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''For other uses see Leagrave (disambiguation) '' Leagrave is a former village and now a suburb of Luton in Bedfordshire located in the northwest of the town. It is generally an upmarket area compared with other districts of Luton which have higher density housing. Connected by train from Leagrave station into London and Bedford by First Capital Connect . The M1 is close at hand as well as Luton Airport . The excellent transport links have made Leagrave a desirable place to live for Londoners relocating to Luton to take advantage of cheaper house prices. HISTORY The first settlement in the area was Waulud's Bank which is a Neolithic D-shaped enclosure located in Leagrave Park at the source of the River Lea and is now a protected monument. Waulud's bank consists of a bank and external ditch of around 7 hectares with a turf reveted chalk and gravel bank (built from the excavated ditch material). The ditch itself is approximately 9m wide and 2m deep. Finds at the site have included neolithic Grooved Ware and flint arrow heads. It is a similar site to Durringtom Walls and Marden and the site was later re-used in the Iron Age and during the Roman occupation. The Icknield Way , a Roman road passes though Leagrave. Local road names give away its location, 'Roman Road' runs from Oakley Road to Marsh Road. On the other side of Marsh Road as the road enters Limbury it continues as 'Icknield Road' where there is a gap before the road continues as Icknield Way. building on Platform 4 at Leagrave.]] The River Lea /(Lee) starts in Leagrave before making its way eventually to the Thames , joining in London. The Lee crosses Leagrave Common and receives a tributary called Knapps Brook which joins from culverts under the railway embankment and Toddington Road. Napps Brook is a combination of brooks from East End, Houghton Regis and from the Lewsey Estate near the old Lewsey Farm. The River once formed one boundary of the Danelaw . Leagrave Marsh used to be a popular place for the Luton Hatters on their (rare) days off and was, consequently, known as "Blockers' Seaside". The Hatmaking industry originally relied on Straw Plaits , made by farmer's wives, bought and collected by a "plaitman" and brought into the Luton hat factories to be made into Straw Hat s. A new artwork has been unveiled in the area, reflecting on this former use of the area. Opening of artwork at the Blockers Seaside Leagrave station was built by the Midland Railway company in 1868 on its extension to St. Pancras . The old Midland station buildings still exist, having been carefully restored in the 1980s . In 1866 the villages of Leagrave and Limbury were formed into the Ecclesiastical Parish of 'Holy Trinity, (Biscot)'. Leagrave parish history Thirty years later, in 1896 Leagrave Civil Parish was formed under the provisions of the ' Local Government Act 1894 ', in the ecclesiastical parish of Limbury-cum-Biscot . In who lived on site. During the First World War the factory produced more than 800 aircraft and employed up to 700 people. The business closed in 1920 and in 1926 the factory site was sold to Electrolux . The area grew significantly in between the wars and in 1928 the parish was abolished when the boundaries of Luton were extended to include Leagrave, as well as, Limbury, and Stopsley . Further expansion of the area took place during the 1930s, much of the housing stock of the area dates from the 1920s and 1930s. Further large scale construction continued post-war with the construction of the Hockwell Ring estate and nearby Marsh Farm . Some of the old farm names live on in the modern road names, Strangers Farm lends its name to the current Strangers Way, and at the edge of Leagrave Marsh was Marsh Farm , which gives its name to the 1960s estate famous for the Marsh Farm riots which took place in 1995. Until recently Electrolux was one of the larger employers in the area, however much of the old factory site was sold off over the last ten years or so for re-development into housing. The most recent development on the site was Saxon-Gate. Leagrave is increasingly a Commuter Area with many people taking advantage of the train and motorway connections into London and to the North. ETYMOLOGY Leagrave's name is composed of two parts. Lea The first part relates to the River Lea which starts in Leagrave, close to Waulads Bank. However in old English Lea means Water Meadow , which may well have referred to the Marsh at Leagrave. It could, therefore be that the water meadow gave its name to the river. Place names - see Lea Grave Grave could refer to the source of the river or to the earthworks associated with the bank itself. Grave may also come from the Old English 'graf', the modern ‘grove’, so Leagrave could also mean Lea Grove, referring to trees or a wood located in the area. TRIVIA The current site of the McDonald's restaurant on Marsh Road was the site of the Three Horseshoes pub, which was demolished in 1994 . Details about demolition of the Three Horseshoes Pub The round-about next to McDonalds takes its name from the old pub, and you can still see the old pub sign in the planting scheme. TRANSPORT Air See Also: Luton Airport ]] Leagrave is approximately 4 miles from Luton Airport. The airport was renamed London Luton Airport in 1990, just before Ryanair took its business to Stansted . The growth of new low-cost flights rejuvenated the airport and passenger numbers more than doubled from 1992 to 1998. Rail See Also: Leagrave railway station Leagrave enjoys good rail connections via Its Station . Luton has two further train stations ( Luton and Luton Airport Parkway ) both of which are serviced by First Capital Connect (like Leagrave) but also Midland Mainline, which offers a much faster connection into London. Road Leagrave is connected to the motorway network by the nearby Junction 11 of the M1 motorway, (Junction 10 serves Luton South). The M1 was built to the west of Leagrave in 1959 , and provides access to London and the North. The A6 passes through Luton heading north to Bedford and south to St Albans (although south of the town the road has been re-numbered as the A1081 ). LOCAL SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION
CHURCHES The largest church in the parish is St Luke s on Leagrave High Street. Also Leagrave Methodist Church is also on Leagrave High Street. POLITICS ''See also Politics In Luton '' Leagrave ward is represented by Cllr Derrick Patten ( Labour ), Cllr Sheila Roden (Labour) and Cllr Desline Stewart (Labour). The ward forms part of the Parliamentary Constituency of Luton North , and the MP is Kelvin Hopkins (Labour). Leagrave is within the East Of England (European Parliament Constituency) . LOCAL ATTRACTIONS LOCAL NEWSPAPERS Two weekly Newspapers are delivered free to all houses in Leagrave, with news about Leagrave and the surrounding area.
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