History
[edit]
The area around Biggleswade is thought to have been inhabited from about 10,000 BC. Arrowheads believed to be from this time have been found. Sherds of late Neolithic pottery from a single Peterborough ware Mortlake bowl were found in a pit excavated south of Biggleswade Hospital. A Neolithic cursus and five associated ring ditches south of Furzenhall Farm show as crop markings on aerial images.
Archaeological excavations in 2001 discovered a late Bronze Age pit to the north of the water tower on Topler's Hill. Iron Age pottery and a bead together with charred cereal grains of wheat and barley have been found in pits to the north of the town.
In Roman times, a loop road known as the White Way passed through Biggleswade (possibly along the course of the present-day Drove Road), linking with Ermine Way at Godmanchester. There is evidence for a probable Romano-Celtic temple and aligned enclosures straddling a tributary of the River Ivel at the north-east corner of Biggleswade Common.
Anglo-Saxons[edit]
See also: Hundred of Biggleswade
In the 5th century AD, Saxon invaders settled. The name Biggleswade may derive from Biceil, an Anglo-Saxon personal name, and Waed, the Saxon word for ford. Variant spellings include Bykeleswad in 1396, Bykleswade in 15th-century law records, and Bickleswade on a 17th-century ivory seal now in the British Museum.
Wells and pits dating from the early 7th century and a quantity of later Maxey ware have been excavated at Stratton.
Evidence of an Anglo-Saxon ringwork and bailey castle was discovered by aerial photography in 1954 between the A1 road and the River Ivel.
An impression of the Coenwulf coin
In 2001 a gold coin bearing the name Coenwulf was found at Biggleswade on a footpath beside the River Ivel. The 4.33 g (0.15 oz) mancus, worth about 30 silver pennies, is only the eighth known gold coin dating to the mid to late Anglo-Saxon period. Its inscription, "DE VICO LVNDONIAE", shows it was minted in London. Initially it was sold to American collector Allan Davisson for £230,000 at auction but the British Government subsequently put in place a temporary export ban in the hope of saving it for the nation. The British Museum bought the coin in February 2006 for £357,832, with the help of funding from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the British Museum Friends. At the time it was the most expensive British coin purchased.
Medieval times[edit]
Biggleswade parish consisted of three settlements: Biggleswade, Holme and Stratton.
St. Andrew's Church
Biggleswade is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Bichelesuuade/Pichelsuuade: Ralph de l'Isle. 2 mills. Domesday records 27 heads of household in Stratton vill, but only 20 in Biggleswade. However, Biggleswade had overtaken Stratton by 1309.
In 1132, Henry I granted the manor of Biggleswade to Bishop Alexander the Magnificent of Lincoln, to help endow Lincoln Cathedral. A prebendal stall of Biggleswade is in the cathedral. King John (1196–1216) granted a charter to hold a market, which was confirmed by Henry III. The medieval parish Church of St Andrew contains a monumental brass of John Rudying featuring a figure of Death.
Stratton Park Moated Enclosure lies to the south of the town off Dunton Lane.
The Great Fire[edit]
Plaque commemorating the Great Fire
The Crown Inn, where the 1785 Great Fire started
On 16 June 1785 a fire started at the Crown Inn and spread rapidly through neighbouring streets, destroying nearly one-third of the town. A national appeal raised funds for 332 people who lost their homes and others who lost their livelihoods.
The Great Fire is among the historical scenes shown in a Millennium stained-glass window in St Andrew's Church.
Transport[edit]
A medieval bridge carrying the Great North Road over the River Ivel at Biggleswade is first documented in the early 13th century. In 1302 Bishop Dalderby of Lincoln gave indulgences to all those contributing to the repair of the bridge, and from 1372 tolls were authorised under the pontage system. The Great North Road became a turnpike road in 1725 (from Biggleswade to Alconbury Hill) and in 1730 (from Stevenage to Biggleswade). In 1796 the medieval bridge in Shortmead Street was rebuilt with sandstone from Sandy. It had three rounded arches. A metal "Meccano"-type bridge was erected alongside in 1939. In 1948 the stone bridge was demolished and replaced with a second "Meccano" or Callender-Hamilton bridge as it was formally known. The town was bypassed by the A1 trunk road in 1961. The current bridge dates from 1999.
Biggleswade, Ivel Mill
The River Ivel was made navigable to Biggleswade Mill in 1758 from its confluence with the River Ouse at Tempsford; and extended to Shefford in 1823. Timber and coal were transported. In 1876 the canal was abandoned by Act of Parliament.
Through the 19th century Biggleswade was a staging post for coaches. Destinations included London, Leeds, York and Boston, Lincolnshire.
The Great Northern Railway opened a station in 1850.
Eastern National operated local bus services until 1952, followed by United Counties. A bus depot in Shortmead Street until 1989 was replaced by Millers Court retirement apartments. Stagecoach took over in November 1987 and relocated its depot in Hitchin Street. Private bus operators based in Biggleswade included Charles Cook Travel (1947–1997) and Fairway Coaches (1973–1997).
Workhouses[edit]
Brigham House
From about 1780, Brigham House, 93 High Street, (now George Hay, Chartered Accountants) housed the parish workhouse. The premises were closed following the completion of The Union Workhouse at London Road in 1836. The Biggleswade Poor Law Union was officially formed on 14 April 1835 and covered 25 parishes. The Union workhouse ceased operation in 1930. The London Road building was renamed The Limes and provided accommodation for the aged, infirm and vagrants. It was used as an old people's home until its closure in 1969 and demolished in 1972.
Agriculture and industry[edit]
In 1868, The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland's entry for Biggleswade describes the surrounding district as "fertile, and the inhabitants... chiefly engaged in agricultural pursuits, and in market gardening" while "many of the female inhabitants are employed in lace-making and the manufacture of straw-plait." Though much of the vegetable trade has ended, Bedfordshire Growers on Potton Road still supplies supermarkets with UK-grown potatoes and onions.
Samuel Wells established a brewery in 1764. Wells and Winch built a new brewery in 1901 in Church Street. Greene King owned it from 1961 until October 1997. The site is now taken by an Asda supermarket.
A Maythorn body on the Daimler ofPrince Louis of Hesse
The Morton and Kinman owned Vulcan Foundry off Foundry Lane and Saffron Road made the iron work for the Ivel Navigation bridges at Blunham, Mill Lane and Holme in 1823.
From 1862, coachbuilder Maythorn had a factory on Market Square/Station Road. New premises were built in 1925. After the firm's demise in 1931, the factory and offices were utilised by NURO to make photographic film from 1935 to 1938; the NAAFI as a warehouse from 1940 to 1958 and Delaney Gallay and Gloster Saro, to make heat-insulation materials for aircraft, including Concorde. The building was demolished in 1987 to make way for shops and a car park.
The Ivel Cycle Works in Shortmead Street, founded by Dan Albone in 1881, made bicycles, motorbikes and light tractors until 1922.
Holme Mills, Biggleswade
Holme Mills, listed in the Domesday Book has been the home of Jordans Cereals since 1893. The company also has a unit on Stratton Business Park. Franklin's Mill in Mill Lane closed in 1945 following a fire. The mill building was restored and used as a warehouse before being converted into flats in 1982. Bedfordshire's tallest windmill, at 70 ft (21m), stood in Hitchin Street from 1858 until 1967.
Books, diaries, binders and sketch pads were made by Adams & Harrison which moved from Clerkenwell, London to Havelock Road in 1933. The factory closed in 1987 and gave way to housing in Reynolds Close. A major employer was Cincinnati Milacron, on a site between Dells Lane and the railway. The company, then named Weatherley Oilgear Ltd, came to Biggleswade in 1939; it made broaching machines. The factory was demolished in the mid-1980s and the site is now home to the "Poets" estate (Tennyson Avenue, Chaucer Drive, Dickens Court and Bunyan Drive). Off Hitchin Street, the roads Berkeley Close and Kayser Court are named after Berkeley, who made caravans and sports cars from 1947 to 1960 and Kayser Bondor, who made lingerie and nightdresses in the town from 1938 to 1991. Smart and Brown made precision lathes in London Road from 1946 until 1980. Felix established a Potton Road factory in 1949; it closed in the 1970s and its place is now taken by housing in Mountbatten Drive. Ribbon cables and printed circuit board connectors for computers were made in the converted Empire Cinema on Hitchin Street by Electro Methods from 1959; ownership changes saw the firm renamed Ether, then Pye Connectors and finally Flexicon, until closure in 1990.
Cinema[edit]
The Empire (originally The Cinema Palace) in Hitchin Street operated from 1913 to 1958. The building was converted into a factory making electrical connectors but was demolished in 1994 and the site is now occupied by housing in Empire Way. The 700-seat Regal Cinema in Station Road opened in 1936; after closure in 1976, it was converted into a bingo hall.
