Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Eaton Bray
latitude= 51.8767
longitude= -0.5954
population = 3,240
shire_district= South Bedfordshire
shire_county = Bedfordshire
region= East of England
constituency_westminster= South West Bedfordshire
post_town= DUNSTABLE
postcode_area= LU
postcode_district= LU6
dial_code= 01525
os_grid_reference= SP967207

Eaton Bray is a village and civil parish in the South Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It is part of an urban area which crosses into the parish of Edlesborough in Buckinghamshire and is adjacent to the Bedfordshire village of Totternhoe.

The village name 'Eaton' is a common one in England, coming from the old English 'eitone', meaning 'farm by a river'. It was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Eitone". The suffix 'Bray' refers to Sir Reginald Bray and the family that once owned the manor in this village, which was located at what is today 'Park Farm'.

Eaton Bray once had a moated castle. The moat, today all that remains, is open to the public for fishing at 'Park Farm'. In Victorian times Arthur Macnamara (the 'Mad Squire' of Billington) planned to build a mansion on the site of the castle, but ran out of money after completing the lodge at the entrance to Park Farm.

One of the more distinctive Victorian buildings near the church, is the [http://www.eatonbray.com/coffee-tavern/ 'Coffee Tavern'] built by a teetotal vicar of the parish to encourage the villagers out of the local public houses. This building was financed by the Wallace family who owned much of the land in the area as well as the famous 'Wallace Nurseries' known for their carnations. The drawings and construction were carried out by the Sharratts who omitted to put a staircase in the original plans!

Today the site of Wallace Nurseries is a housing estate and most of the roads take their name from this and some of the plant varieties they created.

Church of St Mary the Virgin, Eaton Bray with Edlesborough

The church was begun about AD 1200 under the patronage of the local baron of Eitone (Eaton), William de Cantelou, using stone from nearby Totternhoe.

External links

* [http://www.eatonbray.com/ Eaton Bray village website]
* [http://www.stmaryseatonbray.org.uk St Mary's Eaton Bray Community Web]
* [http://www.eatonbray.com/parish-council/ Eaton Bray Parish Council]