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Shefford
Timeline

Places > Shefford

1801: Shefford has ninety houses and 474 inhabitants.

1812: The poet Robert Bloomfield rents a house in Bedford Street (now called North Bridge Street)

1826: Men digging for gravel near Ampthill Road find a Roman cremation cemetery. Among the burials were large quantities of pottery including a type known as Samian ware, an amphora, glass and bronze vessels, coins, an iron lamp and a lead eagle.

1847:Kelly's Directory of this year notes "It is a remarkably clean and healthy town, having its main streets very wide.  It is well paved and lighted."

1853: Craven's directory of this year notes "Shefford stands on the banks of the River Ivel, which is navigable for coals, corn, timber, and other merchandise from Lynn... There is a considerable market held here on Friday, for straw plait, on which the working classes are chiefly employed.

1857: Shefford Station came into use for goods traffic on the 22nd April. Passenger use flowed within a month.

1869: St. Francis's Catholic Boys Home opened.

1882: The foundation stone laid for St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church. The Church opened on July 8th, 1884.

1892: Shefford Town Football Club established.

1903: Shefford made a separate ecclesiastical parish. Until this date it had been classed as a hamlet of Campton.

1931: Hyde's Butchers established in Clifton Road. The family run firm was still in business 50 years later.

1938: Robert Bloomfield Middle School opens. It was originally known as Shefford Senior School. It cost 36,000 and opened with eight staff.

1939: 450 Jewish refugee children brought to Shefford from London.

1949: A book printed in 1536 about church law is found in a house known as 'The Porch', North Bridge Street, while under restoration by Professor Albert Richardson (reported in the Bedfordshire Times, 22nd April).

1976: Eighty-year-old railway bridge spanning the High Street demolished.

1981: Local brewery Banks and Taylor established. The first brew was Shefford bitter. In 1994 the company went into receivership but was rescued by a local businessman.

1982: Appeal launched to undertake urgent work on the tower of St. Michael and All Angels.

1987: ACO Polymer Products Ltd opens a 2 million concrete factory.

1989: Work starts on the Shefford-Henlow-Clifton bypass.

1989: Shefford Saints Football formed.

1990: Bypass opened by Solicitor General and Mid Bedfordshire MP Sir Nicholas Lyell.

1997: 'The Sportsman' public house in Hitchin Road closes down. The premises were subsequently converted into offices.

1998: A new town sign installed in Kingsmede Gardens.

1998: Countryside Commission provide grant for a Millennium Green. The Green was officially opened in September 2000 by John Pilgrim.

2001: Clock on Shefford's Parish Church restored at a cost of 2,500.

2008: The Farmers' Market opens for business.

2009: Chatterbox coffee shop opens on the site of what was once the George Public House .

2010: Shefford Town Football Club agree a merger with Campton to form the Shefford and Campton F.C.

2010: The Town Council purchased 15 High Street in order to offer a hire facility for the local community as well as leased offices for incubator companies.

2011: Clifton Road Industrial Estate was demolished to make way for a new housing development .

2011: Shefford Health Centre, Robert Lucas Drive is opened in March.

2011: Shefford Town Council move to their new premises, Shefford House, in December.

2012: The Woolpack Public House closes its doors on the death of landlady Sally Taylor.

2012: The White Swan Public House becomes a Thai restaurant.

2012: The Methodist Church celebrates 100 years in its current location.

 


Page last updated: 7th April 2015