Totternhoe is a village and

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

Manshead Manshead was a hundred of Bedfordshire in England. It covered an area in the south-west of the county stretching from Salford to Studham and from Leighton Buzzard to Houghton Regis and Dunstable. The hundred was named after a site in Eversholt ...

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

of 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.

Overview

Totternhoe is an ancient village in southern

, near

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is the ...

and

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 n ...

. Totternhoe Knolls has been a fort for many peoples including Romans and

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. T ...

. Totternhoe Castle, of

motte-and-bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

design, was built during the Norman period, probably during the years of

the Anarchy The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin, the only legi ...

, only the mound survives. Behind the knoll is a large

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Cha ...

quarry producing

Totternhoe Stone 250 px, The characteristic checkerboard design of many Bedfordshire churches built with alternating chalk and flint blocks: St Mary's (Luton). Totternhoe Stone is a relatively hard chalk outcropping in the middle of the Lower Chalk in the Chilte ...

and modern lime

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...

s. The parish church of Saint Giles dates from the 13th century. The village had 561 homes housing 1,172 people at the time of the 2011 census. There are several farms and a small

lower school Three-tier education refers to those structures of schooling, which exist in some parts of England, where pupils are taught in three distinct school types as they progress through the education system. Terminology In a three-tier local educa ...

, Totternhoe Church of England Academy. The village has two

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

s, The Old Farm Inn in Church End and The Cross Keys in Middle End. Another pub in Church End, The Bell, was converted into a private home in about 1992.

Geography

The village is long and thin and is separated into three parts: * Church End, closest to Dunstable, includes the school and a pub. This area of the village centres around the junction of three of the four main roads into the village: Church Road (leading to

Eaton Bray Eaton Bray is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is situated about three miles south-west of the town of Dunstable and is part of a semi-rural area which extends into the parish of Edlesborough. In the 2011 United Kingdom c ...

), Dunstable Road and Castle Hill Road (leading to Leighton Buzzard). Dunstable Road becomes Castle Hill Road as one heads West. * Middle End has a recreation ground and a

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement * Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

Hut (where the First Totternhoe Scouts and Guides meet) next to where the old school used to be. One entrance to the Knolls is up past the Scout Hut. * Lower End, towards Leighton Buzzard, is where the quarry is. It is overlooked by the old fort on the Knoll. The civil parish includes the foot of

Dunstable Downs Dunstable Downs are part of the Chiltern Hills, in southern Bedfordshire in England, located near (and named after) the town of Dunstable. They are a chalk escarpment forming the north-eastern reaches of the Chilterns. At , Dunstable Downs are ...

, including the

London Gliding Club The London Gliding Club (LGC) is a members' club whose airfield is located at the foot of the Dunstable Downs. Many privately owned gliders are based there. It has the facilities to train pilots in powerless flight, and in the skills necessary ...

History

Totternhoe Roman villa dates to the fourth century. 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 recorded the village as ''Totene Hou'', meaning "look out house" and "spur", presumably describing forts on the Knoll. The 1881

Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

recorded Totternhoe's population as about 700, of whom 54% were female. Totternhoe's

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who has ...

s were not enclosed until 1892.

Sport and leisure

Totternhoe 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 s ...

team Totternhoe F.C. who play at Church End recreation ground.

Notable buildings and sites

Travelling west from Dunstable one may find the following buildings.

* Lancot Park, the Dunstable Cricket Club ground, built on farmland in the 1990s. * Totternhoe Football Club's building in the corner of the Church End recreation ground
The Old Farm Inn
an old thatched and timber-framed pub dating from the 17th century
The Cross Keys Pub
a thatched building, twice damaged by fire in the 1970s and early 2000s
Lockington Farm
* The current school * The former Bell pub * St Giles' parish church. The church was built using stone from local quarries and has a fine exterior. "Flint-flushwork" decoration is used in the gable of the nave. Building began in the 14th century and was not completed until the 16th.Betjeman, John, ed. (1968) ''Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches; the South''. London: Collins; p. 106 * Glebelands, St Giles church house, a former retirement home and now a private home * The site of the old school in Middle End * The scout hut * The old village shop, now a private home * The first village

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, now a private home
Totternhoe Memorial Hall
the village's war memorial * Poplar Farm * The former

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

Chapel, now a private home * The second village shop and later Post Office, now a private home * Totternhoe Lime & Stone Co and the old quarry

Adjacent towns and villages

The village shares boundaries with the following parishes: *

* Sewell *

* Tilsworth

References

External links

Totternhoe pages
at the

Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service is a county record office, holding archival material associated with Bedfordshire and Luton. Established in 1913 by George Herbert Fowler (1861-1940) as the Bedfordshire Record Office, it w ...

Totternhoe Memorial Hall
{{authority control Villages in Bedfordshire Civil parishes in Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire District