Bedfordshire's Heritage & Environment

Introduction

Bedfordshire is noted for the variety of its geology, landscapes, habitats, buildings and settlements, and the richness of its heritage. The Greensand Ridge and Chilterns Hills look out over clay vales and the river valleys of the Ouse, Ivel, Flit and Ouzel, while the north of the county is a higher area of clay. Habitats include heathland, woods and chalk downs. Buildings are constructed from brick, ironstone and Clunch, or timber-framed.

People have been living here for at least 125,000 years and the County is covered with evidence of the past.

Some of the distinctive features are:

• Remains of Prehistoric and Roman settlement in the river valleys
• Mediaeval earthworks
• Large country houses and estates
• Historic parks and gardens
• Model villages at Old Warden and Stewartby
• Brick and engineering works, and the Cardington airship hangars

Characteristic parts of our natural environment are:

• The Greensand Ridge
• Flit and other rivers
• Ancient Woodlands in the north of the County
• Chalk scarps in the south
• Mix of woods and heath such as at King's Wood, Heath and Reach
• Great Crested Newt populations

The County's heritage and environment includes places of national importance such as the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Woburn Abbey, a grade I listed building.

It also comprises the local surroundings we experience every day. These can have special meanings for us and may be as valuable, in their way, as more prestigious places.