Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for SANDY

SANDY, a village, a township, and a parish, in Biggleswade district, Beds. The village stands on the river Ivel and on the Great Northern railway, at the intersection of the Bedford and Cambridge railway, and on the Roman road from St. Albans to Godmanchester, 3 miles N N W of Biggleswade; is supposed to occupy the site of the Roman station Salinæ; and has a post-office‡ under St. Neots, and a r. station with telegraph. The township contains also the village of Gritford, and the hamlets of Beeston-Green and Stratford; and comprises 3, 800 acres. Real property, £8, 587. Pop. in 1851, 1, 565; in 1861, 1, 754. Houses, 380. The parish includes also 210 acres of Beeston hamlet, with a pop. of 364 in 1861, and 81houses. The property is much subdivided. The Hasells, Cæsar's Camp, and Swiss Cottage are chief residences. Market-gardening is largely carried on. Two ancientcamps, one of them called Cæsar's, and covering about30 acres, are in the vicinity of the village; and many Roman coins, urns, and other relics have been found. S. Warren is a meet for the Cambridgeshire hounds. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely. Value, £769.* Patrons, the Executors of the late F. Pym, Esq. The church is cruciform, with W tower; and was restored in 1860, at a cost of £3, 300. There are Independent and Wesleyan chapels at Beeston-Green, and charities £90.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village, a township, and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Sandy AP/CP       Biggleswade RegD/PLU       Bedfordshire AncC
Place: Sandy

Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.