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Dunstable and District Local History Society

Welcome to the Dunstable and District Local History Society website. The society was founded in September 1991 and organises monthly meetings where its large audiences are entertained by a variety of speakers. The current programme is included in the events guide on this website. The society also publishes a newsletter twice a year which contains authoritative articles on local history.

The society meets at 7.45pm on the second Tuesday of each month (except during the summer break) at the Methodist Church Hall, The Square, Dunstable, where visitors are welcome. Annual membership costs £8 (June - December fee £4). Entrance fee for non-members is £2 per meeting. (The fees will rise on January 1 2025 to £10 for annual membership and £3 per meeting for non-members).

This website includes complete reproductions of our newsletters covering a variety of local history subjects and a wide selection of Dunstable photographs. There is an index of the articles which can also be accessed by website search engines

The society maintains research rooms at the Dunstable Council offices in Grove House, High Street North, where a collection of books, manuscripts, and photos is kept. To arrange to visit the rooms, please leave your contact details on the feedback form on the "contact us" section of this website.

It has organised the Dunstable History Trail in parts of the town centre. This can be viewed via QR codes displayed on stickers in shop windows and can also be accessed online.

It has published a number of historical booklets about old trades of the town, including The Whiting Works, by Joan Curran; Dales Dubbin, Flemons' Herbs, Bagshawe's engineering and Cross's paperware, all by Colin Bourne; Shops and Markets by Fred Moore and Don Kemp; and the History of Priory House by Joan Curran.

Society members also contributed to Dunstable at War, the collection of eyewitness accounts compiled by Jean Yates and Sue King, and the two history collections, Medieval Dunstable and They Came To The Crossroads, both edited by Jean Yates.

The society's chairman, John Buckledee, has been compiling for many years the weekly Yesteryear articles in the Dunstable Gazette, some of which were collected into the book Dunstable Through Time. He has recently published Dunstable Tournaments, an illustrated book designed for older children.

A fourth edition of Dunstable Timeline, a printed version of the regular feature by Rita Swift in this website, is about to be published.

Timeline 5th Edition Now Published!

A new edition of Dunstable Timeline, the book listing thousands of events in the town's history, is now on sale.
The 114-page book is based on an ongoing feature in the Dunstable and District Local History Society's website, www.dunstablehistory.co.uk, which was assembled by society member Rita Swift when the website was launched in 2010.
Since then a huge number of facts about the town have been added, and there has been a steady demand for the information to be made available in printed form.
Mrs Swift signed copies of the book, priced £8, at the recent Bedfordshire Day in the Priory Church. Its scope ranges from highwaymen to busways, film stars to Cali concerts, bare-knuckle boxing to escaped circus elephants, and civil war battles to hat-making.
Its cover features some of the most notable events. For instance:

    1131, King Heny I grants the first Charter to the town. 1533, A court sitting in the Priory annuls the marriage of King Henry VIII to Queen Katherine. 1309, Over 240 knights take part in a great tournament in Dunstable. 1910, Gary Cooper, future film star, enrolls at Dunstable Grammar School. 1965, The priceless Swan Jewel is discovered by archaeologists. 1972, David Bowie performs at the Queensway Hall. 1974, Footballer George Best plays for Dunstable Town FC. 2017, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visit the town.


Stockists of the 2024 edition of Dunstable Timeline include Priory House and the Celebrations card shop or copies can be obtained direct from Rita Swift at 9 Appleby Gardens, Dunstable, LU6 3DB, price £8 plus £2.75 postage and packing, cheques payable to Dunstable and District Local History Society.

 Author Rita Swift Stands holding copy of new book
Front Cover of 5th edition Timeline book
History Society Logo

Updates from the Dunstable History Society

Newsletter 65

Newsletter 65 is now available to view. Click Here to Read

Dunstable Cemetery

Volunteers have been working hard to create a database of the burials in the Dunstable Cemetery. Click Here to visit our dedicated page

Map of Dunstable Cemetery

Dunstable Tournaments

A new book about the spectacular mock battles held in Dunstable in medieval times has just been published. Well-known illustrator Robin Davies has been working with John Buckledee, chairman of Dunstable and District Local History Society, to produce the 48-page book, titled Dunstable Tournaments. “We think it's very unusual to try to show what medieval tournaments must have looked like,” says John. “There are lots of books with illustrations of the tournaments of later centuries, with knights jousting in single combat. But the earlier Dunstable events were much more dramatic. We've tried very hard to make the text and artwork as historically accurate as possible.” Hundreds of armoured horsemen would travel to the town and assemble into armies to practice their fighting skills and demonstrate their bravery. The mock battles would rage for many hours over large areas of open land. The lower slopes of the hills around Dunstable would have been ideal venues. The battles were strictly controlled, and a licence issued by King Henry III in 1232 named just four towns where tournaments were permitted. Dunstable was one of them. A rare manuscript still exists which records the names of hundreds of knights who fought at Dunstable in 1309 during the tumultuous reign of King Edward II. And many details survive about a particularly elaborate tournament held by King Edward III at Dunstable in 1342. That was the last tournament of its type to be held in England. The book in full color costs £9.99 and is suitable for all ages. It is published with financial support from the Medieval Dunstable project, for which John researched the tournaments in detail in 2013. Signed copies are available from the author at 69 Derwent Drive, Dunstable, LU6 3PB. Cheques payable to John Buckledee should also include £2.40 for postage and packing. Bank transfer details obtainable via message on the “contact us” section of this website.

Book cover

Victorian Miscellany 1856-1875

Dunstable's local newspapers in Victorian times covered the town's events, both big and small, in minute detail. RITA SWIFT here gives brief extracts from some of the thousands of stories published in those early weeklies. Combined here, they provide a vivid picture of life in the town.

Click here to go to the page.