Arlesey

Arlesey is a town and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It is near the border with Hertfordshire, about three miles north-west of Letchworth Garden City, four miles north of Hitchin and six miles south of Biggleswade. Arlesey railway station provides services to London, Stevenage and Peterborough. The Domesday Book of 1086 mentions Arlesey. The town's name means the 'island of a man named Aelfric'.

History
The area has a long history of habitation, with evidence of an Iron Age settlement having been found to the east of Arlesey around Chase Farm and Etonbury School.

To the north of Arlesey (north of the modern railway station) was a medieval manorial complex known as Etonbury. The site's origins and history are unclear and continue to be debated by archaeologists; interpretation is made particularly difficult due to the earthworks having been damaged during the construction of the railway. The complex possibly originated as an inland harbour on the River Hiz near its confluence with the River Ivel, and seems to have been fortified with various ditches and possibly moats. It appears to have been used as a Danish camp from the time of the Viking invasions from the 9th century onwards, but they may have re-fortified a pre-existing site. By the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, Etonbury had become a manor. The manor house there was subsequently abandoned, being described as "utterly decayed" in 1566.

The Great Northern Railway built its main line from London to York through Arlesey. The line opened in 1850 with a station at the northern end of the village called "Arlesey and Shefford Road", renamed "Arlesey and Henlow" in 1933. It closed in 1959. A new Arlesey railway station was later built on the site, opening in 1988.

The Three Counties Asylum opened immediately east of Arlesey in 1860. It was just over the boundary into the neighbouring parish of Stotfold, but was often described as being at Arlesey; the gates to its main West Drive entrance were in Arlesey, and from 1866 it was served by Three Counties railway station which was at the southern end of Arlesey. A tramway linked the station to the asylum. The asylum was later renamed Fairfield Hospital. It closed in 1999 and the buildings have been converted to housing and a new community called Fairfield built in the former grounds.

Industry
Arlesey had a thriving brick-making industry through to the mid twentieth century. As of 1900 there were five brickworks around Arlesey. They were known for the "Arlesey White" bricks produced from Gault clay. Bricks have not been produced there since 1992. Some clay pits have been used for landfill and others are now lakes. On the south-east side of the town there were two chalk pits operated by the Portland Cement Company, now filled with water and known respectively as the Blue Lagoon, used for sailing, and the Green Lagoon, used for fishing.

Second World War
During the Second World War there were two plane crashes at Arlesey. On 19 December 1943 a Handley Page Halifax belonging to 138 Squadron was in a collision with a chimney at Arlesey Brickworks. The aircraft BB364 (NF-R) had left its base at RAF Tempsford on a training mission. The crew of nine perished in the crash.

On 28 March 1944 a Lockheed Hudson belonging to 161 Squadron RAF crashed on the Arlesey to Stotfold road killing the crew. The aircraft FK767 had left its base at RAF Tempsford on a training flight.

Governance
There are two tiers of local government covering Arlesey, at parish (town) and unitary authority level: Arlesey Town Council and Central Bedfordshire Council, based in Chicksands. The town council has its offices on High Street in a complex which also includes a community centre, library and Gothic Mede School.

Demography
The population of Arlesey was 5,584 in 2,344 households in the 2011 census. In the census of 2011, 94.0% of people described themselves as white, 2.2% as having mixed or multiple ethnic groups, 2.9% as being Asian or British Asian, and less than 1.0% as having another ethnicity. In the same census, 55.8% described themselves as Christian, 34.6% described themselves as having no religion, 6.8% did not specify a religion, 1.2% described themselves as Sikh, and 1.7% described themselves as having a different religion.

Culture and community
Arlesey Old Moat and Glebe Meadows, adjacent to Arlesey railway station, is a nature reserve managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, together with Arlesey Conservation for Nature.

The Arlesey Bomb fishing weight was developed by angler Dick Walker to catch specimen perch from the local chalk pits.

Religious sites
St Peter's Church in Church End was built in the 12th century by the monks of Waltham Abbey. Its tower is a Victorian replacement after the original tower collapsed.

There is also a Methodist church in Arlesey.

Notable residents

 * Bill Kitchener - former professional footballer - West Ham United F.C., Torquay United F.C.
 * Pat Kruse - former professional footballer - Leicester City F.C., Torquay United F.C., Brentford F.C.
 * Scott Houghton - former professional footballer - Tottenham Hotspur, Luton Town, Walsall F.C., Peterborough United
 * Stanley Brown (1907–1978) - Cricketer who was active in the late 1930s.

Sport
The town's football team is Arlesey Town, who play at Hitchin Road. The town also has a basketball team called North Herts Knights.