Sharnbrook

Sharnbrook
Sharnbrook is located in Bedfordshire
Sharnbrook
Sharnbrook
Location within Bedfordshire
Population2,293 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceSP994596
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBEDFORD
Postcode districtMK44
Dialling code01234
PoliceBedfordshire
FireBedfordshire and Luton
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Bedfordshire
52°13′00″N 0°32′00″W / 52.2166°N 0.5333°W / 52.2166; -0.5333

Sharnbrook is a village and civil parish located in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England, situated around 7 miles (11 km) north-west of Bedford town centre.

The settlement was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a parish within the Hundred of Willey[2] but was probably first developed in Saxon times. The oldest surviving building, St Peter's Church, is Norman. The name is believed to be derived from the Anglo Saxon word sharn meaning dung.[3] Many of the older buildings in the village are constructed of the local oolitic limestone, also used in other traditional north Bedfordshire settlements.

Situated just north of a loop in the River Great Ouse and almost due north of Bedford, the village has developed as a ribbon-settlement running south-east to north-west, with the core of the community clustered at the north-western end.

  1. ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  2. ^ "The hundred of Willey: Introduction - British History Online". british-history.ac.uk.
  3. ^ "Parishes: Sharnbrook - British History Online". british-history.ac.uk.