Leagrave

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 51.903
longitude= -0.466
official_name= Leagrave
os_grid_reference= TL0523
population= 11,580 (est.) [ [http://www.bedscc.gov.uk/BedsCC/SDimr2.nsf/Web/Thepage/Population+Estimates+and+Forecasts+2005 Bedfordshire County Council: Population Estimates and Forecasts 2005] .]
region= East of England
unitary_england= Luton
lieutenancy_england= Bedfordshire
constituency_westminster= Luton North
post_town= LUTON|postcode_district = LU3, LU4
postcode_area= LU |dial_code= 01582

"For other uses see Leagrave (disambiguation)"

Leagrave is a former village and now a suburb of Luton in Bedfordshire in the northwest of the town. Connected by train from Leagrave station into London and Bedford by First Capital Connect. The M1 is close at hand as well as Luton Airport.

History

The first settlement in the area was Waulud's Bank which is a Neolithic D-shaped enclosure in Leagrave Park at the source of the River Lea and is now a protected monument. Waulud's bank consists of a bank and external ditch of around 7 hectares with a turf reveted chalk and gravel bank (built from the excavated ditch material). The ditch itself is about 9 m wide and 2 m deep. Finds at the site have included neolithic Grooved Ware and flint arrow heads. It is a similar site to Durrington Walls and Marden and the site was later re-used in the Iron Age and during the Roman occupation.

The Icknield Way, a Roman road, passes though Leagrave. Local road names give away its location, 'Roman Road' runs from Oakley Road to Marsh Road. On the other side of Marsh Road as the road enters Limbury it continues as 'Icknield Road' where there is a gap before the road continues as Icknield Way.The River Lea/(Lee) starts in Leagrave before making its way eventually to the Thames, joining in London. The Lee crosses Leagrave Common and receives a tributary called Knapps Brook which joins from culverts under the railway embankment and Toddington Road. Napps Brook is a combination of brooks from East End, Houghton Regis and from the Lewsey Estate near the old Lewsey Farm. The river once formed one boundary of the Danelaw. Leagrave Marsh used to be a popular place for the Luton hatters on their (rare) days off and was, consequently, known as "Blockers' Seaside". The hatmaking industry originally relied on straw plaits, made by farmers' wives, bought and collected by a "plaitman" and brought into the Luton hat factories to be made into straw hats. A new artwork has been unveiled in the area, reflecting on this former use of the area. [ [http://www.sustrans.org.uk/default.asp?sID=1183385107421 Opening of artwork at the Blockers Seaside] ]

The manor of Leagrave was held by the Lucy family from 1305 to 1455. The Lucys gave their name to the area of Luton known as Lewsey. [cite book |pages=p.39 |title=The History of Luton |author=Davis, Frederick |year=1855]

Leagrave station was built by the Midland Railway company in 1868 on its extension to St Pancras. The old Midland station buildings still exist, having been carefully restored in the 1980s.

In 1866 the villages of Leagrave and Limbury were formed into the ecclesiastical parish of 'Holy Trinity, (Biscot)'. [ [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/BDF/LimburyCumBiscot/index.html Leagrave parish history] ] Thirty years later, in 1896 Leagrave civil parish was formed under the provisions of the 'Local Government Act 1894', in the ecclesiastical parish of Limbury-cum-Biscot.

In 1914 Hewlett & Blondeau Limited, an aircraft manufacturing business, opened a factory at Leagrave called The Omnia Works. [ [http://people.bath.ac.uk/ensegb/hbomnia.htm History of Hewlett & Blondeau] ] The company was managed by Hilda Hewlett who lived on site. During the First World War the factory produced more than 800 aircraft and employed up to 700 people. The business closed in 1920 and in 1926 the factory site was sold to Electrolux.

The area grew significantly in between the wars and in 1928 the parish was abolished when the boundaries of Luton were extended to include Leagrave, as well as Limbury and Stopsley. Further expansion of the area took place during the 1930s; much of the housing stock of the area dates from the 1920s and 1930s. Further large scale construction continued post-war with the construction of the Hockwell Ring estate and nearby Marsh Farm. Some of the old farm names live on in the modern road names, Strangers Farm lends its name to the current Strangers Way, and at the edge of Leagrave Marsh was Marsh Farm, which gives its name to the 1960s estate famous for the Marsh Farm riots which took place in 1995.

Until recently Electrolux was one of the larger employers in the area, however much of the old factory site was sold off over the last ten years or so for re-development into housing. The most recent development on the site was Saxon-Gate. Leagrave is increasingly a commuter area with many people taking advantage of the train and motorway connections into London and to the North. There have been many smaller developments of former industrial land creating many new apartment blocks and also infil housing.

Etymology

The town was recorded in 1224 as "Littegraue", intimating that its name means 'Light-coloured, or lightly-wooded, grove'. [cite book |author=Mills, A.D. |location=Oxford |publisher=Phaidon |title=The Popular Dictionary of English Place-Names |date=1991 |quote=Leagrave Beds. "Littegrave" 1224. 'Light-coloured, or lightly wooded, grove'. OE "lēoht" + "grāf".] However, another source suggests its name originates from "Lygegrove": "Lyge" being an old name for the River Lea. [cite book |title=The History of Luton |author=Davis, Frederick |year=1855]

Geography and geology

Leagrave is located in a break in the eastern part of the Chiltern Hills. The Chilterns themselves are a mixture of chalk from the Cretaceous period [ [http://www.bedsrigs.org.uk/map.html Map of soil distribution in Beds] ] (about 65-146 million years ago) and deposits laid at the southernmost points of the ice sheet during the last ice age (the Warden Hills area can be seen from much of the town).

Leagrave has a temperate marine climate, like much of the British Isles, with regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year. The weather is very changeable from day to day and the warming influence of the Gulf Stream makes the region mild for its latitude. The average total annual rainfall is 584 millimetres (23 in) with rain falling on 109 days of the year.

Infobox Weather
metric_first=Yes
single_line= Yes
location = Bedford (The nearest weather station to Leagrave at 20 miles to the North.)
Jan_Hi_°C =6.4 |Jan_REC_Hi_°C =
Feb_Hi_°C =6.9 |Feb_REC_Hi_°C =
Mar_Hi_°C = 9.7 |Mar_REC_Hi_°C =
Apr_Hi_°C = 12.0 |Apr_REC_Hi_°C =
May_Hi_°C = 15.7 |May_REC_Hi_°C =
Jun_Hi_°C = 18.6 |Jun_REC_Hi_°C =
Jul_Hi_°C = 21.5 |Jul_REC_Hi_°C =
Aug_Hi_°C = 21.5 |Aug_REC_Hi_°C =
Sep_Hi_°C = 18.2 |Sep_REC_Hi_°C =
Oct_Hi_°C = 14.0 |Oct_REC_Hi_°C =
Nov_Hi_°C = 9.5 |Nov_REC_Hi_°C =
Dec_Hi_°C = 7.2 |Dec_REC_Hi_°C =
Year_Hi_°C = 13.5 |Year_REC_Hi_°C =

Jan_Lo_°C = 0.8 |Jan_REC_Lo_°C =
Feb_Lo_°C = 0.6 |Feb_REC_Lo_°C =
Mar_Lo_°C = 2.3 |Mar_REC_Lo_°C =
Apr_Lo_°C = 3.6 |Apr_REC_Lo_°C =
May_Lo_°C = 6.2 |May_REC_Lo_°C =
Jun_Lo_°C = 9.3 |Jun_REC_Lo_°C =
Jul_Lo_°C = 11.5 |Jul_REC_Lo_°C =
Aug_Lo_°C = 11.6 |Aug_REC_Lo_°C =
Sep_Lo_°C = 9.7 |Sep_REC_Lo_°C =
Oct_Lo_°C = 6.6 |Oct_REC_Lo_°C =
Nov_Lo_°C = 3.3 |Nov_REC_Lo_°C =
Dec_Lo_°C = 1.8 |Dec_REC_Lo_°C =
Year_Lo_°C = 5.6 |Year_REC_Lo_°C =

Jan_Precip_cm = |Jan_Precip_mm = 48.4
Feb_Precip_cm = |Feb_Precip_mm = 36.6
Mar_Precip_cm = |Mar_Precip_mm = 43.5
Apr_Precip_cm = |Apr_Precip_mm = 47.2
May_Precip_cm = |May_Precip_mm = 45.3
Jun_Precip_cm = |Jun_Precip_mm = 56.9
Jul_Precip_cm = |Jul_Precip_mm = 44.7
Aug_Precip_cm = |Aug_Precip_mm = 48.6
Sep_Precip_cm = |Sep_Precip_mm = 53.6
Oct_Precip_cm = |Oct_Precip_mm = 56.8
Nov_Precip_cm = |Nov_Precip_mm = 49.0
Dec_Precip_cm = |Dec_Precip_mm = 53.8
Year_Precip_cm = |Year_Precip_mm = 584.4

Jan_Sunshine_hours = 58.6
Feb_Sunshine_hours = 76.3
Mar_Sunshine_hours = 99.5
Apr_Sunshine_hours = 153.0
May_Sunshine_hours = 183.8
Jun_Sunshine_hours = 185.7
Jul_Sunshine_hours = 200.9
Aug_Sunshine_hours = 188.5
Sep_Sunshine_hours = 139.8
Oct_Sunshine_hours = 114.1
Nov_Sunshine_hours = 72.0
Dec_Sunshine_hours = 51.5
Year_Sunshine_hours = 1523.6
source = cite web
url =http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/sites/bedford.html | title = Bedford 1971-2000 averages | accessmonthday = 16 June| accessyear =2008
publisher = Met Office| language =English ]
accessdate = 2008-06-16

Demographics

The United Kingdom Census 2001 showed that Leagrave had a population of 11,194.

Ethnicity

Luton and consequently Leagrave has seen several waves of immigration. In the early part of the 20th century Irish and Scottish people arrived in the town, these were followed by Afro-Caribbean and Asian immigrants. More recently a new wave of immigrants from Eastern Europe has made Luton their home. As a result of this Leagrave has a diverse ethnic mix, with a significant population of Asian descent, mainly Pakistani (9.8%), Indian (4.2%) and Bangladeshi (4.3%). The 2005 Office of National Statistics figures revealed that town had a white population of 68% (of which white British amounted to 61.3%) compared to an East of England average of 92.8%.

Local Newspapers

Two weekly newspapers are delivered free to all houses in Leagrave, with news about Leagrave and the surrounding area.
* [http://www.lutontoday.co.uk Herald and Post] (Luton based) – Delivered every Thursday
* [http://www.lsnmedia.co.uk/Luton/ Luton on Sunday] – Delivered every Sunday

References

External links

* [http://www.luton.gov.uk/ Luton Borough Council]
* [http://www.leagraveprimary.ik.org/ Leagrave Primary School]
* [http://www.lealands.luton.sch.uk/ Lealands High School]
* [http://www.moorlands.beds.sch.uk/index.htm Moorlands School]
* [http://www.luton.gov.uk/internet/Education_and_learning/Libraries/Branch_libraries/Leagrave%20Library.htm Leagrave Library]
* [http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/Kelvin+Hopkins/ Kelvin Hopkins homepage]
* [http://www.stlukesleagrave.org/ St Lukes Church]
* [http://www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/mk4custompages/CustomPage.aspx?PageID=34585&sectionID=5645 Views of Leagrave and Limbury from 1906]