Dunstable ( ) is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

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 ...

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 England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, east of the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills or the Chilterns are a chalk escarpment in southern England, located to the north-west of London, covering across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire; they stretch from Goring-on-Thames in the south- ...

, north of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. There are several steep chalk

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

s, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is the fourth largest town in

and along with Houghton Regis forms the westernmost part of the Luton/Dunstable urban area.

Etymology

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

times there was a minor settlement called Durocobrivis in the area now occupied by modern-day Dunstable. There was a general assumption that the nominative form of the name had been Durocobrivae, so that is what appears on the map of 1944 illustrated

below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname * Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general * Fred Belo ...

. But current thinking is that the form ''Durocobrivis'', which occurs in the

Antonine Itinerary The Antonine Itinerary (, "Itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus") is an , a register of the stations and distances along various roads. Seemingly based on official documents, possibly in part from a survey carried out under Augustus, it describes t ...

, is a fossilised locative that was used all the time and

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

now uses this form. There are several theories concerning its modern name: *Legend tells that the lawlessness of the time was personified in a thief called Dun. Wishing to capture Dun, the King stapled his ring to a post daring the robber to steal it. It was, and was subsequently traced to the house of the widow Dun. Her son, the robber, was taken and hanged to the final satisfaction that the new community bore his name. *It comes from the Anglo-Saxon for "the boundary post of Duna". *Derived from ''Dunum'', or Dun, a hill, and ''Staple'', a marketplace.

History

Ancient history

Relics of Palæolithic humans, including such relics as flint implements and the bones of contemporary wild animals, suggest the settlement is prehistoric. At Maiden Bower in the parish of Houghton Regis to the north, there is an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

hill fort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

, which is clearly marked on the

Ordnance survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

maps. Maiden Bower has some of the ramparts showing through the edge of an old chalk quarry at Sewell where remains of an older

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

fort exist. There are many prehistoric sites in the area and details can be found with the Manshead Archaeological Society, which is based in Winfield Street, Dunstable. Dunstable is on the route of the

Icknield Way The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern and eastern England that runs from Norfolk to Wiltshire. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills. Background It is generally said to be, withi ...

, claimed to be 'the oldest road in Britain'.

Roman settlement

A settlement was established by the AD 40s and 50s, when the Romans arrived and paved the road now known as

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England, running from Dover and London in the southeast, via St Albans to Wroxeter. The road crosses the River Thames at London and was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the M ...

and its crossroad, the

. Traces of Neolithic activity are not in doubt but much of their mystery may be lost under the surrounding

. The Romans built a posting station and probably named the settlement Durocobrivae, but over time this may have shifted to Durocobrivis. The area was occupied by

Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

around AD 571.

Medieval times

Dunstable's modern structure dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, as do many of the nearby towns/villages. The etymology of Dunstable, akin to Luton, Houghton Regis, Totternhoe, Kensworth, Caddington, Toddington, Leighton Buzzard, etc. is Anglo-Saxon in origin, and believed to mean "Dun's market", "Downs' market" (i.e. market near the downs or hills), or "Dun's post/pole". There is no firm date as to the founding of Dunstable. However, it's possible that once the early Anglo-Saxon settled in the area, and had subdued local Romano-Britons, Dunstable along with its adjacent communities was founded between the 6th-8th centuries. During the Heptarchy period, what was to become Bedfordshire was part of the Kingdom of Mercia. This area of southern Bedfordshire was near the Danelaw boundary (the

river Lea The River Lea ( ) is in the East of England and Greater London. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Cr ...

running through Luton), though within the territory ruled by King Alfred the Great in his treaty with the Norse Lord

Guthrum Guthrum (, – c. 890) was King of East Anglia in the late 9th century. Originally a native of Denmark, he was one of the leaders of the "Great Summer Army" that arrived in Reading during April 871 to join forces with the Great Heathen Army, wh ...

. There were raids by Norsemen, who had settled in Bedford and further north in Northampton and up to the Leicester/Rutland regions, for cattle, crops, slaves, and other items, which were often repelled by local Anglo-Saxon forces. One such raid occurred in 912, where Norse jarls from the East Midlands arranged raids of what is now southern Bedfordshire, including the Luton and Dunstable areas. However, Norse activity in the area was subdued after the Anglo-Saxon victory at the Battle of Tempsford, believed to have been fought further north in the county. Bedfordshire and by extension the Dunstable area was affected by later Norse raids, under Kings Sweyn Forkbeard and Cnut of Denmark, in response to the St. Bride's Massacre executed by King Athelred the Unready of England. From 1002, (the date of the Massacre) to 1016 (the accession of Cnut as King of England), the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that Bedfordshire was heavily affected by Norse harrying. At the time of the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

in 1066, this area of the county is known to have been uncultivated tract covered by woodlands. In 1109, Henry I started a period of activity by responding to this danger to travellers. He instructed areas to be cleared and encouraged settlers with offers of royal favour. In 1123, a royal residence was built at what is now called the Royal Palace Lodge Hotel on Church Street. The king used the residence as a base to hunt on nearby lands. Dunstable Priory was founded in 1131 by Henry I who transferred land from the Parish of Houghton Regis, and it was here that the annulment of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

's and

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, historical Spanish: , now: ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the Wives of Henry VIII, first wife of King Henry VIII from their marr ...

's marriage would be confirmed years later, which led to the establishment of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

in opposition to the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. The same year the town granted a town charter to the power of the priors. In 1290, Dunstable was one of twelve sites to erect an Eleanor cross recognising Eleanor of Castile, wife of

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

, whose coffin was laid close to the crossroads for the local people to mourn the dead Queen. The coffin was then guarded inside the priory by the canons overnight before continuing on to St. Albans. The original wooden cross has long since perished but a modern memorial remains. During the Invasion of England of 1326, Queen

Isabella of France Isabella of France ( – 22 August 1358), sometimes described as the She-Wolf of France (), was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the wife of Edward II of England, King Edward II, and ''de facto'' regent of England from 1327 ...

and her army, having landed in Suffolk, captured Dunstable on 7 October without a fight.

17th century

Bedfordshire was one of the counties that largely supported the

Roundhead Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...

s during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. Nearby

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

in Hertfordshire was the headquarters of the Roundheads, and troops were occasionally stationed at Dunstable. The town was plundered by King Charles I's soldiers when passing through in June 1644, and

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

's men destroyed the Eleanor cross. The town's prosperity, and the large number of inns or

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

s in the town, is partly because it is only one or two days' ride by horse from London (), and therefore a place to rest overnight. There are two pubs which still have

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

gates to the side: the ''Sugar Loaf'' in High Street North, and the ''

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Rom ...

's Head'' in High Street South. The Saracen's Head is a name often given to pubs frequented by

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

s of

the crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

. It is positioned considerably lower than the road to its front, witness to the fact that the road has been resurfaced a number of times during the lifetime of the pub.

19th century

Dunstable's first railway opened in 1848, originally in Houghton Regis. It was a branch joining the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

Leighton Buzzard Leighton Buzzard ( ) is a market town in Bedfordshire, England, in the southwest of the county and close to the Buckinghamshire border. It lies between Aylesbury, Tring, Luton/ Dunstable and Milton Keynes, near the Chiltern Hills. It is nor ...

. A second line linking Dunstable with via opened in 1858. Passenger services to Dunstable were withdrawn in 1965, but the line between Dunstable and Luton remained open for freight traffic for many years. Dunstable was a significant

, but its importance diminished as the neighbouring town of

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

grew.

20th century

The 19th century saw the straw hat making industry come to Luton and a subsequent decline in Dunstable, to be replaced in the early 20th century by the

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

and

motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as a motorized vehicle, automotive vehicle, automobile, or road vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on railway track, rails (such as trains or trams), does not fly (such ...

industries, with companies such as Waterlow's and

Vauxhall Motors Vauxhall Motors Limited , ;Company No. 00135767. Incorporated 12 May 1914, name changed from Vauxhall Motors Limited to General Motors UK Limited on 16 April 2008, reverted to Vauxhall Motors Limited on 18 September 2017. is a British Automoti ...

respectively. The new Bedford Dunstable plant came into production in 1942 to support 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 ...

in the

Second World War 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 ...

. It continued manufacturing commercial trucks and buses until 1992. The closure of the main factories and the decline of manufacturing in the area has led to this distinctiveness being lost. Shops were concentrated along High Street North/South (Watling Street) and in 1966 the Quadrant Shopping Centre opened. During the 1980s, Dunstable

town centre A town centre is the commerce, commercial or geographical centre or core area of a town. Town centres are traditionally associated with shopping or retail. They are also the centre of communications with major public transport hubs such as train ...

was a successful shopping centre featuring major retailers including

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

Waitrose Waitrose Limited, trading as Waitrose & Partners, is a British supermarket chain, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. In 1937, it was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership, the UK's largest employee-owned b ...

, Bejam/

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...

Halfords Halfords Group PLC is a UK retailer of motoring and cycling products and services. Through Halfords Autocentre, they provide vehicle servicing, MOT, maintenance and repairs in the United Kingdom. Halfords Group is listed on the London Stock E ...

, Co-op department store, Argos, Woolworths, Burton,

Next NeXT, Inc. (later NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXT Software, Inc.) was an American technology company headquartered in Redwood City, California that specialized in computer workstations for higher education and business markets, and later develope ...

and many independent specialist shops including Moore's of Dunstable. These attracted shoppers from outlying villages resulting in a retail town centre larger than would be supportable by Dunstable residents alone, so much so that in 1985 the Eleanor's Cross retail area was developed to cater mainly for smaller shops. The Cottage Garden Flower Shop of Chiltern Road, established in 1898, is believed to be the oldest independent retail business still trading.

21st century

As with many other market towns, the rise of out-of-town retail parks contributed to a decline in town centre trade; Sainsbury's, Tesco, Halfords, and Next moved to newer larger premises out-of-town. More recently, major grocery retailers

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

and

Aldi Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...

have opened stores within the town centre. Whitbread PLC, which manages Premier Inn, Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Table Table, is headquartered on the Houghton Regis/Dunstable industrial estate.

Governance

There are two tiers of local government covering Dunstable, at parish (town) and unitary authority level: Dunstable Town Council and

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 ...

. The town council has its offices at Grove House, 76 High Street North. Dunstable is served by the Bedfordshire Police force where the

Police and Crime Commissioner A police and crime commissioner (PCC; ) is an elected official in England and Wales responsible for generally overseeing police services. A police, fire and crime commissioner (PFCC) is an elected official in England responsible for generally ...

is John Tizard.

Administrative history

Dunstable had been an

ancient borough An ancient borough was a historic unit of lower-tier local government in England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the co ...

between the 12th and 16th centuries, but lost its borough status following the

English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

. In 1863 the parish of Dunstable was made a

local government district Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

, governed by a local board. One of the new board's first acts was to petition for the town to be made a borough again. The petition was successful and in 1864 the parish became the Municipal Borough of Dunstable. The municipal borough was abolished in 1974, becoming part of South Bedfordshire, which was in turn replaced by Central Bedfordshire in 2009. Between 1974 and 1985 Dunstable was an

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparis ...

, directly administered by South Bedfordshire District Council. A new

of Dunstable was created in 1985, with its council taking the name Dunstable Town Council.

Geography

The oldest part of the town is along the Icknield Way and Watling Street where they cross. These roads split the rest of the town into four quadrants which have each been developed in stages. The northwest quadrant started to be developed in the 19th century when the

British Land Company The British Land Company Public Limited Company is one of the largest real estate development, property development and investment companies in the United Kingdom. The firm became a real estate investment trust when REITs were introduced in the ...

laid out the roads around Victoria Street. The development of the Beecroft area began with the houses around Worthington Road; after the

the borough council extended the estate up to Westfield Road with its shops, and then up to Aldbanks. The war-time site of the

Meteorological Office The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...

, was then in Houghton Regis, where Cookfield Close and Weatherby stand. The site was redeveloped by

George Wimpey George Wimpey Limited was a British construction firm that typically worked in the civil engineering and housebuilding markets. It was, during the 1970s, the largest homebuilder active in the UK. Established in 1880 and originally based in H ...

Homes and others. At the north of the town there is an estate originally marketed as ''French's Gate Estate'', and at the west of the town there is an area of houses on Lancot Hill. The southwest quadrant has largely been developed since the Second World War. There are three main estates. In the Lake District Estate all the streets are named after places in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

and

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

; the estate includes a

parade of shops A shopping parade, also known as a parade of shops, suburban parade, neighbourhood parade, or just a simply a parade is a group of between five and 40 shops in one or more continuous rows, mostly being retail and serving a local customer base; in ...

on Langdale Road. It was originally called the ''Croft Golf Course Estate'' and was built by Laing Homes. Oldhill Down Estate around the Lowther Road shops was developed by William Old Ltd., and the Stipers Hill Estate around Seamons Close was initially created by the Land Settlement Association. In the southeast quadrant, the area around Great Northern Road was developed at the end of the 19th century as Englands Close Estate and Borough Farm Estate. The Downside Estate including the shops on Mayfield Road was planned by the borough council in 1951. The northeast quadrant is a mainly commercial and civic area, the result of redevelopment in the early 1960s. The site of Waterlow's printing works around Printers Way is now occupied by houses built in the 1990s. The Northfields Estate at the north of the town was completed by the borough council in 1935. Further east, near the boundary with Luton, there is another area that has largely been developed since the Second World War. To the south of Luton Road, Jeans Way was completed after the war; to the north, Poynters Estate and Hadrian Estate were built on either side of Katherine Drive, where there is a parade of shops. The area also includes the Woodside Estate which contains most of the factories and warehouses that still exist in Dunstable.

Politics

The town lies in the parliamentary constituency of Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard which replaced the South West Bedfordshire seat at the 2024 general election. Since July 2024 former MEP

Alex Mayer Alexandra Louise Mayer (born 2 June 1981) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard since 2024. She was previously a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for t ...

has represented the seat, the first Labour Party MP for the town since the 1960s. She defeated former MP

Andrew Selous Andrew Edmund Armstrong Selous (; born 27 April 1962) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Bedfordshire from 2001 until 2024, when the constituency was abolished. Selous stood for the new Dunstab ...

of the Conservative Party who represented the South West Bedfordshire constituency from 2001 to 2024.

Transport

Road

Formerly, the A5 trunk road lay at the heart of Dunstable's transport infrastructure, running north to south. However, the completion of the northern A5-M1 bypass has meant the de-trunking of the road, relabelled now as the A5183 with a 7.5 tonne weight limit. Movement is complemented by the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the count ...

east of the town in

. The nearest motorway junction is J11, which is about to the east of the town centre via the A505. Although congested, the town's roads provide the means to connect to the country's motorways systems.

Bus

Dunstable is served by two main operators,

Arriva Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortl ...

and Centrebus. Arriva runs the interurban services to Luton (direct and via Houghton Regis),

and

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...

, but other routes have been steadily taken over from Arriva by Centrebus in recent years, which now provides services to

Harpenden Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,674 in the 2021 census, while the population of the civil parish was 31,128. Harpe ...

(direct and via Caddington),

Toddington Toddington could be *Toddington, Bedfordshire Toddington is a large village and civil parish in the county of Bedfordshire, England. It is situated 5 miles north-north-west of Luton, north of Dunstable, south-west of Woburn, and 35&nb ...

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 ...

. Centrebus also operates three local services within Dunstable to Beecroft/Weatherby, Downside and the Langdale Road estate. Many bus services are financially supported by Central Bedfordshire Council.

Luton Dunstable Busway

Construction of the Luton Dunstable Busway between Houghton Regis, Dunstable, Luton and

Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, England, situated east of the town centre, and is the fourth-busiest airport serving London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Limited, a company wholly owned by ...

was completed in September 2013 at the cost of £91m. Much of the busway runs along the lines of the old railway which has been converted into a guided busway running alongside Blow's Down and dedicated roadway. Buses travel on ordinary roads around Dunstable, Houghton Regis and at the airport, but benefit from fast transit (up to 50 mph) with few stops on the busway itself between these centres. Multiple companies operate different routes which run on the busway.

Rail

Dunstable was once served by the Dunstable Branch Lines to Leighton Buzzard and to Luton from Dunstable Town railway station. There have been a number of campaigns for the re-establishment of a passenger railway, but these have been superseded by the Luton to Dunstable Busway, which uses the former rail route (see Bus Transport above). Dunstable is one of the largest towns south of the Midlands conurbations without its own rail service. But as part of the large Luton

conurbation A conurbation is a region consisting of a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ...

it is from north Luton's Leagrave station, from the central Luton station, and 8 miles from south Luton's Airport Parkway station, which all provide fast rail links to central London.

New developments

A5-M1 Link (Dunstable Northern Bypass)

The A5-M1 Link (Dunstable Northern Bypass), which opened in May 2017, is a two-lane dual carriageway running east from the A5 north of Dunstable to join the M1 at a new Junction 11a south of Chalton. Here, it is intended to join with a proposed Luton Northern Bypass to form a northern bypass for the wider conurbation. The A5-M1 Link aims to alleviate traffic congestion in Houghton Regis and Dunstable, reduce journey times for long-distance traffic travelling through Dunstable and improve the regional economy. Highways England detrunked the A5 through Dunstable, renumbering it A5183, when the A5-M1 Link opened to the public in May 2017. As a direct result of the detrunking, Central Bedfordshire Council introduced a 7.5 tonne weight limit on most roads in Dunstable town centre in 2017 with the aim of easing congestion.

Woodside Link

The A5505 Woodside Link connects the industrial areas of Dunstable and Houghton Regis to the new junction 11a of the M1 motorway. This road aimed to take traffic out of the town centre, reduce congestion and improve air quality. It formed part of Central Bedfordshire Council's Dunstable Town Centre Masterplan, to improve job opportunities and quality of life for people living and working in Dunstable and neighbouring towns and villages. It also allowed access to the development of greenbelt land north of Houghton Regis for 5,150 new homes and 30 hectares of employment land by 2031. Central Bedfordshire Council delivered the £38.3m scheme with contributions of £20m from SEMLEP's Local Growth Deal, £5m from the UK government's Local Pinch Point Fund and £1m from developers.

Amenities

Culture

Since opening in April 2007, the 780-seat Grove Theatre has replaced the Queensway Hall as the town's premier arts centre. The Little Theatre, home of the Dunstable Rep Theatre Group, also hosts dramatic performances throughout the year. The auditorium, once part of the Chews Trust, was opened in 1964 by Bernard Bresslaw. It stands next to the historic Chews House on High Street South. The town also has numerous amateur dramatics societies that perform several shows a year, including the Square Drama Circle and Dunstable Amateur Operatics Society. A

Wetherspoons J D Wetherspoon (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a British pub company operating in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim ...

called ''The Gary Cooper'' (named after the famous actor who attended the town's grammar school), and a nightclub called ''BOX3'' are located in the Grove Park complex. The complex is also home to Central Bedfordshire College, the Performing Arts Depot (PAD), and BBC Three Counties Radio. The town receives its television signals from the Sandy Heath TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Three Counties Radio on 103.8 FM, Heart East on 97.6 FM and Luton and Dunstable Hospital Radio that broadcast from the Luton & Dunstable Hospital in

on 1134 AM.

Sport and leisure

Several parks and open spaces are kept by Central Bedfordshire Council along with Dunstable Leisure Centre. The centre was closed on 4 June 2017 to undergo a £20.1 million redevelopment incorporating a new town library. The centre, re-opened in June 2019 and includes leisure facilities, a gym, swimming pools and a flexible community space for other public and community services, such as Citizens Advice and adult day care/disabled sports. Stevenage Leisure Limited will manage and operate the leisure centre on behalf on Central Bedfordshire Council. It neighbours the Grove Theatre (also managed by SLL), a modern 32-lane

ten-pin bowling Tenpin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler bowling form, rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned Tetractys, evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The goal is to knock down all ten Bowlin ...

centre, and the main campus of Central Bedfordshire College. The town is home to two football clubs, Dunstable Town F.C. and

AFC Dunstable AFC Dunstable are a football club based in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England. The club are members of Division One Central of the Southern League, and are affiliated to the Bedfordshire County Football Association. They play at Creasey Park. ...

, who both play at the Creasey Park Stadium. Dunstable Town F.C. play in the Spartan South Midlands Football League Premier Division and

play in the Southern League Division One Central. Dunstable Town once famously recruited

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...

and subsequently defeated Manchester United 3–2 in the process. Dunstablians rugby union club play their matches in nearby Houghton Regis at Bidwell Hill. The club currently plays in the RFU Midlands division (level 6). Lancot Meadow () is a small nature reserve managed by the local Wildlife Trust. Alongside the Luton-Dunstable busway lies Blow's Down, a site of special scientific interest. Dunstable Downs Golf Club, founded in 1906 and designed by James Braid, is on the top of the Downs.

Landmarks

Within the town centre is the Grove Theatre, Priory House Heritage Centre and the Priory Church, where

formalised his divorce from

. At the heart of the town sits the Quadrant Shopping Centre, while across High Street North a secondary shopping community, the Eleanor's Cross Shopping Precinct, hosts a modern statue commemorating the original

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

. Nearby Luton has the Waulud's Bank prehistoric

henge A henge can be one of three related types of Neolithic Earthworks (archaeology), earthwork. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ditches ...

and Luton Museum and Art Gallery. Dunstable Downs, a chalky escarpment outside the town, is a popular site for

kite flying A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have ...

paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or in a cocoon-like 'pod' suspended be ...

and

hang gliding Hang gliding is an air sports, air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised, fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium al ...

, while the London Gliding Club provides a base for conventional

gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sports, air sport in which pilots fly glider aircraft, unpowered aircraft known as Glider (sailplane), gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmospher ...

and other air activities at the bottom of the Downs. Further into the countryside are the open-range Whipsnade Zoo, a garden laid out in the form of a cathedral at Whipsnade Tree Cathedral and the Totternhoe Knolls motte-and-bailey castle. The Icknield Way Path passes through the town on its 110-mile journey from Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire to

Knettishall Heath Knettishall Heath is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Knettishall in Suffolk, England. A larger area of 176 hectares is the Knettishall Heath Nature Reserve, which is managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. Despite its n ...

in Suffolk. Th
Icknield Way Trail
a multi-user route for walkers, horse riders and off-road cyclists also passes through the town. The route, now used for leisure, goes to the west and north of the main conurbation rather than following the road that still bears its name.

Education

Secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

s in the town include: * All Saints Academy, Dunstable, formerly Northfields Technology College * Queensbury Academy, formerly Queensbury Upper School * Manshead CE Academy, formerly Manshead Upper School The Priory Academy is a combined Middle and Upper School serving children from the ages of 9 to 16. The former Dunstable Grammar School (later Ashton Middle School) closed in 2016, and its historic buildings have been converted to private residences. All secondary schools apart from the Priory Academy the town have attached

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

s. The Chiltern School and Weatherfield Academy are coeducational

special school Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual d ...

s in Dunstable. These schools educate pupils from the wider

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 ...

area. Central Bedfordshire College is a

further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

site which serves students from Dunstable and the surrounding rural area.

Notable people

* Geoffrey de Gorham (ca. 1100–1146), schoolmaster in Dunstable and later Abbot of St Albans * Alexander Neckam (1157–1217), scientist and teacher * John Dunstaple (or Dunstable) (ca. 1390 -1453), 15th-century composer thought to be born in Dunstable *

Elkanah Settle Elkanah Settle (1 February 1648 – 12 February 1724) was an English poet and playwright. Biography He was born at Dunstable, and entered Trinity College, Oxford, in 1666, but left without taking a degree. His first tragedy, '' Cambyses, King ...

(1648–1724), poet and playwright * The Chew family, including Thomas Aynscombe (died 1740), who co-founded the Chew's House School * Alfred Morcom (1885–1952), medical doctor and former cricketer *

Khawaja Nazimuddin Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin (19 July 1894 – 22 October 1964), also spelled Khwaja Nazimuddin, was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the second Governor-General of Pakistan from 1948 to 1951, and later as the second Prime Minister ...

(1894–1964), former

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Cabinet of Pakistan, cabinet, desp ...

; attended Dunstable Grammar School * Joe Church (1899–1989), a British missionary who was part of the East African Revival *

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...

(1901–1961), actor, went to Dunstable Grammar School from 1910 to 1913 * Sam Kydd (1915–1982), television actor; attended Dunstable Grammar School * Steve and Jimmy Clark (1924–2017; 1922–2009), African-American tap dancers who settled in Dunstable after World War II * Michael Kilby (1924–2008),

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician and former Dunstable mayor * Mick Abrahams (born 1943), founding member of Jethro Tull * Nigel Benson (born 1955), author and illustrator *

Kevin McCloud Kevin McCloud, (born 8 May 1959) is a British designer, writer, and a television presenter. He has presented the Channel 4 series ''Grand Designs'' since its debut in April 1999. Early life Born in Bedfordshire, McCloud and his two brothers, ...

(born 1959), designer, writer and television presenter; attended Dunstable Grammar School and Manshead Upper School * Bernard O'Mahoney (born 1960), crime author * Kerry Dixon (born 1961), former footballer * Nikki Iles (born 1963), musician * Paul Clayton (born 1965), former footballer * Don Gilét (born 1967), actor best known for playing Lucas Johnson in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' * Spike Breakwell (born 1968), comedian * Badly Drawn Boy (born 1969), musician * Rhodri Marsden (born 1971), musician and writer * James Asser (born 1975), Labour MP * Faye Tozer (born 1975), member of the pop group Steps * Chris Gauthier (born 1976), actor whose family later moved to

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

* Rob Keogh (born 1991), cricketer * Callum Anderson (born 1992), MP for Buckingham and Bletchley

Twin towns

Dunstable is twinned with: *

Bourgoin-Jallieu Bourgoin-Jallieu (; ) is a commune in the Isère department in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in France. The city had 28,834 inhabitants in 2019 and lies 35 kilometres east-southeast of Lyon. It was formed by the merger of the former comm ...

, France * Porz (Cologne), Germany Dunstable is also unofficially twinned with

Dunstable, Massachusetts Dunstable ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,358 at the 2020 census. Etymology Dunstable was named after its sister town Dunstable, England. There are several theories concerning its modern n ...

, United States.

Local destinations

References

Bibliography

* ''Prehistory:'' * ''Historical town-centre locations:'' * ''Street names:'' * ''Second World War:''

External links

Dunstable Town Council

Focus On: Dunstable
, 1966 Anglia Television programme looking at life in Dunstable, East Anglian Film Archive. {{Authority control Towns in Bedfordshire Civil parishes in Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire District