DUNSTABLE STREET, though victim of too much traffic, has some historic and distinctive features. Number 105 was in the late 18th and early 19th centuries the home of the Royal School of Embroidering Females who, under the patronage of Queen Charlotte, made many of the complex and lavish hangings used in the refurbishing of Windsor Castle in hand at that time. On the opposite side of the road The Gazebo is all that remains of an extensive mid-18th century estate which stretched from the road the site of the Alameda where there was an artificial 'Canal' to give focal point to the garden. The house, which belonged to this estate, stood at the edge of the footpath where numbers 84 and 86 now stand. In 1882 the canal estate was developed, the house pulled down and replaced by two villas built adjoining their new chapel by the Methodist trustees.
'The imposing Methodist Church was designed by Charles Bell of London and 'opened on 13th August 1884 (replacing an earlier building in Wobum Street) known by the locals as the Wesleyan Cathedral.
The Old Sun Public House was built in 1766 and was originally two cottages. It became a pub in 1798 and was sold to Morriss, the local Ampthill brewery.
The Baptist Church further along the road, was built on a site acquired in 1822 and stood back from the pavement. Extensions in 1870 brought the buildings forward by creating a vestibule, and in 1893 accommodation was doubled by the erection of an adjoining Sunday School room and vestry.
AMPTHILL HALL began existence as a bam belonging to Christopher Bennell where the Quakers started holding meetings in 1726. Rebuilt from the old materials on the same site in 1753, it was extended to its present size in 1768, and continued in use as a meeting house until the early 1900s. For many years it served as Saint Andrew's Church hall, but was purchased by the Council in the 1970s for conversion to public use. The front section of the hall is a 19th century addition. Quaker meetings were resumed here in 1990. The buiding is now owned by the Cottage Bakery, after been sold by the Town Council in 2008.
The Old Mid Bedfordshire District Council's Offices in Dunstable Street were built for the Ampthill Rural District Council from designs from Ampthill Resident Professor Richardson and overtime have been considerably modified and extended. The District Council moved out of Ampthill in 2006 to their new base at Chicksands.
THE CEDARS was built as the Union Workhouse in 1836 (superseding the original House of Industry in Park Hill), the architect being James Clephane, whose other work includes Wrest Park House. The workhouse was built to accommodate 469 inmates from Ampthill and the surrounding parishes, which formed the Union, and operated under a regime of the strictest discipline and segregation. Consequently there was a great dread of 'going to the Union' which was only slightly alleviated by new legislation of 1929 which made this the Public Assistance Institution. But all that became history when, in the late 1940s, the building re-named The Cedars began valuable community service as a Local Authority old people's home, closed in the early 1990s. The buidings were converted into luxury apartments in the late 90's.
The former Board Room, built for the Poor Law Guardians in 1902, is now the town's library. Particularly noteworthy is its modem weather vane commemorating the Gold Hare ('Masquerade' by Kit Williams) treasure hunt.
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Tour Around the Streets of Ampthill 1983 - From Woburn Street to Froghall Laneby smithereens451,206 views
Love Ampthill, any videos please of Queens Road where I lived as a child
RMCKIE 1 year ago
Wow, so great to see, My Mother worked at the Cedars when it was an old folks home in the 70's. I believe its now flats?
RMCKIE 1 year ago
Thanks for posting this video and for all the information too -- brought back memories for me.
imajnthat 2 years ago