A new guide to my visits to churches in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire

The Church of Saint Mary and Saint Giles, Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Since moving to Stony Stratford in Milton Keynes on my retirement at the end of March 2022, I have enjoyed visiting many churches, church buildings, and religious centres in Stony Stratford and the Milton Keynes area, and I have been writing about them and photographing them.

As the weeks turned to months and the months became years, the number of churches and religious centres I have visited in Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire, and further afield in the neighbouring counties of Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire, continues to grow, so that in time it became difficult for some readers to find these postings on this site.

An earlier posting that offers a guide to these places has become cumbersome to edit, and so this posting offers fresh links to these and similar postings, and a guide to churches and similar places in Oxford and Oxfordshire is to follow in the days ahead.

As I write about more churches and religious buildings, I intend to update this guide to my postings, indicating the date of the latest update at the end of this page, and to provide a link in the toolbars on the front page of this blog.

The tower of the Church of Saint Mary Magdalen in Stony Stratford … originally a chapel-of-ease for the parish of Wolverton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Milton Keynes:

1, The Church of Christ the Cornerstone, Central Milton Keynes (7 December 2022) and here (21 May 2026)

Bletchley:

2, Saint Mary’s Church, Church Green Road, Bletchley, Church of England (16 December 2023)

3, Whaddon Way Church, Church of England and Baptist (13 November 2023)

4, Water Eaton Church Centre, Drayton Road, Bletchley, shared by Saint Frideswide’s Church (Church of England) and Spurgeon Baptist Church (16 January 2024)

5, Queensway Methodist Church (15 November 2022)

Bradwell:

6, Bradwell Abbey (5 April 2022)

Calverton:

7, All Saints’ Church, Calverton (11 September 2022), and here (16 April 2022)

Crown Hill:

8, The Oak Chapel, Crown Hill Crematorium, Milton Keynes (5 August 2026)

Downs Barn:

9, The Cross and Stable Church (12 June 2022)

Eaglestone:

10, The Chapel and Quiet Room, Milton Keynes University Hospital (20 March 2024)

Fishermead:

11, Trinity Church and Centre, Fishermead (13 June 2026)

12, Chinese Overseas Christian Mission, Fishermead (10 June 2026)

Furzton:

13, Church of the Servant King, Dulverton Drive (12 March 2025) and here (11 February 2026)

Great Linford:

14, Saint Andrew’s Church, Great Linford (25 May 2022) and here (3 November 2022)

15, The Old Rectory, Great Linford (17 November 2022).

16, The former Congregational Chapel, Great Linford (17 November 2022)

Middleton (Milton Keynes Village):

17, All Saints’ Church, Milton Keynes Village (29 January 2023)

New Bradwell:

18, Saint James Church (22 May 2022)

19, New Bradwell Gospel Hall, Caledonian Road (27 March 2023)

Newport Pagnell:

20, Saint Peter and Saint Paul (5 May 2022)

21, Saint Bede’s Roman Catholic Church (30 May 2022)

22, Newport Pagnell Methodist Church (11 May 2022)

23, Newport Pagnell United Reformed Church (7 May 2022)

24, (former) Tickford Priory (4 May 2022); see also here (19 May 2025)

25, Former Baptist churches, Newport Pagnell, 30 May 2022

Olney:

26, Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church, Olney (13 April 2025)

27, Olney Baptist Church (12 April 2025)

Shenley Church End:

28, Saint Mary’s Church (15 October 2022)

29, ‘Glastonbury Thorn’, Shenley Church End (15 November 2025)

Stantonbury:

30, Christ Church, Stantonbury (8 January 2025)

31, Saint Peter’s Church (ruins), Stantonbury (9 January, 2025)

Stony Stratford:

32, Saint Mary and Saint Giles (27 March 2022), and here (18 April 2022)

33, Saint Mary Magdalene (Church of England), church tower and church ruins (11 April 2022)

34, Saint Mary the Virgin (Church of England), former parish church (28 March 2022)

35, Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Ambrosios and Saint Stylianos (10 May 2022)

36, Saint Mary Magdalene Roman Catholic Church (14 April 2022)

37, Stony Stratford Methodist Church (20 April 2022)

38, Stony Stratford Community Church, Baptist (20 April 2022)

39, Stony Stratford Evangelical Church (Congregationalist) (20 April 2022)

40, Saint Paul’s former school chapel (13 April 2022) and here (29 June 2026)

41, Saint Peter’s (the Old Cross Keys), former church hostel or hospital (29 June 2026)

42, The former rectories in Stony Stratford (29 May 2022)

43, Calverton Limes, former home of two generations of Percevals, rectors of Wolverton Saint Mary, Stony Stratford (28 December 2022)

Walton:

44, Saint Michael’s Church, Open University campus, Walton (14 November 2022).

Wavendon:

45, Saint Mary's Church, Wavendon (11 September 2024)

Willen:

46, Saint Mary Magdalene (26 May 2022)

Wolverton:

47, Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton (19 April 2022)

48, Saint George’s Church, Wolverton (9 April 2022)

49, Woverton Methodist Church, Church Street (24 January 2023)

50, West End United Church, Church Street (24 January 2023)

51, former United Reformed Church (Congregational Church), Wolverton (26 February 2023)

52, Wolverton Evangelical Church, former Emmanuel Hall (25 January 2023)

53, Wolverton House, birthplace of Archbishop John Habgood of York (23 January 2023)

54, Urban Farm, Windsor Street, church-run project in Wolverton (10 July 2026)

Woughton-on-the-Green:

55, Saint Mary’s Church, Woughton (21 March 2024)

The Chantry Chapel of Saint John the Baptist … the oldest surviving building in Buckingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Other parts of Buckinghamshire:

Addington:

56, Saint Mary the Virgin, Addington (30 November 2025)

Aylesbury:

57, The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Aylesbury (14 September 2022)

58, Aylesbury Methodist Church (11 January 2026)

59, (former) Congregational Church, High Street (14 September 2022)

60, Friends’ Meeting House (Quakers), Rickford’s Hill (14 September 2022)

61, New Tabernacle Church of God, Rickford’s Hill (14 September 2022)

62, The Prebendal House, Aylesbury (5 August 2025)

Buckingham:

63, Saint Peter and Saint Paul Parish Church (31 May 2022)

64, The Chantry Chapel of Saint John the Baptist (31 May 2022), and here (5 November 2025)

65, Saint Bernardine’s Roman Catholic Church, Chandos Road (6 November 2025)

66, former Franciscan seminary and church, London Road (18 July 2026)

67, The Old Meeting House, former Independent or Congregational chapel, Well Street (18 November 2025)

68, The Radcliffe Centre, former Congregational and United Reformed Church, Church Street (16 November 2025)

69, Salvation Army Citadel, Moreton Road, previously Primitive Methodists, Baptists (16 November 2025)

70, Well Street United Church, Methodists, URC and Baptists (16 November 2025)

71, Barton’s Chantry and Hospital, Church Street (9 June 2022)

72, Prebendal manors and houses, Buckingham (8 June 2022)

73, Saint Rumbold’s grave and legends, Buckingham (6 June 2022)

74, The Mitre Inn, Mitre Cottage on Mitre Street, Buckingham (25 November 2025)

Castlethorpe:

75, Saint Simon and Saint Jude Church (26 October 2025)

76, Castlethorpe Methodist Church (27 October 2025)

Gawcott:

77, Holy Trinity Church, Gawcott (23 November 2025)

78, Gawcott Methodist Chapel (24 November 2025)

Hanslope:

79, Saint James the Great Church, Hanslope (2 November 2025)

80, Hanslope Methodist Church (3 November 2025)

81, Gold Street Gospel Hall (former Baptist Chapel), Hanslope (3 November 2025)

Maids Moreton:

82, Saint Edmund’s Church, Maids Moreton (9 November 2025); see also here (11 November 2025) and here (12 November 2025)

83, The Old Rectory, Maids Moreton (8 November 2025)

Padbury:

84, Saint Mary’s Church, Padbury (14 December 2025)

85, The Old Chapel (former Wesleyan Methodist Chapel), Padbury (14 December 2025)

Seer Green:

86, Holy Trinity Church (18 January 2026)

Winslow:

87, Saint Laurence’s Church, Winslow (6 September 2022)

88, (former) Congregational Church, Horn Street (7 September 2022)

89, Keach’s Meeting House, Bell Walk (7 September 2022)

90, Winslow Tabernacle, the former Baptist Chapel off High Street, Winslow (8 September, 2022)

Bedfordshire:

Bedford:

1, (former) All Hallows’ Church, Church Square (8 August 2024)

2, Bunyan Meeting Church (Baptists, Congregational, URC), Mill Street (4 August 2024)

3, Holy Trinity Church, Bedford (1 August 2024)

4, (former) Howard Chapel (Congregational, URC), Mill Street (5 August 2024)

5, Saint Cuthbert’s Church, Bedford (31 July 2024)

6, Saint Paul’s Church, Bedford (29 July 2024)

7, Saint Peter de Merton Church, Bedford (30 July 2024)

8, (former) Panacea Society, Albany Road and Castle Road (28 July 2024)

9, sculpture of Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, Bedford (3 August 2024)

Dunstable:

10, The Priory Church of Saint Peter, Dunstable (31 May 2026)

11, Christ Church, West Street, Dunstable (2 June 2026)

12, Dunstable Baptist Church at Saint Mary’s Gate, Dunstable (2 June 2026)

13, Dunstable Methodist Church, the Square, Dunstable (2 June 2026)

14, Saint Mary’s Church (Roman Catholic), Dunstable (1 June 2026)

Leighton Buzzard:

15, All Saints’ Church, Leighton Buzzard (17 August 2025)

16, Trinity Methodist Church, North Street (14 January 2026)

17, (former) Wesleyan Church, Hockliffe Street (14 January 2026)

18, Hockliffe Street Baptist Church (14 January 2026)

19, (former) Lake Street Baptist Chapel (14 January 2026)

20, Friends’ Meeting House (Quakers), Leighton Buzzard (31 August 2025)

Linslade:

21, Saint Barnabas Church, Linslade (24 August 2025)

Luton:

22, Saint Mary’s Church, Church Street, Luton (7 June 2026)

23, Bury Park United Reformed Church (12 January 2026)

The Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate and Saint Thomas of Canterbury on Barrack Road, Northampton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Northamptonshire:

Cathedrals:

1, The Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate and Saint Thomas of Canterbury (Roman Catholic), Barrack Road, Northampton (5 February 2023)

Northampton:

2, All Saints’ Church, Northampton (6 February 2023)

3, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Sheep Street (7 February 2023)

4, Saint James’s Church, Saint James’s Road (8 February 2023)

5, Saint John’s Church (former), Bridge Street (9 February 2023)

6, Saint Peter’s Church, Marefair (9 February 2023)

7, Christ Image Assembly, Wellington Street (11 February 2023)

8, Friends’ Meeting House, Wellington Street (11 February 2023)

All Saints’ Church in Yelvertoft … Henry Comberford was the rector in 1546-1560 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Northamptonshire:

Badby:

9, Saint Mary’s Church (20 September 2023)

Blisworth:

10, Saint John the Baptist (7 September 2024)

Crick:

11, Saint Margaret of Antioch Church, Church Street (23 March 2023)

Deanshanger:

12, Holy Trinity Church, Deanshanger (22 March 2025)

13, Possible site of a monastery, Deanshanger (22 March 2025)

Lamport:

14, All Saints’ Church (6 May 2024)

15, Isham family chapel (6 May 2024), and the Lamport Crucifix (4 May 2024)

Long Buckby:

16, Saint Lawrence’s Church (4 April 2023)

17, Long Buckby Baptist Chapel (4 April 2023)

18, Long Buckby United Reformed Church (4 April 2024)

Old Stratford:

19, Memorial Hall, Old Stratford, venue for some evening services, Deanshanger parish (22 March 2025)

Passenham:

20, Saint Guthlac’s Church (21 April 2022), and here (8 June 2025)

Roade:

21, Saint Mary’s Church, Church End, Roade (9 September 2024)

22, Roade Baptist Chapel (9 September 2024)

23, Roade Methodist Church (9 September 2024)

Shutlanger:

24, Saint Anne’s Chapel-of-Ease (4 September 2024)

25, The Monastery, the former Parles and Comberford family chapel (4 September 2024)

26, (former) Wesleyan Methodist Chapel (8 September 2024)

Stoke Bruerne:

27, Saint Mary the Virgin (3 September 2024) and here (5 September 2024)

28, the Old Chapel, (former) Wesleyan Methodist Chapel (8 September 2024)

Towcester:

29, Saint Lawrence’s Church (20 March 2025)

Watford:

30, Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church (11 March 2023)

Yelvertoft:

31, All Saints’ Church, Yelvertoft (20 March 2023)

The Quaker Meeting House at the north end of Wellington Street in Northampton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Other Religious Traditions:

Synagogues in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire:

Bedford:

1, Jewish Bedford (12 July 2024) and here (9 August 2024)

Bletchley:

2, Bletchley: Bletchley Hebrew Congregation (1 December 2023)

Dunstable:

3, former synagogue, Watling House, 123 High Street North, Dunstable (5 June 2026)

4, former synagogue, 132 Luton Road, Dunstable (5 June 2026)

5, former synagogue, Poynters Road, Dunstable (5 June 2026)

Great Linford:

6, Milton Keynes and District Reform Synagogue, Great Linford (25 November 2022)

Luton:

7, Luton United Synagogue, Dunstable Road, Luton, and Jewish Luton (5 June 2025)

8, Luton Town Hall, venue for occasional Jewish services, 2001-2009 (5 June 2025)

9, 5 Moor Path, the first-ever synagogue in Luton (5 June 2025)

10, former synagogue, Bury Park Road (5 June 2025)

11, former synagogue, 51 John Street, Luton (5 June 2025)

Northampton:

12, Northampton Hebrew Congregation, Overstone Road (10 February 2023)

13, the Mediaeval Synagogue, Sheep Street (3 February 2023)

Wolverton:

14, The Wolverton United Synagogue Membership Group, or the Haversham Jewish Community, New Bradwell and Haversham (24 March 2023)

Mosques:

1, Fishermead: the Islamic Centre Milton Keynes, Fishermead Boulevard (12 June 2026)

2, Wolverton: The Central Jamia Mosque, Church Street, Wolverton (11 March 2024)

3, Luton: Islamic Cultural Centre, Bury Park Road (5 June 2025)

Buddhists:

1, Japanese Peace Pagoda, Willen, 24 May 2022

Other traditions:

1, The Tree Cathedral, Milton Keynes, 3 August 2022

The Peace Pagoda on the shores of Willen Lake was built in 1980 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Last updated: 30 August 2026

Saint Mary's Church, Luton, with its chequered walls is a mediaeval church on a 1,000-year-old site

Saint Mary’s Church in the centre of Luton is one of the largest churches in Bedfordshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

Saint Mary’s Church in the centre of Luton is one of the largest churches in Bedfordshire and is a fine example of mediaeval architecture. Saint Mary’s is over 900 years old but there has been a church on the same site for over 1,000 years, and the church has been rebuilt and refurbished constantly over the centuries.

In her recent history of Saint Mary’s Church (2000), Katheryne Rogers describes the church as ‘Luton’s Medieval Jewel’ and tells ‘the stories behind the chequered walls’. It has been said that Saint Mary’s is a ‘medieval oasis surrounded by roundabouts, and sandwiched between the Arndale mall and University of Bedfordshire.’

The first church on the site was built ca 930 by King Athelstan in thanksgiving for his victory over the Danes. The land was owned by the king in Saxon and early Norman times and the church was richly endowed. The castle may have stood where the university is now and beside the River Lea.

The present Saint Mary’s was first built in 1121, but there has been a church on the same site in Luton for over 1,000 years (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The present church was first built in 1121 by Robert FitzRoy (1090-1147), 1st Earl of Gloucester, and it was consecrated in 1137. The church was first built in a cruciform shape without aisles. But with the increases in population of Luton, the north and south aisles were added within 40 years of each other at the start of the 13th century.

As the church continued to be extended, a tower was built, and the transepts were extended, with twin arches opening into the new chapels on the east sides of the transepts. A vaulted sacristy with an upper room was built north of the chancel and a new font was given a canopy of richly carved stone in an octagonal shape.

Further restoration and rebuilding work was carried out in this time, the Someries chapel was extended, the sacristy was rebuilt further east, the west tower was made taller and most of the windows were renewed.

All this work was carried out with the help of John Wenlock (ca 1400/1404-1471) of Someries Castle, MP for the Bedfordshire, Speaker of Parliament and Baron Wenlock. His family had been connected with the church since 1389, and the chapel was renamed the Wenlock Chapel in 1461.

Wenlock switched sides five times between the Yorkists and the Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses and has been called ‘the prince of turncoats’. Some historians suggest this behaviour was commonplace during the Wars of the Roses; others say that even when Wenlock was not actually changing sides, he was engaged in ‘fence sitting par excellence’. He was killed on the battlefield at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, allegedly by his own commander, the Duke of Somerset, who blamed Wenlock’s indecisiveness for the defeat of the Lancastrians.

The other chapels in Saint Mary’s Church include the Hoo Chapel and the Barnard Chantry chapel and the church also has monuments to the Rotheram family.

The 14th-century octagonal baptistery in the western bay was a gift from Queen Philippa, wife of Edward III, to the people of Luton to encourage their spirits following the Black Death. It has a bowl-shaped Purbeck marble font and is the only Baptistry in England with a walk-in stone canopy surrounding it.

The south door (1530) is known as the Wolsey Door, after Cardinal Wolsey, a patron of the church.

The west tower of Saint Mary’s Church, Luton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The architecture of Saint Mary’s is varied as the church has been renovated and rebuilt many times. The basic layout is a cruciform shape, with north and south aisles and many chapels and extensions in various directions heading off the main church. The total length of the church is 53 metres (174 ft), the total width is 17 metres (56 ft), and the height is 27 metres (89 ft).

The outside of the church is clad in a distinctive flint and stone chequer, which makes the church stand out in the town. The chequerwork pattern of dark flint and light stone is characteristic of the north Chilterns.

The church is Grade I listed and the only one to be a Grade I listed building in Luton.

A statue on the west side of the tower of of Saint Mary’s Church, Luton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The church underwent a major and sympathetic restoration in 1865-1885 led by the Victorian architect George Edmund Street (1824-1881), when the Revd James O’Neill was the Vicar of Luton (1862-1895). The distinctive flint and stone chequer was extended to cover most of the church. Giles Gilbert Scott supervised repairs to the Wenlock Chapel in 1904-1905, and the tower was restored in 1906.

The parish hall and offices and vestries were built as a block in the chequered style at the east end of the church in 1968-1969 to provide more space. At the time, they aroused much controversy, with one critic suggesting ‘they look like a public toilet and bear no architectural relationship to the church’.

The Magnificat Window in the south transept was installed in 1979, replacing a window damaged by vandalism. The abstract stained glass window was designed by Alan Younger (1933-2004), one of the most important stained-glass artists in post-war Britain. The window represents the Virgin Mary’s emotional explosion of happiness and outpouring of gratitude during her visit to her cousin Elizabeth when she was pregnant with the Christ Church. Alan Younger also designed the Great West Window installed in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth, in 1975.

The church has also installed projection screens, moved the pulpit to its former position and replaced the Victorian heating system.

The clock was restored in time for the millennium and was officially reopened in 1999 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The clock was installed in 1901, and faced west across the town. Described as a Cambridge quarter clock with an eight-day movement, it was built by JW Benson at. The quarters were chimed on the second, third, fourth and seventh bells, and the hours struck on the tenor bell.

However, after two overhauls in 1909 and 1949 and the installation of a new bell, the clock’s mechanism’s seized and gave up in 1979. The bell was not heard for 28 years, until the University of Bedfordshire, offered to help restore the clock in time for the new year and the millennium. The clock was officially reopened on Armistice Day 11 November 1999.

The graveyard surrounding the church is no longer used. Power Court, the area next to Saint Mary’s Church, has been due to be renovated for years. Currently Luton Town Football Club proposes to develop the site with a stadium, apartment blocks, retail and other facilities.

Saint Mary’s Church is in the Diocese of Saint Albans and stands in the Open Evangelical tradition. It is known for its youth work in the town and its pioneering peace and reconciliation ministry. The Vicar of Luton is Canon Mike Jones, and the ministry team includes the Revd Andy Pike, the Rev Joseph Adewale and the Rev Chris Adams. Saint Mary’s is open on Tuesday to Thursday, from 9 am to 1 pm, and on Sundays from 9 am to 12 noon.

The parish hall and offices and vestries were built as a block in the chequered style at the east end of the church in 1968-1969 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

• The Sunday services are at 9 am and 10:30 am. The 9 am service is quiet and reflective with Holy Communion and hymns, followed by tea and coffee. The 10:30 service alternates between All-Age worship and Holy Communion. A Shona-language service on the third Sunday afternoon each month is designed for the Zimbabwean community.

The Sunday services in Saint Mary’s Church, Luton, are at 9 am and 10:30 am (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Mural on Art Deco cinema highlights the risks to the architectural legacy of George Street in Luton

The mural by Sarah Hodgkins of Charlotte Designs recalls the glory days of the ABC Savoy Cinema in Luton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

My flights between Luton and Dublin this week were both delayed for quite some time this week, and it can be grim experiences sitting around airports for hours, trying to rebook missed coach connections and idling on phones yet trying to keep them charged because Ryanair now demands that all boarding passes must be on phones.

Luton Airport is small and much easier to get through, and unlike many airports the coffee shops stay open until late in the night, which mean that, although airports are never pleasant places in which to spend lost hours, Luton is a good airport to leave from and to arrive back at.

I saw little of Luton early on Thursday morning or in the late hours of Thursday night and the early hours of Friday morning, but I have enjoyed my visits to Luton in Bedfordshire in recent weeks, looking for Saint Mary’s Church, the art deco buildings on George Street.

George Street at the junction with Market Hill in Luton … the entire street in on the Heritage at Risk Register (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

George Street, as an entire street in the heart of Luton, has been added to the Heritage at Risk Register by Historic England because it is at risk of being lost as a result of neglect, decay or inappropriate development.

The street, running from Saint Mary’s and Market Hill to Luton’s art deco Town Hall, has 36 Grade II listed buildings. It is the historic heart of Luton and was once the centre of the hat-making industry, but Historic England warns that many of its buildings are ‘now in poor condition’ and the street lacks purpose.

Historic England says George Street lacks ‘a clear function and purpose’ and is ‘hampered by the physical barrier of the ring road’. It says revitalising George Street and helping it evolve to meet the needs of a contemporary town centre is critical to the future of this characterful street, and to revitalising the heritage of Luton’s town centre.

No 27 George Street at the corner of Chapel Lane is an attractive arts and crafts building (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

At one end of the street, 27 George Street is at the corner of Chapel Lane and is an attractive arts and crafts building. George Pigott was a butcher there in 1871, but the Pigott family probably had a butcher’s shop at No 27 since at least 1839. The Pigotts were still there in 1898, but Boots the chemists were there by 1903.

A plaque on the Chapel Street return frontage indicates that the present building was built in 1915. The other date indicates that something was established there in 1874 but it cannot refer to the Pigotts or to later tenants, including Boots, founded in 1849, or Hepworths, founded in 1864.

Boots continued to occupy the corner-site building until at least 1960, but the premises were vacant by 1965. J Hepworth tailors had moved there by 1968 and they were still there in 1975. The estate agents Taylors are on the corner site today [2026] , with Mano coffee shop next door.

Plaques on the Chapel Street frontage indicate the building was built, founded or rebuilt in 1874 and 1915 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Back on George Street, one of the most eye-catching delights in the past two years or so is the way the long-derelict ABC Savoy Cinema has been covered in a colourful 1930s-inspired mural by the artist Sarah Hodgkins. The dilapidated building at the heart of the George Street Conservation Area has stood empty and neglected for about quarter of a century. But once it was a stylish venue which the entertainment for generations of people in Luton.

The 1,892-seat cinema opened as the Savoy on 17 October 1938. The building was designed for Associated British Cinemas (ABC) by the architect William Riddell Glen (1885-1950) and built on land leased from the then Luton Corporation. The Art Deco styling was very fashionable at the time and echoed much of the architecture of surrounding buildings, including the Town Hall at the far end of George Street.

The interior was decorated in shades of pink and green, with plush pink carpets and staff sporting a smart green uniform. The Savoy changed its name to the ABC in 1961. It closed in April 1971, was gutted and rebuilt and reopened as a three-screen multiplex in September 1971. It was renamed the Cannon in April 1986. When a new 10-screen Cineworld multiplex opened a short walk down the street in 1998, the Cannon was renamed ABC, and continued for another two years until the three-screen cinema closed its doors for the last time on 23 November 2000.

The ABC Savoy Cinema opened in 1938 but has been vacant since 2000 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The mural at the front of the former cinema includes elements suggested by local residents, with references to Vauxhall Motors, the film ‘Blinded by the Light’, and local singer and songwriter Myles Smith, who was recognised at the BRIT Awards last year (2025).

While the site awaits development, the mural artist Sarah Hodgkins of Charlotte Designs was commissioned to make the cinema frontage more attractive and create a much needed focal point for the area. The aim was to make a sympathetic and colourful façade for the building that complements the wider environment of the town centre, brightening the area and enabling increased footfall and placemaking.

Art Deco emerged as a new style in the 1920s and 1930s. It originated in France and captured the prosperity and glamour of post-World War I modernism and advancements, with its classical influences, geometric motifs, and streamlined architectural styles. Many of the Art Deco values and themes fitted neatly into the requirements for the ABC Cinema in Luton.

The art deco Luton Town Hall is one of 36 Grade II listed buildings on George Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The artist Sarah Hodgkins painted the scene in March 2025. She is an award-winning mural artist, with over 20 years of practice and more than 750 hand-painted murals completed for businesses, councils, hospitals, schools and private individuals. She is based in Northamptonshire and works throughout the UK under the name Charlotte Designs, the business she founded in 2005. She talked to the local community about what they would like to see and what themes would be of interest to them. Her design features a city street with a park in the background, and there are stylised clouds and an aeroplane.

The centre section is essentially the front of a 1930s cinema, with Art Deco architecture and steps down. There are two posters on either side of the doors, one shows a poster for ‘Blinded by the Light’, a film made in Luton in 2019 and featuring many scenes on George Street; the other is a poster by Myles Smith, a Luton based artist.

The section along George Street West is more of an evening scene, representing the use of the area as both a daytime and evening hub. It shows a jazz band and dancers, a nod to both the Jazz age and to the Luton carnival. The mural also includes a nod to the new Luton Town Football Club stadium. The upper section features a sunrise image, a symbol of hope that featured widely in Art Deco art. The sunrise image is flanked by traditional Art Deco styling and proudly has Luton as its main feature text. The fascias are purposefully simple in their design so they do not overshadow the upper and lower murals. They complement the mural’s style and colour palette and show both former names of the cinema, the Savoy and ABC Cinema. Both these elements were printed and installed by The Treacle Factory.

However, behind the new façade, the building remains empty and forlorn since the ABC Savoy closed over 25 years ago, awaiting longer-term development. The age of the building means that there is asbestos internally, which requires specialist removal, a time-consuming and expensive process.

Before leaving Luton that afternoon, I sat in Mano Coffee at 25 George Street, next door to Traynor’s estate agents in the former arts and crafts shop of Pigott’s and Boots on the corner of Chapel Lane. But there is more to discover about the architectural heritage of Luton, and more to say in the days to come, hopefully, about Saint Mary’s Church, the 900-year-old parish church in the centre of Luton.

Mano Café and Taylor’s estate agents on George Street, Luton, on the corner with Chapel Lane (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

In search of the lost mediaeval and war-time Jewish communities in the heart of Dunstable,

By late 1942, the Jewish congregation in Dunstable had moved to 132 Luton Road (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

It is quite some time since I posted a variety of blog postings on Friday evenings, reflecting on an aspect of Jewish spirituality and prayer life or looking at synagogues or the sites of synagogues I have visited and places of interest in Jewish history, culture and life.

However, with the rise in antisemitism across these islands in recent months, I suspended these posts, unwilling to identify the location of synagogues or Jewish sites I was visiting. My fears seemed to be confirmed when the former East London Central Synagogue on Nelson Street in the East End suffered an arson attack shortly after I had written about its sale and its past history.

However, when I was in Dunstable last week I decided to resume me searches, looking for the sites of places that had served as synagogues, albeit briefly, and searching for stories of local Jewish history and past Jewish communities in the south Bedfordshire town.

Dunstable, with a population of about 40,000, is the fourth largest town in Bedfordshire, about 30 km south-east of Milton Keynes, 8 km west of Luton and 50 km north of London.

There is no active, organised Jewish community or synagogue in Dunstable these days, and the nearest active Jewish congregation is Luton United Synagogue, about 8 km away. But Dunstable has had two Jewish communities in the past: a mediaeval community that survived until Edward I proclaimed the Edict of Expulsion in 1290; and a war-time community, mainly of evacuees, that lasted until the early 1950s.

Mediaeval Dunstable had a small but notable Jewish community in the 12th and 13th centuries. Thomas, the Prior of Dunstable, borrowed £50 from Aaron of Lincoln, a Jewish banker and financier, in 1185. Aaron of Lincoln (1123-1186) was a prominent financier and one of the wealthiest individuals in 12th century England. He ran a major banking network with agents across the country, he financed major building projects, including Dunstable Priory, St Albans Abbey, Lincoln Minster, Peterborough Abbey, and several cathedrals.

Aaron of Lincoln died in 1886, and three years later, during anti-Jewish riots and violence in 1189, the entire Jewish community in Dunstable was forced to choose accepting baptism or facing massacre.

However, Jews may have returned to the town quite quickly, albeit in small numbers. In what seems to have been an antisemitic diatribe in 1210, when a great storm destroyed the Priory Church, the Prior of Dunstable, Richard de Morins, documented his vision of two Jews who said the Anti-Christ would be born 40 years later.

Mossy, a Jew, unsuccessfully sued the same Prior of Dunstable for £700 in 1221. His friends paid the king a mark of gold and £100 to save him from hanging for forgery. A converted Jew named Henry obtained a letter from the Pope in 1275 promising that the prior, William le Breton, would maintain him and his family.

Following the Edict of Expulsion in 1290, all Jews were forced to leave England, effectively ending the mediaeval presence of Jews in Dunstable, although there is no record of the number forced of people who were forced to leave the town.

Aaron of Lincoln (1123-1186) financed major building projects, including Dunstable Priory (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

In the inter-war and war-time years, the Cohen family owned Barwythe Hall, near Dunstable, from 1931 until 1945. The most prominent member of the family was Harold Cohen (1873-1936), the Liverpool-born businessman, communal leader and philanthropist. He was a major benefactor to Liverpool University and Harold House, which was named in his honour, was the main centre for Jewish communal organisations, youth activities and social events in Liverpool from the 1920s until it closed in 2009.

In the mid-20th century, a modern Jewish community was established in Dunstable during World War II, mainly for evacuees who had fled from other parts of the UK.

The Dunstable United Synagogue Membership Group was formed following a meeting in October 1941 called by Jewish residents and World War II evacuees. During the war, the congregation first met in a hut until it was requisitioned by builders, with Jewish refugees worshipping at a temporary synagogue in Poynters Road, Dunstable.

The Revd Louis Blumenthal (1912-1985) was the minister in Dunstable from 1941 until at least 1943. He had previously served as the reader of Leyton and Walthamstow New Federated Synagogue, later known as Queen’s Road Synagogue, east London (1936-1939).

For most years, festival services were held in Dunstable Town Hall or in a school hall and Hebrew classes for the children were held by Rabbi Waxman at Burr Street School. Weekly Hebrew classes were held at Dunstable Grammar School and other schools in 1942.

By September 1942, the congregation had moved to 132 Luton Road, Dunstable, and this continued as the community address until at least late 1946. Following the appointment of the Revd Judah Hosea Rockman in 1946, Hebrew classes were held at two separate venues on Sunday mornings.

By 1946, the congregation was also using a temporary synagogue at Watling House, 123 High Street North, which was described as ‘very unsuitable’ and ‘bleak’. This developed into the Dunstable Hebrew Congregation, which was established about 1947. A hall adjoining 119 High Street North, Dunstable, was offered to the congregation in July 1947 for its exclusive and free use for services, classes and other activities by Barnett Green president of the congregation from 1947 to 1955.

The membership group was affiliated to the United Synagogue. When the war-time membership group scheme came to an end, the congregation was one of only five small membership groups that applied for affiliation status with the United Synagogue. The congregation became an affiliated synagogue of the United Synagogue in 1948.

The last recorded minister in Dunstable was the Revd I Gross, from 1950 until about 1952. There appears to have been no further references to the congregation in the Jewish Chronicle after 1951, the congregation had closed in 1955, and the Dunstable United Synagogue membership group, which met at the Town Hall, was disbanded by the mid-1950s.

For community events, religious services, or kosher resources today, most Jewish people living in the Dunstable and Central Bedfordshire area are connected with the Luton congregation. There is no Jewish cemetery in Dunstable, and Bushey Cemetery, about 30 km away, was established in 1947. Any former members of the Dunstable congregation were probably absorbed into the Luton Hebrew Congregation.

When I went looking for signs of the Jewish community in Dunstable last week, it seemed the two addresses at High Street North have been replaced in recent decades by social housing, although the house on Luton Road is still standing.

As for the former Dunstable Town Hall at 11 High Street North, which had hosted festival services for many years, it was sold in 1965 and demolished in 1966, and the site has been redeveloped for commercial purposes. The present building is a branch of the Santander bank, while the town hall has been located since the 1990s in the Grade II-listed Grove House.

Shabbat Shalom, שבת שלום‎

The two buildings used by the Jewish community in Dunstable in the 1940s have been replaced in recent decades by social housing (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The Old Palace Lodge and its Tudor walled gardens prompted a search for a lost Eleanor Cross in Dunstable

In the Tudor walled gardens at the Old Palace Lodge in Dunstable on a summer afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

I was in Dunstable last week, mainly to visit the Priory Church of Saint Peter and Saint Mary’s Church on West Street, the 1960s church by Peter Williams that typifies his work and the liturgical insights that came at the time of the Second Vatican Council.

But throughout Dunstable, there is no escaping the fact that this town in Bedfordshire owes much to a continuous royal presence from Henry I building a small palace or hunting lodge and then endowing the foundation of the Augustinian priory, to the choice of Dunstable as one of the stopping places for Queen Eleanor’s funeral cortege in 1290 and the erection of one of the 12 Eleanor Crosses, to the annulment of the marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon in the Lady Chapel of the Priory Church in 1533.

Today, the Old Palace Lodge on Church Street, opposite the Priory Church of Saint Peter, is an ivy-clad hotel and restaurant. The building was converted from a farmhouse in the 18th century, but it stands on the site of Kingsbury Palace, frequented by monarchs and royalty ever since the 12th century. The wood panelling and furnishings create an ambience of warm old English charm in the Old Palace Lodge that dates back several hundred years.

Henry I came to the throne in 1100 and soon became engaged in the development of Dunstable at the junction of two roads dating back to the Roman era. He built a palace near these crossroads, appointed a steward, and Kingsbury Palace was finished and furnished ready for a royal visit in 1109.

When the old palace became too costly to maintain, King John gave handed it over to the Augustinian Priory. In 1290, Dunstable became one of the stopping points along the elaborate funeral procession of Queen Eleanor.

The Old Palace Lordge had been owned in the past by kings, monks, cardinals, merchants, doctors and farmers and is now an hotel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Cardinal Thomas Wolsey’s secretary and biographer, George Cavendish (1497-1562), bought the old palace immediately before the dissolution of the monastic houses, perhaps saving it from destruction. Cavendish married Margery Kemp, a niece of Sir Thomas More, and was related to Bess of Hardwick and the ancestors of the Dukes of Devonshire.

William Marshe and his wife Elizabeth were living at Kingsbury by 1600 and their children grew up there. Later generations of the Marshe family built the Marshe Almshouses further along Church Street in 1743.

When the Old Palace Lodge was depicted in the Gentleman’s Magazine in 1816, the house was part of Kingsbury Farm, which included 164 acres across the three parishes of Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Caddington. The east end of the house was re-roofed in the 1920s, with a gable end facing Church Street that altered the appearance of the façade.

The house was divided in two in the 1930s, one part being Kingsbury Court, Dr Ashton’s house, the other the home for a time of a Mr Wallis who re-named it the Old Palace Lodge. Creasey Hotels bought the premises in 1959 and opened as the Old Palace Lodge Hotel in 1960. That year, a barn that once belonged to Kingsbury Farm, and was later Kingsbury Stables, was converted into a public house that became the Norman King. When the inn was built, stone was brought from a Norman castle and a cottage near Cambridge, with panelling from a mediaeval inn in Caxton, Cambridgeshire.

Wood panelling and warm furnishings create an ambience of old English charm in the Old Palace Lodge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The thatch of the Norman King caught fire in in August 2011, the fire burned all night, and the pub was destoyed. The Tudor Walled Gardens at the Old Palace Lodge were designed by Matthew George Garden Design in 2018-2019. They have been laid out on the site of the Norman King Inn in an ambitious heritage project of classic gardening.

Ornamental grasses give a modern feel to the planting and provide year-round interest with seasonal flowering bulbs and annual flowers in beds and linear zinc jardinières. The main planting compliments the hard landscape materials of the classic English garden style, while evergreen clipped hedges, box and yew topiary set within borders of hardy perennial plants and small ornamental trees bring the Tudor theme to life.

Shrubs and climbing roses add colour and scent, with some fruit trees along the walls. Outside the hotel entrance, topiary yew cones are growing in large stylish terracotta planters. Along the red brick wall, bordered with pearls of lights in the evening, evergreen hedges create natural alcoves for private seating while at the centre is a terrace of grey porcelain pavers with rattan sofas and a fire pit.

An aged zinc water feature set in front of the Norman stone wall is surrounded by exotic grasses and herbaceous plants, sweet shrubs and yew trees. There is an oak-framed gazebo on the left hand side of the garden, a shaded pergola walkway and two glass pods that can be hired for private dining.

The Eleanor Cross erected by Edward I in Dunstable in 1291-1293 was razed by parliamentarians in 1643 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Dunstable was the location of one of the 12 tall decorated stone columns or Eleanor Crosses erected by King Edward I to mark the route of the funeral of his wife, Eleanor of Castile. She died at Harby, near Lincoln, on 28 November 1290 and her body was brought to Westminster Abbey on a journey that took 12 days, following a route that stopped at several important religious houses.

A chapel was built In Harby, the village where she died. When she was taken to Lincoln, her viscera or internal organs were removed and buried in a tomb in the cathedral and her body was embalmed. The original viscera tomb and what remained of Eleanor were destroyed by Cromwell’s troops in the 1640s, and it was restored in 1891.

The entourage continued south towards Watling Street and crossed the Great Ouse at Stony Stratford on the journey to Woburn Abbey. A stop at Stony Stratford was not part of the original plan and flooding and short winter days meant crossing the river took some time. It is unclear where Eleanor’s body stayed in Stony Stratford, but it was possibly at the parish church of Saint Mary Magdalene, whose tower still stands.

From Stony Stratford, the procession continued on to Woburn Abbey before reaching Dunstable on 11 December. There her coffin rested on a bier in the middle of the town’s marketplace before being taken to the Priory Church, where it stayed overnight before going on to St Albans the next day.

Dunstable is the only place on the route where the king did not stay in the same town as his wife’s body. Instead, he had gone ahead to St Albans for the election of the new abbot, John of Berkamsted. In London, her heart was buried at Blackfriars while her body was buried in Westminster Abbey.

A modern sculpture of Queen Eleanor by Dora Barrett was a gift to the people of Dunstable in 1985 (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

In all, 12 Eleanor Crosses were erected along the funeral route. All were tall, stone monuments, almost 40 ft high. They differed in detail, but all were built in three tiers, decreasing in size as they ascended, surmounted with a cross, and all elaborately carved with statues and coats of arms.

The first Eleanor Cross to mark the journey was at Lincoln, but only three survive: Geddington Cross, Northamptonshire, the best-preserved and most complete of the crosses; Hardingstone, Northampton, on a hill overlooking Delapré Abbey; and Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire. The original crosses at Charing Cross, London, and St Albans were destroyed during the Reformation and Civil War, but are marked by modern replicas and plaques.

The Eleanor Cross at Stony Stratford was also destroyed during the Civil War, and no trace remains of it, although there is a plaque on the arch at 157 High Street. The local artist Luke McDonnell has also created a mural of Eleanor at the corner of High Street and New Street, diagonally opposite the Old George.

In the Tudor Walled Gardens at the Old Place Lodge in Dunstable (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

For about two years, from 1291 to 1293, stonemasons and sculptors worked to create the Eleanor Cross in Dunstable, with its effigies of the queen and other carved decorations. It remained a landmark in Dunstable until the English Civil War, when Cromwell’s Roundhead troops smashed it to pieces in 1643. Nothing above ground has survived.

It is difficult today to identify the exact location of the Eleanor Cross in Dunstable, and the layout of the crossroads and the site of the market have changed over the years. Most sources seem to agree that the foundations of the cross probably lay beneath the crossroads, near the Church Street exit, and a plaque on street corner recalls the cross.

A small shopping precinct opened in 1985 on the west side of High Street North, opposite the Quadrant shopping centre, and was named Eleanor’s Cross Shopping Precinct. A modern sculpture of Queen Eleanor by Dora Barrett was a gift to the people of Dunstable and was unveiled on 23 October 1985 as a symbolic replacement for the long-lost cross, though no-one claims that this was the site of the 13th century Eleanor Cross.

Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon … portraits in the Old Palace Lodge in Dunstable (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

If Edward did not stay at the priory or the old palace in Dunstable during Eleanor’s funeral, then neither did Henry VIII during the hearing of his annulment and the proceedings against Catherine of Aragon in the Lady Chapel in the priory church. Instead, he stayed at the White Horse Inn on High Street North during his visit in 1533.

When Catherine of Aragon died in 1536, she did not receive an elaborate funeral like Eleanor in 1290. Instead, she was buried in the monastic church that is now Peterborough Cathedral. Henry returned to Dunstable with Anne Boleyn in 1537 and once again stayed at the White Horse Inn.

The entrance to the site of the White Horse Inn at No 13 High Street North incorporates the Anchor Gateway, an early 17th century gatehouse. A paved setting on the street recalls that Henry VIII stayed at the White Horse Inn and played a game of bowls on the green behind the inn, near the site of Christ Church today.

At the end of last week’s walk around Dunstable, I sat in a shaded area in the Old Palace Lodge, lazily nurturing a long cool drink and looking out on the recreated Tudor Walled Gardens. The panelled walls are filled with mementoes of Henry VIII, including portraits of Henry, Catherine of Aragon and Cardinal Wolsey. One portrait frames Henry between all his six wives – perhaps a light-hearted talking point for wedding guests who might otherwise find any conversation of annulments, divorces or even beheadings, inappropriate in the company of a bride and groom.

Summer thoughts of royal residents in the Old Palace Lodge in Dunstable (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)