Sundon is a

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 ...

in the English 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 ...

. There are two settlements: the one called Upper Sundon at the top of the hill is now the main

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

, and the presumably older one by the church is now 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 ...

called Lower Sundon. Sundon Lower School is located in the village of Upper Sundon. Sundon has a village hall and a pub, the Red Lion. The manor of Sundon is listed 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086. The manor was held by the

de Clare The House of Clare was a prominent Anglo-Norman noble house that held at various times the earldoms of Pembroke, Hertford and Gloucester in England and Wales, as well as playing a prominent role in the Norman invasion of Ireland. They were d ...

, Badlesmere and Scrope families until the mid 16th century, when it passed to the Cheyne family. In 1716 it was sold to

William Clayton, 1st Baron Sundon William Clayton later Baron Sundon after Godfrey Kneller William Clayton, 1st Baron Sundon (1671 – 29 April 1752) of Sundon Hall, Sundon, Bedfordshire was a British Treasury official and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1716 ...

. It later passed to the Page-Turner family. The parish church, dedicated to St Mary, is a Grade I listed building. It dates back largely to the 14th century, with some 13th century elements. The Victorian vicarage is Grade II listed, and features very fine latticed windows. Because of changes to its boundary, the parish no longer includes Sundon Park (which is now an area of Luton) or the "Sundon Substation" of the National Grid for electricity (which lies west of the railway, near the village of

Chalton Chalton may refer to: *Chalton, Bedfordshire, England *Chalton, Hampshire, England See also

*Charlton (disambiguation) {{place name disambiguation ...

References

Civil parishes in Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire District {{Bedfordshire-geo-stub