The Virtual Library

Menu
Bedford Borough Council logo Central Bedfordshire Council logo
Contact us on Facebook Home Page What's On Contact Us Help

Stanbridge
Timeline

Places > Stanbridge

13th Century: The oldest part of the present church is the chancel, built in the late 13th century. The north and south arcades are of c1300 and c1330 respectively. The west tower and clerestory date from the 15th century.

1800: Small tower windmill built, it was gutted and converted into a house in the 1960s.

1840c: The Wheatsheaf Public House opened.

1848: Stanbridge Enclosure Act.

1849: Stanfordbridge station opened although the platforms were not completed until 1860.

1870: Stanbridge Methodist Chapel opens.

1876: The first school started in the Methodist Chapel on Monday 26th June.

1881: Village school built.

1892-93: The church was restored at a cost of 2229. The south aisle, porch and chancel arch were rebuilt, the roofs restored  and recovered with lead, the floor re-laid and new seating provided. The church was re-opened on the 13th July 1893.

1914-18: The village was one of the thirty-one "Thankful Villages" in the country which were able to welcome home all of their men who had fought in the First World War. To commemorate this happy event the village installed a clock on the west face of the church tower.

1939: RAF Stanbridge opens.

1958: The Wheatsheaf Public House closes.

1962: 2nd July, Standfordbridge station closes for passenger transport. 

1964: On the 1st June Stanfordbridge station closes, it is now a private house.

1972: Stanbridge Methodist Chapel closes.

1992: Ministry of Defence confirms RAF Stanbridge is to close. (Leighton Buzzard, Observer 18th August)

1994: The Ministry of Defence hands over the RAF Stanbridge site which had been closed for over a year to Beazer Homes. Between 525 and 573 homes to be built on the site (Leighton Buzzard Observer, 6th April).

Sources:

  • Newspaper articles in the Bedford Central Local Studies Collection.
  • Victoria County History of Bedfordshire 3 Vols 1912.
  • PICKFORD, Christopher  Bedfordshire Churches in the 19th Century Vol.79 Bedfordshire Historical Society 2000.
  • BROWN, M. and MASTERS, J.  Around Leighton Buzzard and Linslade.  1998.

Page last updated: 4th February 2014