Pictures of Cardington

About Cardington

The rural town of Cardington has a double claim to fame, one is that this pleasant place was the birth place of Samuel Whitbread, founder of the family fortunes, who was born here in 1720 and, the other is that it was from Cardington that the R101 set forth on her maiden flight to India on October 4th, 1930.

Everywhere there are reminders of the generousity of the great brewing family to Cardington. The first Samuel Whitbread and his friend, the penal reformer, John Howard who between them built many of the houses that are so attractively set around an expansive green. A later Samuel Whitbread carried out a good deal of restoration in the area, this includes the rebuilding of the local church. John Howard's house, a three-bay early 18th-century building stands north of the church in Church Lane. The almshouses he built stretch along the western side of the green and date 1763 and 1764.

The local church houses many eye catching monuments to the Whitbread family and there are several remarkable brasses, these include one dedicated to Sir William Gascoigne, Comptroller of the Household of Cardinal Wolsey, in heraldic dress. Nearby is a memorial to John Howard, the reformer, who died of typhus while on a mission to Russia.

The font in the church is well worth seeing. It is an extremely rare example of Josia Wedgwood's work in black basalt and was presented to the church by Harriet Whitbread in 1783.

Commemorated too, is the ill-fated R101 that crashed over Beauvais, France during her inaugural flight. The airship's tattered ensign is enclosed in a glass case on the church wall.

This town is a pleasurable place to visit. There are a host of pleasant inns and public houses in which to enjoy a hearty meal. Shopping facilities in close-by Bedford are excellent but you may prefer the peace of more localised shopping in Cardington itself.

Other nearby attractions are; Wrest Park and formal gardens, Woburn Abbey, Whipsnade Wild Animal Park and Bedford Museum which houses a wonderful collection of works of art.