Central Bedfordshire

Central Bedfordshire, unitary authority in the southeastern Midlands of England. It is bounded to the north by the unitary authority of Bedford, to the northeast by Cambridgeshire, to the southeast by Hertfordshire and the unitary authority of Luton, to the southwest by Buckinghamshire, and to the northwest by the unitary authority of Milton Keynes. The administrative centre is Chicksands. Central Bedfordshire comprises the former districts of Mid Bedfordshire and South Bedfordshire and was created in 2009 as a result of the reorganization of the former administrative county of Bedfordshire. The unitary authority includes the communities of Ampthill in its north-central area, Sandy in the northwest, Dunstable in the south, and Cranfield in the west. Most of the unitary authority lies in the geographic and historic county of Bedfordshire; however, the town of Linslade (but not the neighbouring town of Leighton Buzzard) is situated in the historic county of Buckinghamshire, and a small area north of Sandy belongs to the historic county of Cambridgeshire.

The chalk ridge known as the Chiltern Hills cuts across the southern tip of the unitary authority, around Dunstable, on a southwest-northeast alignment. Below the chalk scarp lies a clay vale, whose materials were extensively worked for large-scale brickmaking. The area includes many historic market towns, a number of which were recorded in the Domesday Book. It is also home to Cranfield University, which was founded as the College of Aeronautics in 1946. The outstanding architectural masterpiece of the area is Woburn Abbey, seat of the dukes of Bedford. The present structure dates from 1747 and is surrounded by a magnificent park of 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares). Both it and Woburn are open to the public. The Greensland Ridge Walk stretches some 40 miles (65 km) from Leighton Buzzard to Sandy. Area 276 square miles (716 square km). Pop. (2011) 254,381.