Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire

Description
Houghton Regis, a village and a parish in Beds. The village stands near Watling Street, 1 mile N of Dunstable, and has a station on the L. & N.W.R. at Upper Houghton Regis, and the Dunstable (Church Street) station of the G.N.R. is also in the parish. It has a post office under Dunstable; money order and telegraph office, Dunstable. The parish contains also the hamlets of Bidwell, Puddle Hill, Sewell, and Thorn. Acreage, 4654; population, 2187. Houghton Hall is the seat of the Brandreth family. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely; net value, £194 with residence. The church, an ancient building chiefly in the Decorated style, consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with a tower, and contains an effigy of a knight and monuments of the Brandreths. There are Baptist, Wesleyan, and Primitive Methodist chapels, and an endowed school. Straw plait is made here.