E is for… estate villages

Our new series of posts helping you to explore our county is an A-Z of Bedfordshire places, landscapes and history. Each post will include tips for walks and places to visit.

In this feature we put the spotlight on estate villages where housing was provided for agricultural labourers by their employers, generally landed families like the Dukes of Bedford and the Whitbreads. We also look at some more modern model villages designed for industrial workers such as Stewartby and Shortstown.

Southill

The Southill Estate was bought by the Whitbread family in 1795. Samuel Whitbread, the brewer, acquired it for his son – also Samuel – who was more interested in politics than in taking up the family trade. Samuel II was MP for Bedford from 1790-1815 and had Southill House remodelled by Henry Holland. Pevsner describes the village as being made up of ‘pleasant estate cottages rendered in a honey colour and thatched.’ These were built from the late 1790s onwards. Many of the houses still bear the Whitbread monogram and a date of construction. A National School was built by the estate in 1820.

Cardington

Property in Cardington was divided between two landlords – the Whitbreads and John Howard, the philanthropist and prison reformer.

'A village of much neatness, with all houses so smart, and the green nicely planted... for Messrs Whitbread and Howard being at a variance (luckily of the village) strive which shall most benefit and adorn it.'

John Byng on Cardington, 1794

The village gained two alms-houses (1762 and 1787), a school of industry for girls (1862) which would equip them to be domestic servants and make lace, and a school for boys to teach reading, writing and arithmetic (1849). The estate cottages were insulated against the damp subsoil and amenities usually missing from labourers’ cottages like pantries, pumps and ground flooring were provided. In return, Howard expected his tenants to be steady workers, regular in church attendance and to stay away from alehouses.

Woburn

Unsurprisingly, Woburn has the greatest number of Bedford estate cottages, but they can also be found in other villages including Ridgmont, Willington, Oakley, Cople and Husborne Crawley. Seven different types of ‘cottages for agricultural labourers’ were designed for the estate in the 1840s. The standard plan for each cottage included the quantities of materials needed to make them. They are typically built from red brick with tiled roofs.

'To improve the dwellings of the labouring class, and afford them the means of greater cleanliness, health and comfort, in their own homes – to extend education, and thus raise the social and moral habits of those most valuable members of the community, are among the first duties, and ought to be among the truest pleasures, of every landlord.'

Francis, 7th Duke of Bedford (1788-1861)

The station building at Ridgmont was built in 1846. At the request of the 7th Duke of Bedford it was built in a Gothic Rival style along with three other stations along the line that were within his estate.

Old Warden

Old Warden became part of the Ongley estate when Samuel Ongley bought it from Earl Bolingbroke in 1698. Robert Henley-Ongley (3rd Baron Ongley) created the Swiss Garden and added a huge quantity of woodwork from England and Flanders to the church. He also modified the 17th and 18th century cottages so that they were all in a picturesque Swiss Alpine style. Some are tiled, but it is the thatched cottages that give Old Warden its distinctive feel. Most are painted in cream and white, some with mock timber framing. Joseph Shuttleworth, a wealthy industrialist, bought the estate in 1872.

Shortstown

In 1916 the Admiralty were looking for a site for an airship works for Messrs Short Brothers. The site selected was near Cardington, it had good transport links and was within easy reach of London. Additional plus points included a broad, flat valley for manoeuvring the aircraft, being outside the range of German bombers and a local labour force. Many of the workers, particularly women, lived in Bedford, but the others were to be housed in a new ‘garden city’ style settlement close to the works. This became Shortstown, named for the works. By 1919 the first phase of 151 homes had been built in a neo-Georgian style. The original plan included shops, churches, a cinema and a central hall. In the event, only a social club was actually built. In 1919 Short Brothers withdrew from airship manufacture, this was followed by the R101 disaster in 1930 which brought British airship manufacture to an end. After the Second World War, further houses were built at Shortstown as married quarters for RAF personnel stationed at Cardington.

A more modern airship – the Airlander 10 and the Cardington Sheds. | Ann Collett-White

Stewartby

The brick making industry set up permanent kilns near where the raw materials could be found. The north Bedfordshire clay fields produced most of the brick used in London’s inter-war expansion. From early beginnings in 1897, by its height in 1936 Stewartby was producing half a billion bricks a year, employed 2,000 people and was the largest brickworks in the world. The village was begun by Sir Malcolm Stewart, who succeeded his father as Chairman of the London Brick Company in 1924. The two farming settlements of Wootton Pillinge and Wootton Broadmead were replaced with Stewartby which was designed and built to the plans of the company architect. The new model village included homes, a general store, canteens, a swimming baths, a social club, a united church, sports ground and schools. The vast majority of residents worked for the London Brick Company. Stewart also provided welfare and pension schemes, paid holidays and workers consultations, all of which were rare in this period.

Potton

His experience at Stewartby led Stewart to champion the Land Settlement Association (LSA) in the 1930s. The LSA aimed to help workers affected by the industrial depression of the period by providing them with land and a home for a family to work together. Many settlers were unemployed men who had worked in mining, steel and shipbuilding. Small holdings were clustered around a central farm which supported the rearing of pigs and poultry, as well as horticulture. The first of these settlements was at Potton which formed the model for a further 20 estates. The scheme was supported by Quaker reformers and the government, but the settlements were often unpopular with local people who wanted better housing themselves. There was a relatively high turn-over in the early years as the life wasn’t suited to the skills of many of the settlers. The Second World War provided more stability as families who were more used to the land were recruited to help boost food production.

Exploring the villages

You can explore the villages at your own pace. Some longer walks are suggested below.

Old Warden – Greensand Country’s Old Warden Circular Walk and Central Bedfordshire Council Circular Walk (PDF)
Woburn – The Woburn village website has suggestions for several walks starting in the village
Potton – The Potton Town Council website has details of local walks

Thatched cottage, Old Warden.