Dunstable
Dunstable is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is the fourth largest town in Bedfordshire and along with Houghton Regis forms the westernmost part of the Luton/Dunstable urban area.
Etymology
In Roman times there was a minor settlement called Durocobrivis in the area now occupied by modern-day Dunstable.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 [|below]. But current thinking is that the form Durocobrivis, which occurs in the Antonine Itinerary, is a fossilised locative that was used all the time and Ordnance Survey now uses this form.
There are several theories concerning its modern name:
- Legend tells that the lawlessness of the time was personified in a thief called Dun. Wishing to capture Dun, the King stapled his ring to a post daring the robber to steal it. It was, and was subsequently traced to the house of the widow Dun. Her son, the robber, was taken and hanged to the final satisfaction that the new community bore his name.
- It comes from the Anglo-Saxon for "the boundary post of Duna".
- Derived from Dunum, or Dun, a hill, and Staple, a marketplace.
History
Ancient history
Relics of Palæolithic humans, including such relics as flint implements and the bones of contemporary wild animals, suggest the settlement is prehistoric. At Maiden Bower in the parish of Houghton Regis to the north, there is an Iron Age hill fort, which is clearly marked on the Ordnance survey maps. Maiden Bower has some of the ramparts showing through the edge of an old chalk quarry at Sewell where remains of an older Bronze Age fort exist. There are many prehistoric sites in the area and details can be found with the Manshead Archaeological Society, which is based in Winfield Street, Dunstable. Dunstable is on the route of the Icknield Way, claimed to be 'the oldest road in Britain'.Roman settlement
A settlement was established by the AD 40s and 50s, when the Romans arrived and paved the road now known as Watling Street and its crossroad, the Icknield Way. Traces of Neolithic activity are not in doubt but much of their mystery may be lost under the surrounding Chiltern Hills.The Romans built a posting station and probably named the settlement Durocobrivae, but over time this may have shifted to Durocobrivis. The area was occupied by Saxons around AD 571.
Medieval times
Dunstable's modern structure dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, as do many of the nearby towns/villages. The etymology of Dunstable, akin to Luton, Houghton Regis, Totternhoe, Kensworth, Caddington, Toddington, Leighton Buzzard, etc. is Anglo-Saxon in origin, and believed to mean "Dun's market", "Downs' market", or "Dun's post/pole". There is no firm date as to the founding of Dunstable. However, it's possible that once the early Anglo-Saxon settled in the area, and had subdued local Romano-Britons, Dunstable along with its adjacent communities was founded between the 6th-8th centuries. During the Heptarchy period, what was to become Bedfordshire was part of the Kingdom of Mercia. This area of southern Bedfordshire was near the Danelaw boundary, though within the territory ruled by King Alfred the Great in his treaty with the Norse Lord Guthrum.There were raids by Norsemen, who had settled in Bedford and further north in Northampton and up to the Leicester/Rutland regions, for cattle, crops, slaves, and other items, which were often repelled by local Anglo-Saxon forces. One such raid occurred in 912, where Norse jarls from the East Midlands arranged raids of what is now southern Bedfordshire, including the Luton and Dunstable areas. However, Norse activity in the area was subdued after the Anglo-Saxon victory at the Battle of Tempsford, believed to have been fought further north in the county. Bedfordshire and by extension the Dunstable area was affected by later Norse raids, under Kings Sweyn Forkbeard and Cnut of Denmark, in response to the St. Bride's Massacre executed by King Athelred the Unready of England. From 1002, to 1016, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that Bedfordshire was heavily affected by Norse harrying.
At the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066, this area of the county is known to have been uncultivated tract covered by woodlands. In 1109, Henry I started a period of activity by responding to this danger to travellers. He instructed areas to be cleared and encouraged settlers with offers of royal favour. In 1123, a royal residence was built at what is now called the Royal Palace Lodge Hotel on Church Street. The king used the residence as a base to hunt on nearby lands.
Dunstable Priory was founded in 1131 by Henry I who transferred land from the Parish of Houghton Regis, and it was here that the annulment of Henry VIII's and Catherine of Aragon's marriage would be confirmed years later, which led to the establishment of the Church of England in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church. The same year the town granted a town charter to the power of the priors.
In 1290, Dunstable was one of twelve sites to erect an Eleanor cross recognising Eleanor of Castile, wife of Edward I, whose coffin was laid close to the crossroads for the local people to mourn the dead Queen. The coffin was then guarded inside the priory by the canons overnight before continuing on to St. Albans. The original wooden cross has long since perished but a modern memorial remains.
During the Invasion of England of 1326, Queen Isabella of France and her army, having landed in Suffolk, captured Dunstable on 7 October without a fight.
17th century
Bedfordshire was one of the counties that largely supported the Roundheads during the English Civil War. Nearby St Albans in Hertfordshire was the headquarters of the Roundheads, and troops were occasionally stationed at Dunstable. The town was plundered by King Charles I's soldiers when passing through in June 1644, and Essex's men destroyed the Eleanor cross.The town's prosperity, and the large number of inns or public houses in the town, is partly because it is only one or two days' ride by horse from London, and therefore a place to rest overnight. There are two pubs which still have coaching gates to the side: the Sugar Loaf in High Street North, and the Saracen's Head in High Street South. The Saracen's Head is a name often given to pubs frequented by knights of the crusades. It is positioned 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.
19th century
Dunstable's first railway opened in 1848, originally in Houghton Regis. It was a branch joining the West Coast Main Line at Leighton Buzzard. A second line linking Dunstable with via opened in 1858. Passenger services to Dunstable were withdrawn in 1965, but the line between Dunstable and Luton remained open for freight traffic for many years.Dunstable was a significant market town, but its importance diminished as the neighbouring town of Luton grew.
20th century
The 19th century saw the straw hat making industry come to Luton and a subsequent decline in Dunstable, to be replaced in the early 20th century by the printing and motor vehicle industries, with companies such as Waterlow's and Vauxhall Motors respectively. The new Bedford Dunstable plant came into production in 1942 to support the British Army in the Second World War. It continued manufacturing commercial trucks and buses until 1992. The closure of the main factories and the decline of manufacturing in the area has led to this distinctiveness being lost.Shops were concentrated along High Street North/South and in 1966 the Quadrant Shopping Centre opened. During the 1980s, Dunstable town centre was a successful shopping centre featuring major retailers including Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose, Bejam/Iceland, Boots, Halfords, Co-op department store, Argos, Woolworths, Burton, Next and many independent specialist shops including Moore's of Dunstable. These attracted shoppers from outlying villages resulting in a retail town centre larger than would be supportable by Dunstable residents alone, so much so that in 1985 the Eleanor's Cross retail area was developed to cater mainly for smaller shops.
The Cottage Garden Flower Shop of Chiltern Road, established in 1898, is believed to be the oldest independent retail business still trading.
21st century
As with many other market towns, the rise of out-of-town retail parks contributed to a decline in town centre trade; Sainsbury's, Tesco, Halfords, and Next moved to newer larger premises out-of-town.More recently, major grocery retailers Asda and Aldi have opened stores within the town centre. Whitbread PLC, which manages Premier Inn, Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Table Table, is headquartered on the Houghton Regis/Dunstable industrial estate.
Governance
There are two tiers of local government covering Dunstable, at parish and unitary authority level: Dunstable Town Council and Central Bedfordshire Council. The town council has its offices at Grove House, 76 High Street North.Dunstable is served by the Bedfordshire Police force where the Police and Crime Commissioner is John Tizard.