Welcome

Welcome to Hidden Bedford's QR Code Tour of Bedford's Oldest Streets.

The information here is drawn from several sources including:

Alan Crawley and Ian Freeman. Bedford's Oldest Streets Parts 1 and 2. Bedfordshire Archaeology vol.18 pp.99-108 and vol.19 pp.30-39

The Story of Bedford, Joyce Godber (Luton, 1978)
History of Bedfordshire Joyce Godber (Luton, 1969)

We have also referred to several historic maps of the town. These include John Speed's Map of 1610, Jeffrey's Map of 1765 and Brayley's map of 1807. These maps are help at the Bedfordshire and Luton Archive and Record Service (BLARS)

The Newnham Priory Rental, also held at BLARS is a document from 1506/07 that lists many of the properties and streets in Bedford at that time.

Many of the street names used today were settled upon by the Improvement Commission in 1835. The Improvment Commissioners were a group of men (unelected) who were given powers by an Act of Parliament in 1803 and made various improvements to the Town Bridge and the lanes around St. Paul's Square, as well as paving and lighting in the town centre. They set themselves the task of formally listing Bedford's streets in 1835. In 1839 the powers held by this unelected group passed to the Bedford Corporation.

There is a useful list of Historic documents relating to the history of the town and borough on the BLARS website.

You can view and download all of the information easily on Google docs.

Enjoy the tour!