Corps. Chicksands Priory, a monastic house built in 1150, is located within the grounds of the Joint Intelligence Training Group. It is open to the public, by appointment only, on the 1st & 3rd Sunday afternoons, April–October. Chicksands Priory was formerly an extra-parochial tract, from 1858 Chicksands Priory was a civil parish in its own right, it was later renamed to just "Chicksands", on 1 April 1985 the parish was abolished and merged with Campton to form "Campton & Chicksands".

Education

It is in the school

catchment area A catchment area in human geography, is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

for Robert Bloomfield Academy. It is also in the catchment area for Samuel Whitbread Academy, which has an upper school and sixth form. - Map is on p. 35/35.

References

External links

Campton & Chicksands

Chicksands Offices
– Mid Beds District Council

Friends of Chicksands Prioy Website
{{authority control Villages in Bedfordshire Former civil parishes in Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire District