Westoning

 ( Villages In Bedfordshire ) 

At the time of the dissolution, Woburn Abbey held lands in Westoning with an annual value of £2 18s. 2½d., but no further mention of this property has been found.

Mention occurs of a water mill in an extent (survey document of the extent) of Westoning Manor made in 1297, and in 1322 two mills are found attached to the manor. Another extent dated fifty years later again mentions one mill, then worth nothing, and reference is found to it in a document as late as 1615. However no mills were in the parish in 1912.

Around 1555 Mary I of England granted Westoning Manor to Mary Curzon. She married Sir George Fermor,Daniel Lysons, Magna Britannia: Bedfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire, p. 149. and the manor descended in their family to Sir Hatton Fermor and then Sir William Fermor, cavalier. On the restoration his title was restored, afterwards succeeded by his son who represented Northampton and became Baron Leominster, in turn whose son inherited Westoning in 1711 and became Earl of Pomfret or Pontefract in 1722.

In the 17th century Westoning was inhabited by the wandering religious man, and an early Baptist forefather John Bunyan, who wrote The Pilgrim's Progress; he was arrested on 12 November 1660 shortly after the restricted religious rights introduced on the Restoration of the Monarchy for preaching privately in Lower Samsell in the village.

John Everitt purchased the manor in 1767, whose son of the same name was knighted, another of the same name held it until he died in 1836, after which his executors sold the property to Reverend J. W. C. Campion in whose family it remained until Major Coventry Campion died in 1903 to be purchased from his widow, later Mrs Blyth-King, by the Spensley family.

Westoning made news headlines on 11 September 1976 when, at 07:10, a Texaco petrol tanker overturned in the High Street. The tanker subsequently caught fire and exploded, destroying eight houses. Twenty-one people were made homeless and over a hundred more were evacuated from their homes. No civilians were injured in the blast but three members of the Bedfordshire Fire Service—Roy Leonard, Denis Regan and Richard King—were seriously injured when the fire engine they were travelling in, responding to the incident, crashed and overturned, finishing upside down in a ditch. Denis Regan's career was cut short owing to injuries he received from the accident and was forced into immediate retirement. Eyewitness accounts state that petrol seeped into the surface water drainage system and cast iron inspection covers were blown into the air when the fire spread and ignited the petrol vapour in the drains.

Westoning is protected from further development and expansion due to being bordered by green belt land as a buffer zone and by the M1 motorway. The village has, however, seen substantial development throughout the last century with new developments including the roads: Highfields, Home Farm Way, and Manor Park Drive. Since 2000, Westoning Manor house was redeveloped into expensive and exclusive flats – most of its grounds were at the same time developed into very large four and five bedroom detached houses. Howard Spensley in 1912 owned it, then a comparatively modern building of brick and stone, although a large quantity of old woodwork he said was taken from the house at Wrest Park, on its construction being demolished, and from the old Palace of Westminster, incorporated in the design of many of the rooms and staircases. The moated site of the earlier manor is to its southwest, and a second manor was southwest of the village centre by Westoning Wood End Farm.

The village has two and a social club, Westoning Recreation Club (situated at the recreation ground on Greenfield Road). The pubs are The Chequers, a half-timber and thatch building of 18th-century date, and The Bell, an 18th-century brick and tile house that had its sign displayed from an old oak standing by the roadside. On Park Road and Greenfield Road respectively. At the top of Sampshill Road, Billington's Car Company have their storage area for stock. Flitvale Garden Centre is located just within the boundary on the road to Flitwick.

recreational facilities include Westoning Football Club, Westoning Tennis Club and the club holds a regular village tournament between its members.

Westoning Village Hall is situated in Church Road and stages regular productions by the village's amateur dramatic society, the Westoning Players. Village Hall The building dates back to the 1840s and has a long and colourful history of village life. The village hall also runs a pre-school service.

Westoning Lower School is situated in the heart in the village and is known for its many social occasions that include performances such as country dancing. Many performances are conducted at the village fair.

Westoning Recreation Club holds an annual event to serve as a fund raising event for the football, the tennis, its other sports and the Lower School. For the past few years this annual event has been a "Donkey Derby". The Recreation Club also holds real ale festivals twice a year, other events include a summer fête and church fête which are held within the recreation ground and vicarage grounds respectively.