Lower Stondon
| Lower Stondon | |
  Lower Stondon Lower Stondon shown within Bedfordshire | |
| OS grid reference | TL155355 |
|---|---|
| Civil parish | Stondon |
| Unitary authority | Central Bedfordshire |
| Ceremonial county | Bedfordshire |
| Region | East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | HENLOW |
| Postcode district | SG16 |
| Dialling code | 01462 |
| Police | Bedfordshire |
| Fire | Bedfordshire and Luton |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | Mid Bedfordshire |
| |
Lower Stondon is a small village in Central Bedfordshire close to the Hertfordshire Border and has a population of approximately 2000. The village is part of the larger Stondon civil parish, with the name "Stondon" deriving from the Saxon word meaning Stone Hill. The A600 runs close to the village. Stondon is about 5 miles from the A1 (M) Motorway A1 road (Great Britain) which provides a direct route from London to Edinburgh and is approximately 10 miles from the M1 motorway which connects London to Leeds.
Lower Stondon is approximately 10 minutes from Hitchin Railway Station which has direct links to Stevenage, London, Cambridge and Peterborough and approximately 5 minutes from Arlesey Railway Station.
Amenities
Lower Stondon does not have a large number of amenities; at the western end of the village there is a grocery store and post office, hairdressers and an Indian restaurant in Fakeswell Lane. Hillside Road leads to the Village Hall, Stondon Lower School, Garden Centre and Recreation Field. Another facility at the Western end of the village is the Mount Pleasant Golf Club.
The Eastern end of Station Road has a BMX Track built with funds from charitable donations. Further east along Station Road is RAF Henlow and Henlow Camp, there are a number of amenities within close reach on the A600 roundabout, these consist of a grocery store, hairdressers, an estate agent, a sandwich shop, an antique shop, an electrical shop, several takeaway restaurants and a large family pub and hotel.
Free Publications
Part of the village receives the Advertiser, the Comet and the Bedfordshire on Sunday newspapers. The village had its own magazine, distributed each season about the village and surrounding area called Stondon Times. This stopped in about 2008 and at present no single magazine has taken its place. The village also receives two magazines distributed to villages in the surrounding area, one called In and Around and the other called The Villager.
Schools
The village has a Lower School, which was originally built in 1861 and extended in the 1950s and 1960s. Children join when they are 5 and then transfer to a Middle School in the area aged 9 (Henlow Middle or Robert Bloomfield) and then onto Samuel Whitbread Academy aged 13.
The schools all maintain websites which can be found at -
Stondon Lower School - Robert Bloomfied Middle School - Henlow Middle School - Samuel Whitbread Academy -
Places of worship
There is a Baptist Chapel in the village along Station Road just opposite the golf club. The Anglican church of All Saints is up the hill in Upper Stondon.
Stondon Transport Museum -
The village also hosts the largest private transport museum in the UK. The collection has over 400 exhibits, including cars, motorcycles, tanks, aircraft, and a full-size replica of Captain Cook's ship, the HM Bark Endeavour.
History
Domesday Entry
The Domesday Book has two entries for Lower Stondon.
In Folio 209 Bedfordshire, Section Roman VIII, The Land of St Benedict of Ramsey, Clifton Hundred it says:
In [Lower and Upper] Stondon the same abbot [of St Benedict] holds half a hide. There is land for half a plough, and there is [half a plough]. This land belongs and belonged to the Demesne of the church of St Benedict. It is worth 15s.
In Folio 209 Bedfordshire, Section Roman LV, The Land of the Wife of Ralph Taillebois, Clifton Hundred it says:
In [Lower and Upper] Stondon Engeler holds 2½ hides of Azelina. There is land for 2½ ploughs. In Demesne [are] 2 ploughs; and 3 bordars with half a plough. There are 2 slaves [and] meadow for 2½ ploughs. It is worth 60s; when received, 40s; TRE £4. Wulfmær, of Eaton Socon, a thegn of King Edward, held this land; and there were 5 soak men, men of the same Wulfmær, and they could give and sell [their land] to whom they wished.
References
- ^ http://www.mountpleasantgolfclub.co.uk/
- ^ Domesday Book, A Complete Translation, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-143994-7
- ^ Central Bedfordshire Council
- ^ Stondon Parish Council
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lower Stondon. |