A short history of Cranfield, Bedfordshire
Cranfield is a large village in Bedfordshire, near the Buckinghamshire border, around 8 miles north west of Ampthill, and 9 miles south west of Bedford.
The earliest recorded reference to Cranfield, or Cranfeldinga was in 918 when Ailwyn Niger (Ailwyn the Black) granted a manor to the monks of Ramsey Abbey. Ailwyn’s Acre in Wood End was named in honour of this. In the Home Farm development there is a further link by way of Ramsey Abbey Close. The grant of Cranfield was confirmed by Edward the Confessor in 1060 and William in 1078.
Cranfield was known as a resort for cranes, hence the name Crane-field, or Cranfield as it is known today. It is derived from Anglo Saxon.
Cranfield was mentioned in the Domesday Book. It was home to 1000 swine.
Life was hard for the poorer classes. Fields were cultivated on the three-field system, one year wheat, barley or rye; second year pulses; third year, fallow.
In 1127 a boundary dispute arose with North Crawley. It was referred by the King to the Local Hundred Court and settled by a jury of 12 men from Cranfield, North Crawley & Stagsden.
In 1144 during the war between Stephen & Matilda, the village was pillaged by Stephen.
In the 14th century, the Black Death killed around one third of the population of Bedfordshire and Cranfield was not spared. The rector at the time Thomas de Neuby was one of the victims.
The parish church of St. Peter & St. Paul dates from the 12th century when it replaced a wooden and thatched building built by the Ramsey Abbey Monks. The Vestry is 14th century. The church was restored in 1845. Rev. G. G. Harter was responsible, and Sir Gilbert Scott was the architect in charge. During the restoration work, some Roman coins were found, and these are now in Bedford Modern School Museum. The present clock was given to the parish in 1895 by Mr James Goodman. It is maintained by the Parish Council.
The Parish is in the diocese of St. Albans, having previously been in the Diocese of Dorchester, Lincoln & Ely.
After the dissolution of Ramsey Abbey in the 16th century, at a value of £68 9s 6d, the manor eventually passed, in 1621, into the ownership of the Earl of Middlesex. It was purchased later in 1729 by the Duke of Bedford.
In the field called Millside Furlong is Holy Well. This may have been the site of a mill. It is typical of the medieval holy wells. It was a noted spring and was at one time used by the villagers for the cure of inflamed eyes. The pond was cleaned in 1873, and it was revealed that the sides of the well were lined with brick. The Enclosure Award of 1840 records the pond as a public washing place. It may have been a place where John Bunyan preached.
Huguenot immigrants from Flanders brought the skill of pillow-lace making to the area in 1568, and this craft continues today. There is nothing new in immgration!
In 1801 Cranfield had a population of 961. This increased to 1591 in 1861 but declined to 1059 in 1921. This was in part likely due to emigration of the population to find work and better salaries. Agricultural wages were very low. Some went to work in the cotton industry around Manchester, some it seems went to work on the gangs building the new railways springing up around the country.
The development of brick making at nearby Stewartby in 1897 attracted many workers from agriculture. Even though brickmaking has now ceased, along with the sulphur smells that sometimes used to drift over the Marston Vale, some of the chimneys are still left as a reminder of this.
The first Parish Meeting was held in 1894.
Electricity arrived in the village in 1921, mains water in 1936, street lighting in 1948 and mains sewerage in 1962.
Prior to the Second World War, a military airfield was developed on the North West side of the village and this activity continued until 1946 with the support of Sir Roy Feddon & Sir Stafford Cripps the site became The College of Aeronautics. This later became the Cranfield Institute of Technology after being granted a Royal Charter in 1969. This has since expanded and become Cranfield University, a leading post-graduate university of world-wide renown. The airfield in still in use, and at the time of writing, plans for a new ‘Air Park’ with new hangars and a hotel have been drawn up to try and increase the number of business flights. It is planned to rename the airfield London Cranfield.
The village has grown considerably since the introduction of a mains sewerage system in 1962, and the population has doubled since then, to over 5200. Farm land is almost totally arable, and while the University is a significant local employer, Cranfield is essentially a commuter village as a consequence of the proximity of the M1 motorway and fast rail connections. Milton Keynes continues to expand ever closer to Cranfield.
In recent years the University has been joined by the Nissan Technical Centre Europe, as well as a host of other companies on the technology park at Wharley End.
The village continues to expand with many new houses being built and the population expected to increase by another 15%
Frank Lord’s excellent book, Chronicles of Cranfield was used in the research for this article.