Old Warden

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Old Warden
Bedfordshire
Old Warden Post Office - geograph.org.uk - 276259.jpg
Old Warden Post Office
Location
Location: 52°4’41"N, 0°20’28"W
Data
Population: 328  (2011[1])
Post town: Biggleswade
Postcode: SG18
Local Government
Council: Central Bedfordshire
Parliamentary
constituency:
Mid Bedfordshire

Old Warden is a village and parish in Bedfordshire, just west of the town of Biggleswade. The parish forms part of the hundred of Wixamtree and had a population of 328 at the 2011 census.[1] The village grew up under the protection of the Cistercian Wardon or Warden Abbey nearby.

History

The first mention of a post office in the village is in 1873. The post office national archives record the issue to Old Warden in April 1890 of a type of postmark known as a rubber datestamp.[2] The village post office closed on 14 October 2008. It was one of about 2,500 compulsory compensated closures of UK post office branches announced by the Government in 2007.[3]

St Leonard's Parish Church is located in the village.

The village is also noted for being the home of the Shuttleworth Trust, an organisation committed to the preservation of transport artefacts — primarily bicycles, motor cars, and aeroplanes — produced in the early part of the 20th century. The corresponding collection is known as the Shuttleworth Collection. The estate also has buildings and gardens, and a small airfield from which many of the historic aircraft fly during the regular flying displays. The estate, museum, and airfield are open to visitors at a price. The estate is also the home of Shuttleworth College founded in 1944.

Sport and leisure

Both the Greensand Ridge Walk and the Greensand Cycle Way pass through Old Warden.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11127244&c=Old+Warden&d=16&e=62&g=6402625&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1478859834007&enc=1. Retrieved 11 November 2016. 
  2. Mackay, James A. (1986) Sub Office Rubber Datestamps of England and Wales, p. 285, p. 287, Dumfries: published by the author, ISBN 0-906440-39-4
  3. "Proposed branch closure" (2008) Leaflet issued by Post Office Ltd.

Outside links

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