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