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Biggleswade
Biggleswade town centre
Biggleswade  Biggleswade shown within Bedfordshire
Population	15,383
OS grid reference	TL1944
Unitary authority	Central Bedfordshire
Ceremonial county	Bedfordshire
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BIGGLESWADE
Postcode district	SG18
Dialling code	01767
Police	Bedfordshire
Fire	Bedfordshire and Luton
Ambulance	East of England
EU Parliament	East of England
UK Parliament	North East Bedfordshire
List of places: UK • England • Bedfordshire

Biggleswade

Located about 40 miles (60 km) north of Central London and 20 miles (30 km) west-south-west of Cambridge, the fastest train to London, King's Cross, takes 35 minutes, while a car journey to central Cambridge takes about 35 minutes. In 2001 the population of the town was about 15,383.^[1]

The town lies on the B1040 and A6001 (a section is the former A1) which also leads to Henlow to the south.

The area around Biggleswade is thought to have been inhabited from around 10,000 BC, with arrowheads dating from this period found in the region. 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 up with the Ermine Way at Godmanchester.

===The Saxons Boyd Underwood took over the city for 150 years

In the Fifth century AD, Saxon invaders settled here - the name Biggleswade is thought to be derived from Biceil, an Anglo-Saxon personal name and Waed, the Saxon word for ford.

In 2001 a gold coin bearing the name Coenwulf was discovered at Biggleswade on a footpath beside the River Ivel.^[2][3] The 4.33 g (0.15 oz) mancus, worth about 30 silver pennies, is only the eighth known Anglo-Saxon gold coin dating to the mid to late Anglo-Saxon period.^[2][3] The coin's inscription, "DE VICO LVNDONIAE", indicates that it was minted in London.^[3] Initially sold to American collector Allan Davisson for £230,000 at an auction held by Spink auction house in October of that year, the British Government subsequently put in place an export ban in the hope of saving it for the British public.^[2][4][5] In February 2006 the coin was bought by the British Museum for £357,832 with the help of funding from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and The British Museum Friends^[6][7] making it the most expensive British coin purchased until that date.

In 1132, Henry I granted the manor of Biggleswade to Bishop Alexander - Alexander the Magnificent - of Lincoln to help endow Lincoln Cathedral. The town was granted a charter to hold a market during the reign of King John (1196-1216) - a market is still held in the market place in the centre of the town every Saturday. The church is dedicated to St. Andrew. Biggleswade Castle existed in earlier times.

On June 16, 1785, there was a large fire in the town. The fire started at the The Crown Inn and spread rapidly through the neighbouring streets. By the time the fire had been brought under control, nearly one-third of the town had been destroyed, including 103 houses leaving 332 people homeless. A national appeal was launched to raise funds for the many people who had lost their homes and their livelihoods.

The Great Northern Railway opened in 1850, and Biggleswade was the third town in Bedfordshire to have a mainline station (on the East Coast Main Line) after Bedford & Dunstable.

The town was bypassed in 1961.

Buses in the town were provided by Eastern National until 1952 when the western division of Eastern National was handed over to United Counties. The company had a garage in Shortmead Street opposite Ivel Gardens until 1989 when it was sold for redevelopment into flats. United Counties was acquired by Stagecoach in November 1987 and moved to the current site in Hitchin Street in 1989, which was acquired from Charles Cook. Other bus operators based in Biggleswade included Charles Cook European Travel who operated in the area between 1947 and 1998 and Fairway Coaches although both of these operators have ceased to operate.

Traditionally, Biggleswade has been a vegetable- and produce-growing area with trains often taking daily loads of vegetables to London's produce markets. Even though much of this has now stopped, Bedfordshire Growers, based on the outskirts of the town, still supplies major supermarkets with UK-grown potatoes and onions.^[8]

Biggleswade is also the base of the Jordans cereals business^[9] who produce their own brand of breakfast muesli and cereal bars which are sold across Europe as well as in the USA and Canada. There used to be a Felix cat food factory located on Potton Road. However, this moved away in 1970.

The town was also home to the Ivel Cycle Works, founded by Dan Albone. This factory ultimately produced bicycles, motorcycles and light tractors. It went into receivership in 1920.

Other goods which have been made in Biggleswade include Berkeley Caravans and Sportscars, who had a factory in the town, which was later used by Kayser Bondor who made ladies' underwear and stockings in the town until the mid-1990s. The factory was demolished and is now a housing estate, with roads named Berkeley Close and Kayser Court after the businesses that used the factory.

The town had a large brewery in the town centre for many decades; its last owners were Greene King but it closed down in October 1997 and the site is now occupied by an Asda supermarket.

Biggleswade had two long serving motor dealers, A.W Watkin were agents for locally made Vauxhall Cars and Bedford lorries for many years and had a large showroom and repair site in Shortmead Street, but the dealership closed in 2002 and the was site redeveloped into houses which are in a road named Watkin Walk. The other dealer was the Mantles business which originally had a site for Austin cars near the old Swan Hotel in the town. Mantles moved to a larger site opposite the old work house on London Road where they sold British Leyland and later Austin Rover cars. They also had a caravan dealership. Mantles still sell cars here, but since the collapse of MG Rover now sells Mitsubishi and Ford cars. The caravan business closed in the early 1990s.

Biggleswade Swimming Club website at www.biggleswadesc.org celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2006. It now uses the new indoor Saxon Pool and Leisure Centre.^[10] The town has two football clubs - Biggleswade Town and Biggleswade United. Biggleswade also homes a Skatepark.

Biggleswade is the home of Biggleswade Rugby Club which has 3 senior sides and an active Mini and Youth section with sides from under 7 through to 17 years. See Biggleswade rugby.

The town is mentioned twice in the diaries of Samuel Pepys. On 22 July 1661, Pepys stopped off in Biggleswade (called 'Bigglesworth' by Pepys) to buy a pair of warm woollen stockings.

Nearby is the Shuttleworth Collection of vintage aeroplanes.

Stratton Upper School and Community College

Holmemead Middle School

Edward Peake Middle School

St Andrew's Lower School

Lawnside Lower School

Southlands Lower School

Hitchmead School, a special school for children with moderate learning difficulties

Sunnyside School, a special school for children with severe learning difficulties

Holme Court School, a private school for dyslexic children, which was opened in 2005 just off the A1 to the west of Biggleswade

Erlensee, (Germany) since 2000.

Dan Albone, inventor, manufacturer and cyclist, credited with making the first practical farm tractor, 'The Ivel Agricultural Motor'.

Chris Roycroft-Davis, journalist

Philip E. High, science fiction writer

Charles Penrose, radio comedian and singer of The Laughing Policeman.

Henry Ryland, Pre-Raphaelite painter born in Biggleswade in 1856.

Mary Tealby, one of the founders of the Battersea Dogs Home, is buried in St. Andrew's Churchyard.

Stevie V, dance act famous for the song Dirty Cash (Money Talks), that reached #2 in the UK Top 40 in 1990.

Richard Walker, angling journalist, author and photographer, described as having the greatest influence on the sport since Isaac Walton. Richard Walker has an angling shop dedicated to him in the local town centre.

John Buglass, archaeologist

Pam Rhodes, novelist and BBC Songs of Praise presenter