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

in the west 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, situated between

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

and

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...

. It had a population of 4,909 in 2001. increasing to 5,369 at the 2011 census. The parish is in

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 ...

unitary authority. It is best known for being the home of

Cranfield University Cranfield University is a postgraduate-only public research university in the United Kingdom that specialises in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Throug ...

and

Cranfield Airport Cranfield Airport is an airfield just outside the village of Cranfield, in Bedfordshire, England. It is south-west of Bedford and east of Milton Keynes. It was originally a Second World War aerodrome, RAF Cranfield. It is now used for busin ...

(an airfield). The

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

of Bourne End is located just north of Cranfield, and is part of the civil parish. Wharley End was a separate settlement, but now forms the northern part of Cranfield village, by the university.

Amenities

Cranfield has two public houses, a football club, coffee shop, dog grooming salon, hairdressers, barbers, several take-away restaurants, two small supermarkets and two car dealerships. There is also a surgery and dentist's practice along with a pharmacy. Cranfield has a university, three schools, three parks and a multi-use games area. The village

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

is now contained within

The Co-operative Group The Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op and formerly known as the Co-operative Wholesale Society, is a British consumer cooperative, consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses, including grocery retail and wholesale, leg ...

store; previously it was on separate premises near the centre of the village. Cranfield has one of only a small number of Morgan dealerships, in addition to a Ford dealer. There are further facilities at the university campus including a Post Office and bookshop. The local newspaper is the ''Cranfield Express''. There is a news hyperlocal website
Cranfield and Marston Vale Chronicle
giving village information, local and national news, etc. The Church of St Peter and St Paul has records going back at least to 1600 and is notable for its recently restored bells. Cranfield Court belonged to the Harter family. The last house was built in 1862–4 in the French Gothic style, but was later demolished.

Sport and leisure

Cranfield has a

Non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

team Cranfield United F.C. who play at their own ground, The Nest, in Crawley Road, Cranfield, MK43 0AA.

Airport

Cranfield's airfield was originally an RAF training airfield and was used after the war by the College of Aeronautics, which has now become Cranfield University. In October 2021, Marshall Group announced that it is to transfer its Group headquarters and aerospace operations to Cranfield from

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

"by 2030". The Group proposes to move its global group headquarters (as well as its Aerospace division) to Cranfield Airport.

University

is adjacent to the village, on the other side of the airfield.

Technology park

The Cranfield Technology Park is west of the university at the entrance to the campus. It is being developed on a phased basis by Cranfield University and its development partner. The park's objective is to encourage knowledge-based companies to locate their activities on the park and to encourage the growth of such companies. A major extension to the technology park was started in January 2007 using land on Cranfield Airport. In August 2005 a new business incubation centre was opened. It was designed to encourage and support hi-tech and knowledge based pre-start and early start companies during the formative stages of their development.

References

External links

Cranfield Football Club

Cranfield Colts Football Club

Cranfield Village Website

Cranfield Technology Park

Account of Cranfield during the second world war
{{authority control Villages in Bedfordshire Civil parishes in Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire District