Dunstable Timeline
Neolithic (New Stone Age): The Icknield Way, an ancient roadway constructed by prehistoric people as well as a series of barrows - now known as the Five Knolls - on Dunstable Downs.
AD44: The beginning of Roman Dunstable (Durocobrivis). Around this period, construction of the roman road (now known at Watling street) would have taken place. Where it crosses the Icknield Way is now known as the crossroads.
571: The Saxons raid and destroy Durocobrivis.
1109: Probably around this time, Henry I, establishes a town here.
1119: Dunstable is cited as being the place of the earliest performance of a play in England. The 'miracle play' told the story of St. Katherine who had the unfortunate distinction of being martyred on a wheel.
1132: The Priory Church of St Peter is built by Augustinian Canons (monks) under the patronage of Henry I. It included a 'hospitiump(guest house) for travellers to the Priory Church, the remains of which are now known as Priory House.
1203: The body of St. Fremund brought from Oxfordshire to Dunstable Priory. Fremund was said to have been a prince, the son of the Mercian King Offa, and to have fought against the Danes. He was perhaps murdered by Oswy, an officer of his father, possibly on the instigation of Cenwulf, but there is no certainty about this. Fremund is not mentioned by any chroniclers. His feast day is May 11th.
1229: Henry III, passing through Dunstable, lodges at the Priory.
1232: First tournament at Dunstable takes place.
1247: Henry III, his Queen, Prince Edward and Princess Margaret stay in Dunstable.
1275:Edward 1 visited the town. (Kelly's Directory, 1920)
1290: Queen Eleanor, wife of Edward I, dies. The funeral cortege spends a night at Dunstable on its way back to Westminster Abbey.
1311: Queen Eleanor Cross erected at Dunstable.
1341: Edward III and Queen Philippa attend a grand tournament at Dunstable.
1457: Henry VI and Queen Margaret at Dunstable.
1533: A committee sits at Dunstable Priory where they decide Henry VIII should be allowed to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn.
1643: Eleanor cross demolished.
1645: Charles I arrives at Dunstable.
1648: Elkanah Settle, dramatist, poet and political writer born in Dunstable.
1667: Four Dunstable women accused of witchcraft. The most serious charge being that of bewitching small children to death.
1708: Followers of John Bunyan establish themselves in St Mary's street.
1712: On a mural tablet in Dunstable Church is a curious epitaph to William Chew, who died on the 13th March 1712. It reads: "Here lies the body of William Chew, That when alive was beloved by few; Now where he's gone, or how he fare, Nobody knows, nor nobody cares." (Bedfordshire Notes and Queries, Vol. 1)
1715: Chew's Charity School founded.
1717: Sugar-loaf hotel built.
1723: The Cart Almshouses built. They were named after Jane Cart, their founder, and were built to house six elderly women who did not have the funds to look after themselves.
1742: The first stage-coach runs through Dunstable from London to Litchfield.
Mid to late 18th Century: Orange rolling started at Pascombe Pit on Good Friday.
1838: Regular stage-coaches cease running through the town on the opening of the London and Birmingham railway.
1841: Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visit the Sugar-loaf hotel on their way to Woburn.
1848: Railway station in High Street North opens with trains running between Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard.
1855: First local newspaper the 'Dunstable Chronicle and Monthly Local Reporter' published by James Tibbett, a Dunstable printer. In 1856 he went on to publish 'The Dunstable Chronicle and Advertiser'.
1858: Railway station in Church Street opens with trains running from Dunstable to Luton.
1859: Priory House was purchased by Munt and Brown, straw hat manufacturers. Part of the house itself was used as the manager's residence. A third storey was added to the extension for the factory premises.
1861: Cemetery opens.
1862: Three miles of new streets with houses are laid out by the British Land Company, mostly in West Street, however, no piped water or proper sewers in place.
1863: Telegraph posts erected through the town.
1864: Dunstable incorporated by royal Charter on December 8th. The Corporation consisted of a Mayor, four Alderman and 12 Councillors.
1865: 'The Dunstable Borough Gazette' established by Daniel Tibbett, the son of James Tibbett, a prominent Dunstable printer.
1867: The only sewer in town runs into an open ditch which flows down the side of Church Street.
1869: Services held in a building known as the Iron Church while the Priory Church was being restored.
1875: A ballad was composed to shame the the rector of Dunstable into repairing the Priory Churchyard. It was about a fictional character called Sally the Witch.
1883: The Chew Trustees open a second school, next door to Chew's Charity School, as education of children aged five to ten years becomes compulsory.
1888: Ashton Grammar school opens (now the Ashton Middle School).
1897: Work begins on a sewage system for the town.
1905: Priory Middle School opens as Britain Street Council School.
1908: Mr Charles Moore opens Moore's Department Store which is now the oldest family business in Dunstable.
1908: Icknield Lower School opens as Burr Street Council School.
1922: The Dunstable branch of the British Legion founded.
1924: Sir William Waterlow of Waterlow's banknote printing firm is unwittingly drawn into a currency swindle to print false Portuguese banknotes.
1926: Portland Cement Company works opened.
1931: London Gliding Club starts operating from Dunstable Downs.
1931: Whipsnade Zoo opens.
1936: Northfields Upper School is created. In 1946 it becomes a Secondary Modern School and an Upper School in 1972.
1939: 4,000 evacuees 'invade' Dunstable.
1940: A German air raider guns Dunstable High Street.
1942: Vauxhall Motors plant in Boscombe road opens.
1947: Priory Gardens opened.
1952: The war memorial in memory of those who died during World War II unveiled. The ceremony was led by the then Mayor of Dunstable, Ald. T. Sandland.
1952: Beecroft Primary School opened.
1953: Clarkes of Dunstable were offering a 25 piece dinner service for 95p.
1955: Tornado hits Dunstable but no damage sustained.
1959: Traffic through Dunstable decreases by fifty per cent with the opening of the M1.
1959: R. Hon. Harold Macmillan visits Dunstable to give an election speech.
1961: Census shows the population of Dunstable to be 25,618.
1962: Brewer's Hill Middle School opens as a County Secondary School. Becomes a Middle School in 1973.
1963: The Red Lion (parts of which were over 400 years old) and The White Lion (dating back some six centuries) were pulled down to facilitate the widening of Church Street.
1964: The Rolling Stones perform at the California Ballroom.
1964: The Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home visits Dunstable to give an election speech.
1964: Mill Vale Middle School opens as a County Secondary School. Becomes a middle school in 1973.
1964: Dunstable Court House opens (Bedfordshire Magazine, Vol.14 no 108)
1964: Roman Catholic Church completed at a cost of £75,000 (Bedfordshire Magazine, Vol14, No 108)
1965: Passenger services to Dunstable High Street North railway station end.
1965: The Swan Jewel is found in Friary Field by Manshead Archaeological Society.
1966: Bob Monkhouse opens the Quadrant shopping centre. The centre was designed by Willoughby Fletcher and Associates. The mural was designed by William Mitchell and Associates and the three sided clock by the Scottish designer Robin Cameron Don. (Bedfordshire Magazine, Vol.14 no 108)
1967: Dunstable North Station demolished following its closure in 1965.
1968: The new library opens in Vernon Place. Anglican Church of St. Fremund the Martyr completed.
1969: Ardley Hill Lower School opens as Lowther Road New Lower School. Named Ardley Hill School in July of that year.
1971: The population of Dunstable rises to 31,828.
1972: Average house price in Dunstable is £10,000 (from: 25 Years of Dunstable by B. Turvey).
1972: Queensbury Upper School is formed from the amalgamation of Kinsgbury Secondary Technical School for Boys (est. c1957) and Queen Eleanor's School (est. 4 May 1961).
1973: Ashton C of E Middle School opens. It occupies premises of the old Dunstable Grammar School which shut in 1972.
1976: Streetfield Middle School opens. Second and final phase of construction of the school is completed in 1980.
1985: The shopping precinct in High Street North, Dunstable, is named after Queen Eleanor and a modern statue of the queen is built.
1985: Dunstable Town Council formed.
1987: Vauxhall Motors plant in Boscombe road closes.
1999:White Lion Retail Park opens.
1999: Market Cross and Clock built in time for Millennium celebrations.
2000: Queensway Hall, Vernon Place, is demolished.
2001: Asda opens in Vernon Place.
2001: The population of Dunstable now stands at 33,805.
2002: In December the 'Green Wave' traffic scheme comes into operation.
2005: Work starts on the 2.5 million Chilterns Gateway project on Dunstable Downs. The project is managed by Bedfordshire County Council, the National trust, South Bedfordshire District Council, Luton Borough Council, the North Chilterns trust and the Chilterns Conservation Board (Leighton Buzzard on Sunday, 13th November 2005).
2007: The Chilterns Gateway Centre, on Dunstable Downs opens in February. (Dunstable Gazette, 31st January 2007)
Sources:
- Dunstable down the ages by J. Schneider & V. Evans (Book Castle, 2002)
- Dunstable: it's history and surroundings by W. G. Smith (Beds County Lib, 1980. First published in 1904)
- Dunstable Gazette newspaper - archive on microfilm at Dunstable Library
- Lives of the Saints by S. Baring-Gould. Available from Bedford Central Library (Reference Store)
- National statistics web site http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk
- Proud heritage: a brief history of Dunstable 1000-2000AD by V. Evans (Book Castle, 1999)
- Streets ahead by R. Walden (Book Castle, 1999)
- The book of Dunstable and Houghton Regis by V. & L. Evans (Barracuda Books, 1985)
-
25 years of Dunstable by B. Turvey
(White Crescent Press, 1977)
