Totternhoe
Encyclopedia
Totternhoe is a village and civil parish in the Manshead
hundred
of the county of Bedfordshire
, England
.
, near Dunstable
and Leighton Buzzard
. Totternhoe Knolls
has been a fort for many peoples including Romans
and Normans
. Behind the knoll is a large chalk
quarry producing Totternhoe Stone
and modern lime
kiln
s.
The Church of England parish church
of Saint Giles
dates from the 13th century.
The village has about 300 homes housing about 1,000 people.
There are several farms and a small lower school, Totternhoe Lower School.
The village has two public house
s, The Old Farm Inn in Church End
and The Cross Keys in Middle End. Another pub in Church End, The Bell, was converted into a private home in about 1992.
The civil parish includes the foot of Dunstable Downs
, including the London Gliding Club
.
of 1086 recorded the village as Totene Hou, meaning "look out house" and "spur", presumably describing forts on the Knoll.
The 1881 Census recorded Totternhoe's population as about 700, of whom 54% were female.
Totternhoe's common land
s were not enclosed
until 1892.
Manshead
Manshead was a hundred of Bedfordshire in England. It covered an area in the south-west of the county stretching from Salford to Studham and from Leighton Buzzard to Houghton Regis and Dunstable.The hundred was named after a site in Eversholt parish...
hundred
Hundred
Hundred usually refers to the number 100It may also refer to:* Hundred , historically a number not necessarily 100* Hundred , a mostly obsolete geographic term...
of the county of Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Overview
Totternhoe is an ancient village in southern BedfordshireBedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, near Dunstable
Dunstable
Dunstable is a market town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills, 30 miles north of London. These geographical features form several steep chalk escarpments most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north.-Etymology:In...
and Leighton Buzzard
Leighton Buzzard
-Lower schools:*Beaudesert Lower School - Apennine Way*Clipstone Brook Lower School - Brooklands Drive*Greenleas Lower School - Derwent Road*Dovery Down Lower School - Heath Road*Heathwood Lower School - Heath Road*Leedon Lower School - Highfield Road...
. Totternhoe Knolls
Totternhoe Knolls
Totternhoe Knolls is a chalk hill, located north-west of Totternhoe village in the county of Bedfordshire, with the remains of a medieval castle. It is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, as an example of chalk grassland....
has been a fort for many peoples including Romans
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
and Normans
Anglo-Norman
The Anglo-Normans were mainly the descendants of the Normans who ruled England following the Norman conquest by William the Conqueror in 1066. A small number of Normans were already settled in England prior to the conquest...
. Behind the knoll is a large chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
quarry producing Totternhoe Stone
Totternhoe Stone
thumb|250 px|right|The characteristic checkerboard design of many Bedfordshire churches built with alternating chalk and flint blocks: [[St Mary's ]]....
and modern lime
Lime (mineral)
Lime is a general term for calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides predominate. Strictly speaking, lime is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide. It is also the name for a single mineral of the CaO composition, occurring very rarely...
kiln
Kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...
s.
The Church of England parish church
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
of Saint Giles
Saint Giles
Saint Giles was a Greek Christian hermit saint from Athens, whose legend is centered in Provence and Septimania. The tomb in the abbey Giles was said to have founded, in St-Gilles-du-Gard, became a place of pilgrimage and a stop on the road that led from Arles to Santiago de Compostela, the...
dates from the 13th century.
The village has about 300 homes housing about 1,000 people.
There are several farms and a small lower school, Totternhoe Lower School.
The village has two public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
s, The Old Farm Inn in Church End
Church End, Totternhoe
Church End is a hamlet located in Bedfordshire, England.The settlement forms part of the wider Totternhoe village and civil parish, with Church End being the closest part of the parish to the larger town of Dunstable. Totternhoe Lower School is located in Church End, as is "The Old Farm Inn" public...
and The Cross Keys in Middle End. Another pub in Church End, The Bell, was converted into a private home in about 1992.
Geography
The village is long and thin and is separated into three parts:- Church EndChurch End, TotternhoeChurch End is a hamlet located in Bedfordshire, England.The settlement forms part of the wider Totternhoe village and civil parish, with Church End being the closest part of the parish to the larger town of Dunstable. Totternhoe Lower School is located in Church End, as is "The Old Farm Inn" public...
, closest to Dunstable, includes the school and a pub. This area of the village centres around the junction of three of the four main roads into the village: Church Road (leading to Eaton Bray), Dunstable Road and Castle Hill Road (leading to Leighton Buzzard). Dunstable Road becomes Castle Hill Road as one heads West.
- Middle End has a recreation ground and a ScoutScoutingScouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
Hut (where the First Totternhoe Scouts and Guides meet) next to where the old school used to be. One entrance to the Knolls is up past the Scout Hut.
- Lower End, towards Leighton Buzzard, is where the quarry is. It is overlooked by the old fort on the Knoll.
The civil parish includes the foot of Dunstable Downs
Dunstable Downs
Dunstable Downs are part of the Chiltern Hills, in southern Bedfordshire in England. They are a chalk escarpment forming the north-eastern reaches of the Chilterns...
, including the London Gliding Club
London Gliding Club
The London Gliding Club is a private members' club, and was set up primarily to train pilots in powerless flight, and the skills necessary to fly cross country using nature's sources of energy. Aerobatics and instructor training is also available. The club provides gliding courses, one day courses...
.
History
The Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086 recorded the village as Totene Hou, meaning "look out house" and "spur", presumably describing forts on the Knoll.
The 1881 Census recorded Totternhoe's population as about 700, of whom 54% were female.
Totternhoe's common land
Common land
Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
s were not enclosed
Enclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...
until 1892.
Notable buildings and sites
As one travels west from Dunstable one may find the following buildings.- Lancot Park, the Dunstable Cricket Club ground, built on farmland in the 1990s.
- Totternhoe Football Club'sTotternhoe F.C.Totternhoe F.C. is a football club based in Totternhoe, near Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England. They joined the South Midlands League in 1958, leaving in 1975 before re-joining in 1979...
building in the corner of the Church End recreation ground - The Old Farm Inn, a very old pub
- The Cross Keys Pub, a thatched building, twice damaged by fire in the 1970s and early 2000s.
- Lockington Farm
- The current school
- The former Bell pub
- St Giles' parish church. The church was built using stone from local quarries and has a fine exterior. "Flint-flushwork" decoration is used in the gable of the nave. Building began in the 14th century and was not completed until the 16th.
- Glebelands, St Giles church house, a former retirement home and now a private home
- The site of the old school in Middle End
- The scout hut
- The old village shop, now a private home
- The first village Post OfficePost officeA post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, now a private home - Totternhoe Memorial Hall, the village's war memorial
- Poplar Farm
- The former Methodist Chapel, now a private home
- The second village shop and later Post Office, now a private home
- Totternhoe Lime & Stone Co and the old quarry
Adjacent towns and villages
The village shares boundaries with the following parishes:- DunstableDunstableDunstable is a market town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills, 30 miles north of London. These geographical features form several steep chalk escarpments most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north.-Etymology:In...
- SewellSewell, BedfordshireSewell is a hamlet located in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England.Sewell is a small rural settlement, though it is located near to the town of Dunstable . The settlement forms part of the Houghton Regis civil parish....
- Eaton Bray
- TilsworthTilsworthTilsworth is a small village and civil parish in Bedfordshire. It lies to the north west of Dunstable, and the Roman Watling Street forms the north east boundary of the parish of 1200 acres . The village lies on the gault clay, where springs well up just south of a gentle gravelly ridge...
Further reading
- C. L. Matthews, J. Schneider and B. Horne, "A Roman villa at Totternhoe", Bedfordshire Archaeology, 20, 41-96, 1992.
External links
- Totternhoe pages at the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records ServiceBedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records ServiceThe Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service is a county record office, holding archival material associated with Bedfordshire and Luton. Established in 1913 by George Herbert Fowler as the Bedfordshire Record Office, it was the first county record office in England. It is located in...
- Genealogy UK website mentioning Totternhoe
- Dunstable Town Cricket Club Website
- County Drainage & Plumbing Solutions
- FAMAS Consulting
- Totternhoe Memorial Hall