Dunstable

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the town in Massachusetts, see Dunstable, Massachusetts.

Map sources for Dunstable at grid reference TL0121

Dunstable is a town in the county of Bedfordshire, with a population of 33,805 (2001 census). It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills. These form several steep chalk escarpments most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north.

Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 coming into force in 1974 Dunstable was a municipal borough. It is now a civil parish in the South Bedfordshire district.

1 History
2 Places of interest in and around Dunstable
3 Famous people who have lived in Dunstable
4 Twinned Towns
5 See also
6 Notes and references
7 Further reading
8 External links

[edit] History

A map of Dunstable from 1944

Dunstable lies on a crossroads of the ancient Roman road of Watling Street, which is the modern A5 trunk road, and the even older Icknield Way. In Roman times its name was Durocobrivis.^[1] There are two theories concerning its modern name. Firstly there was a famous robber, Dunn, who gave his name to the town, Dunns stable. The Second is that it comes from Anglo-Saxon Dunstaple, meaning "Hill Market".

One of the reasons for the town's prosperity, and the large number of Inns or public houses in the town, is the fact that it was one day's ride (approx 35 miles) from London, and therefore a place to rest and spend the night. There are two Pubs which still have coaching gates to the side that show this: the Sugar Loaf in High Street North, and the Saracens Head in High Street South. The Saracens Head, normally a name given to pubs frequented by Knights of the crusades, can be seen to be considerably lower than the road to its front, witness to the fact that the road has been resurfaced a number of times during the lifetime of the pub. There are also rumours of a series of tunnels running from the cellar of the pub to the crypt of the priory to its rear.

Dunstable was the site of an Eleanor cross. The Dunstable Priory Church of Saint Peter was founded in 1132 by Henry I and was later the setting for the divorce between Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, which led to the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. The first battles or skirmishes of the English Civil War occurred in Dunstable.

Dunstable's first railway opened in 1848. It was a branch of the London and North Western Railway, joining the West Coast Main Line at Leighton Buzzard. A second railway linking Dunstable with Hatfield on the Great Northern Railway via Luton opened in 1858. Dunstable Town station was closed when passenger services to Dunstable were withdrawn in 1965 and the track between Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard was removed. Dunstable is now one of the largest towns in south-east England without a railway connection.^[2] The line between Dunstable and Luton on the Midland Main Line remained open for freight traffic for many years and the track is still in place. There have been a number of campaigns for the re-establishment of a passenger railway; although none of them has proved to be successful, plans are now going ahead for a guided bus service, "Translink", much of which will run along the lines of the old track.^[3]

Dunstable was a significant market town, but its importance diminished as the neighbouring town of Luton grew.

In the twentieth century, the local economy was dominated by the printing and motor vehicle industries but with the closure of the main factories and the decline of manufacturing in the area, this distinctiveness has been lost. Most of the remaining factories and warehouses are on the Woodside Estate to the east of the town centre.

Until recently the town was the head quarters of Sports World International, the UK's largest sports clothing and accessories retailer before they relocated to Shirebrook.

[edit] Places of interest in and around Dunstable

Dunstable Downs, a chalky escarpment to the west of the town, with stunning views to the north, and a popular site for kite flying, paragliding, hang gliding and, located at the bottom of the Downs, the London Gliding Club which provides conventional gliding
Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, an open range zoo.
Whipsnade Tree Cathedral, a unique garden laid out to form a cathedral
Priory Church, where Henry VIII had his first divorce, from Catherine of Aragon, formalised.
Waulud's Bank , prehistoric henge in Leagrave
Luton Museum & Art Gallery
Totternhoe Knolls

[edit] Famous people who have lived in Dunstable

The comedian Spike Breakwell
Faye Tozer, member of the pop group Steps
Una Stubbs, actress
Red Star Rebels, Rock Band
Gary Cooper, actor, who lived in the town as a boy, attended Dunstable Grammar School.
John Dunstable the composer is alleged to have come from the town.

[edit] Twinned Towns

Dunstable is twinned with:

Bourgoin-Jallieu, (France)
Porz-Am-Rhein, (Germany). This is now part of Köln
Brive-la-Gaillarde, (France) Up until 2005

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

^ There was a general assumption that the nominative form of the name had been Durocobrivae, so that is what appears on the map of 1944 illustrated above. But current thinking is that the form Durocobrivis, which occurs in the Antonine Itinerary, is a fossilised locative that was used all the time (A. L. F. Rivet and C. Smith, The Place Names of Roman Britain, Batsford, 1979, p. 349) and the Ordnance Survey now uses this form.
^ Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service Guides to Collections: British Railways Board.
^ Translink website [1].

[edit] Further reading

Prehistory: C. L. Matthews (revised J. Schneider), Ancient Dunstable, 2nd edition, Manshead Archaeological Society, 1989, ISBN 0-9515160-0-0.
Historical town-centre locations: N. C. Benson, Dunstable in Detail: An Illustrated Guide to the Town of Dunstable, Book Castle, 1986, ISBN 0-9509773-2-2.
Second World War: J. Yates and S. King, Dunstable and District at War from Eyewitness Accounts, Book Castle, 2006, ISBN 1-903747-79-1.
Development of the town: R. Walden, Streets Ahead: An Illustrated Guide to the Street Names of Dunstable, Book Castle, 1999, ISBN 0-871199-54-9 (h/b), ISBN 0-871199-59-X (p/b).