Shefford
| Shefford | |
| Bedfordshire | |
|---|---|
 Shefford High Street | |
| Location | |
| Location: | 52°2’13"N, 0°19’55"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 4,928 (2001) |
| Post town: | Shefford |
| Postcode: | SG17 |
| Dialling code: | 01462 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Central Bedfordshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Mid Bedfordshire |
Shefford is a small town in Bedfordshire. At the 2001 census it had a population of 4,928, and was estimated to have grown to 5,770 by 2007.
The River Flit and the River Hit run through the town. The Flit runs from Flitwick and joins the River Ivel on the edge of Shefford. The Ivel eventually joins the Great Ouse just north of Sandy.
The name Shefford is from the Old English sceap ford; "Sheep ford" as the sheep market here was reached by ford over the two rivers that run through the town.
Shefford Hardwick was a hamlet in the west of the parish, north of Ampthill Road. The rural settlement was a civil parish in its own right from 1858 to 1933, when it was mergd back as Shefford expanded.
Parish church
The parish church is St Michael and All Angels.
The lower parts of tower are mediæval. It has a double nave, late Georgian and Victorian. The organ is by the well-know Forsyth-Grant; the first such that he made.
History
Roman remains were discovered in Shefford in the early 19th century.[1]
Sir William Lyle was Lord of Camelton (Campton) and Shefford in 1399.[2]
Between 1868 and 1974 there was a Roman Catholic orphanage, St Francis' Boy's Home, next to the Roman Catholic Church of the ame dedication. The orphanage buildings have since been turned into flats, but remain the most imposing in the town.
During Second World War an entire Jewish children's community came into being in Shefford as evacuees from Europe were billeted in and around the town as part of "Operation Pied Piper Tomorrow".
About the village
Shefford has a fire station, bowls club and a brewery. As well as this, it has various pubs and restaurants, including Chinese takeaways, Indian takeaways and restaurants and a fish and chip shop. Shefford has two petrol stations, two car dealers, a bank and a pharmacy. There are three estate agents, an electrical shop, two florists, a second-hand clothes shop, an angling centre and a bakery. There are two small café and cake/sandwich shops. There is also a post office with sorting facilities. There is also an ironmonger's.
There is a small supermarket, a travel agent and a public library.
Big Society
- Boy Scouts;
- Army Cadet Force; hut at Chicksands on the Army Intelligence Corps base, which is part of Bedfordshire ACF, in A company.
Sport and leisure
- Football: Shefford Town & Campton FC
Outside links
- Shefford Town Council
- Shefford Community Hub
- Shefford pages at the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service
References
- ↑ Shefford Pages at the Community archive. http://www.bedfordshire.gov.uk/CommunityAndLiving/ArchivesAndRecordOffice/CommunityArchives/Shefford/Romano-BritishShefford.aspx; Roman cemetery, Roman coins, Possible Roman road.
- ↑ Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; CP 40/555. http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H4/CP40no555/aCP40no555fronts/IMG_0222.htm; third entry, as defendant in a plea of debt