A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



LUTON 



with the hamlets of 

 East and West Hyde, Stopsley, Limbury cum Biscott, and Leagrave 



Lygetune (viii cent.) ; Lygeanburh (x cent.) ; Loitone 

 (xi cent.); Lectuna, Lutune (xii-xiii cents.); Leweton 

 (xvl cent.). 



Bissopescote (xi cent.) ; Byscote (xiv cent.). 



Lightgrave, Litgrave (xv-xvii cents.). 



Luton is a large parish comprising, with its hamlets, 

 15,4.34 acres, of which 9,897 acres are arable, 3,427 

 permanent grass, and 692 woods and plantations.' 



The soil is composed of chalk, loam, and gravel, 

 and the parish contains much good arable land. 



In Stopsley the soil is strong clay, the subsoil strong 

 clay on a bed of chalk, and the crops are wheat, 

 barley, oats, and beans. In East and West Hyde the 

 soil is sandy loam, and the subsoil chalk and clay. 

 The slope of the ground is irregular; the highest 

 point, in the south-west of the parish, is 534 ft. above 

 the ordnance datum ; the lowest, in the north, 

 360 ft. 



The position of the present centre of the town and 

 of the parish church of St. Mary suggests that the 

 original settlement at Luton occupied a piece of low 

 ground close to the River Lea, perhaps at some 

 important ford. 



Starting from this nucleus the town spread, at first 

 south, up the slopes on that side of the river, later in 

 a north-westerly direction, when the present factories 

 were built, and is now beginning to occupy the 

 northern slopes of the valley and the steep wooded 

 rise known as St. Anne's Hill, which overlooks the 

 town from that direction. 



The main streets appear to have preserved to some 

 extent their original plan, and until recently con- 

 tained numerous old houses and inns, now rebuilt or 

 entirely removed. The Cross Keys Inn was pulled 

 down in 1905, and the present George Inn retains 

 parts of an older house, much concealed by modern 

 reconstruction. 



George Street, with the Corn Exchange at the 

 south end and the Town Hall at the north, forms a 

 short main street upon which numerous others con- 

 verge. The majority of these streets are narrow and 

 in some cases steep, so that the traffic which enters 

 the town by wide and open roads in the outskirts 

 often becomes somewhat crowded in the main streets, 

 particularly on market days, when a portion of 

 George Street is used for the purpose of a market- 

 place. 



The church of St. Mary, surrounded by a large 

 graveyard, is half-way between George Street and the 

 river. The original vicarage was probably close to 

 the church, but the present house is modern and lies 

 on the north side of the river. 



To the north of the town are the parishes of Lea- 

 grave and Stopsley, formed respectively in 1866 and 

 1861 out of Luton. To the south is Hyde parish, 

 formed in 1843. 



The neighbouring country is mostly higher than 



the town, and is often well wooded, particularly in 

 Stockwood and Luton Hoo parks to the south and on 

 the slopes of St. Anne's Hill to the east. 



To the north and north-east the chalk downs run 

 in long sweeping undulations towards Hitchin. The 

 town is provided with water from deep borings in 

 the chalk, the supply being stored in reservoirs on 

 high ground to the north and south of the town. 



The Hatfield road enters the town from the south 

 by Park Road and Manchester Street ; and to the 

 north the main roads run north-west to Dunstable, 

 and north to Bedford. 



The Midland Railway Company has a station at 

 Luton on their main line from St. Pancras, and a 

 branch of the Great Northern Railway from Hatfield 

 to Dunstable also has a station here ; whilst the 

 London and North-Western have running powers 

 over the Great Northern Company's line from Leigh- 

 ton Buzzard. The Great Northern Railway has a 

 station, Luton Hoo, in the parish of Hyde, facing 

 which is Chiltern Green Station on the Midland 

 Railway. 



Palaeolithic implements and neolithic remains have 

 been discovered at Dallow, Round Green, Ramridge 

 End, Leagrave, and Wauluds Bank, Luton ; and gold 

 British coins at Leagrave.' 



Wauluds Bank, Drays Ditches near Limbury, and 

 Someries Castle near Luton, are examples of ancient 

 defensive earthworks, the last being manorial in 

 character.' 



Among place-names found in documents relating 

 to this parish may be mentioned the following : — 

 Catenho, Campsters hul, Haldwyk, in the thirteenth 

 century ; le Haut Close, from the thirteenth to the 

 seventeenth, and PayshuU or Popeshull from the thir- 

 teenth to the sixteenth ; Hydemanfeld, Stapleford 

 field, and WychhuU in the fourteenth ; Ryndelee or 

 Rondeleyes from the fourteenth to the seventeenth ; 

 GoiFes, Chapelhaut, in the fifteenth ; Burymill mead, 

 from the fifteenth to the eighteenth ; Allwyn's Close, 

 Aschebesland, Bassetts, Begersland, Courgend Close, 

 Derie Boughte, Fenylfield, Gallows, Hermytage lands. 

 Lepers, Mayndenfield, Newmans, Ramridgehill, 

 Sewell field, Theydon's Close, Welhavering, in the 

 sixteenth ; Baylyfield, in the sixteenth and seven- 

 teenth centuries ; Gregory Shaws, Pursleys, and 

 Sears Close, from the sixteenth to the eighteenth ; 

 Bassets, Broomfield, Copthall, Deadwoman furlong, 

 Priestsmeadow, Lawcroftes, in the seventeenth ; Kit- 

 now Close, Onyons, in the seventeenth century ; 

 Nocehilles or Mixeshill, from the seventeenth cen- 

 tury to the present day. 



Luton is a town which has developed during the 

 nineteenth century. This may be well exemplified 

 by an examination of its population at various times. 

 Thus, in 1546 the population included 1,500 'house- 

 lyng people' ; in 1801 the oiRcial returns give 3,095 ; 



' Statistics from Bd. of Agric. 1905. 

 In 1896 Hyde (including East and West 

 Hyde, 4,425 acres), Leagrave (1,126 



acres), Limbury cum Biscott (2,453 

 acres), and Stopsley (4,295 acres), became 

 separate civil and ecclesiastical parishes. 



348 



' KC.H. Beds, i, 145-73. 

 ° Ibid. 269-305. 



