Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

DUNSTABLE

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 684 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

DUNSTABLE , a municipal See also:

borough and See also:market See also:town in the See also:southern See also:parliamentary See also:division of See also:Bedfordshire, See also:England, 37 m. N.W. of See also:London, on branches of the See also:Great See also:Northern and London & See also:North-Western See also:railways. Pop. (Igor) 5157. It lies at an See also:elevation of about 500 ft. on the See also:bleak northward slope of the Chiltern Hills. The See also:church of St See also:Peter and St See also:Paul is a See also:fine fragment of the church of the Augustinian priory founded by See also:Henry I. in 1131. The See also:building was cruciform, but only the See also:west front and See also:part of the See also:nave remain. The front has a large See also:late See also:Norman portal of four orders, with See also:rich See also:Early See also:English arcading above; the nave See also:arcade is ornate Norman. The See also:original See also:triforium is transformed into a See also:clerestory, the original clerestory being lost. The north-west See also:tower has a Perpendicular upper portion, but the See also:south-west tower is destroyed. The church contains various monuments of the 18th See also:century. See also:Foundations of a See also:palace of Henry I. are traceable near the church.

The See also:

main part of the town extends for a mile along the broad straight See also:Roman road, Watling See also:Street; the high road from See also:Luton to See also:Tring, which crosses it in the centre of the town, representing the See also:ancient Icknield Way. The See also:chief See also:industry is See also:straw See also:hat manufacture; there are also See also:printing, See also:stationery and See also:engineering See also:works. The borough is under a See also:mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12 councillors. See also:Area, 453 acres. There may have been a Romano-See also:British See also:village on this site on the Watling Street. Dunstable (Donestaple, Donestaple) first appears as a royal borough in the reign of Henry I., who, according to tradition, on See also:account of the depredations of robbers, cleared the See also:forest where Watling Street and the Icknield Way met, and encouraged his subjects to See also:settle there by various grants of privileges. He endowed the priory by See also:charter with the lordship of the See also:manor and borough, which it retained till its See also:dissolution in 1536-1537. The Dunstable See also:Annals See also:deal exhaustively with the See also:history of the monastery and town in the 13th century. In 1219 the See also:prior secured the right of holding a See also:court there for all See also:crown pleas and of sitting beside the justices itinerant, and this led to serious collision between the monks and burgesses. The See also:body of See also:Queen Eleanor rested here for a See also:night on its See also:journey to See also:Westminster, and a See also:cross, of which there is now no trace, was subsequently erected in the market-See also:place. At Dunstable See also:Cranmer held the court which, in 1533, declared See also:Catherine of See also:Aragon's See also:marriage invalid. At the dissolution a See also:plan was set on See also:foot for the creation of a new bishopric from the spoils of the religious houses, which was to include Bedfordshire and See also:Buckinghamshire with Dunstable as See also:cathedral See also:city.

The See also:

scheme was never realized, though plans for the cathedral were actually See also:drawn up. From the earliest See also:time Dunstable has been an agricultural town. The Annals abound with references to the prices and See also:comparative abundance or scarcity of the two See also:staple products, See also:wool and See also:corn. The straw hat manufacture has flourished since the 18th century. Henry I. granted a market held twice a See also:week, and a three days' See also:fair on the feast of St Peter ad Vincula. See also:John made a further See also:grant of a three days' fair from the loth of May. A market is still held weekly, also fairs in May and See also:August correspond to these grants. Dunstable had also a gild See also:merchant and was affiliated to London. In 1864 the town was made a municipal borough by royal charter.

End of Article: DUNSTABLE

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
DUNSINANE 		[next]
DUNSTAFFNAGE

Site © 2006 - Net Industries