Maulden Church Meadow

The Ailesbury Mausoleum situated in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, Maulden, in Bedfordshire, is a Grade II listed structure built in 1656 by Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin (1599–1663) (father by his 1st wife of Robert Bruce, 2nd Earl of Elgin, 1st Earl of Ailesbury (1626-1685)), of nearby Houghton House in the parish of Maulden, for the purpose of housing the coffin and "splendid monument" of his second wife, Lady Diana Cecil (d. 1654), a daughter of William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter and widow of Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford. In the opinion of the architectural historian Sir Howard Colvin (1991) it is one of the first two free-standing mausoleums ever built in England, together with the Cabell Mausoleum at Buckfastleigh in Devon.

Maulden is a village and civil parish located in the county of Bedfordshire. The village is located 1.5 miles east of Ampthill and about 8 miles (13 km) south of Bedford. It has about 1,250 homes and 3130 residents.Maulden is referred to in the Domesday Book as Meldone and the meanings ascribed to the various versions of the name include "cross on the hill", "high down" and "place of meeting". The village forms part of the Ampthill ward in the administrative area of Central Bedfordshire. An active Parish Council meets every five weeks - the clerk is Tracey Bearton.

Maulden Wood is a woodland situated in Bedfordshire, England, near the village of Maulden, on the greensand ridge that stretches from Leighton Buzzard to Gamlingay. It includes Maulden Wood and Pennyfather's Hill, a 148.8 hectare, biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Maulden Heath is a 7.6-hectare (19-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest in Maulden in Bedfordshire. It was notified in 1986 under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the local planning authority is Central Bedfordshire Council. The site is owned by the Forestry Commission and managed by The Greensand Trust.There are two separate meadows in the site. The eastern meadow has two ridges, which have short grass, a moss layer and many herbs. The western meadow is a steep-sided valley which has similar habitats. There is access by a footpath from the Deadman's Hill car park.

Flitton Moor is a 6.9 hectare Local Nature Reserve and County Wildlife Site in Flitton in Bedfordshire. It is owned by Central Bedfordshire Council and managed by the council together with The Greensand Trust.The site was open moorland in the Middle Ages, but it was converted to agricultural land in the nineteenth century. The central area is pasture with a strip of woodland around the edge. Other habitats are fen and wetland. Trees there include osiers.There is access from Brook Lane to a path through the woodland, but no public access to the central field.

The de Grey Mausoleum in Flitton, Bedfordshire, England, is one of the largest sepulchral chapels in the country. The mausoleum contains over twenty monuments to the de Grey family who lived in nearby Wrest Park. The cruciform mausoleum has its nave set against the north side of the chancel of the adjacent church of St John the Baptist and its south transept overlaps the east end. The oldest part of Mausoleum was built circa 1614, the eastern parts were added in 1705. The architect Edward Shepherd worked on the building during 1739–40. It is a Grade I listed building, a scheduled monument. and is in the guardianship of English Heritage who open it to the public.

Flitton (Flichtam, Fllite, Flute) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Flitton and Greenfield, in the Central Bedfordshire district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. The village derives its name from the River Flit which flows close by it. It is notable primarily as the home of the De Grey Mausoleum adjacent to the St John the Baptist Church. Richard Milward, the editor of Selden's Table Talk, was born at Flitton in 1609. There are two pubs, The White Hart by the church hall and Jolly Coopers at Wardhedges. The annual ‘Gala’ and ‘Potato Race’ are two of the main events that happen in the village. In 1961 the parish had a population of 572. On 1 April 1985 the parish was abolished to form "Flitton & Greenfield", parts also went to Flitwick, Pulloxhill and Westoning.The village was struck by an F1/T2 tornado on 23 November 1981, a part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day.MK Dons leading goalscorer Izale McLeod lived on Flitton Hill during his second spell with the club in 2013–14.

Ruxox Cell (sometimes spelled Rokesac) was a moated chapel, or monastic cell, established in the twelfth century in the parish of Flitwick in Bedfordshire, England. Situated on the east side of the village of Ruxox, it was granted to the Augustinian priory of Dunstable by Philip de Sanvill, Lord of Flitwick, c. 1170. The grant was confirmed by William, Earl of Aumale (d. 1189), and his wife, Hawise (d. 1214), who was Countess of Aumale in her own right. It was dedicated to St. Nicholas by Robert de Chesney, bishop of Lincoln (d. 1166). Priors from Dunstable would sometimes retire to Roxux.Only a few extant documents from the thirteenth century make reference to Ruxox: (a) an old deed in the cartulary of Dunstable, now in the British Library, which mentions Alexander, canon of Ruxox, and contains several grants to the chapel; and (b) the chronicle of Dunstable, which includes a reference to the prior at Ruxox under the year 1205, an account of two friars, Michael de Peck and John de Hallings, and others of the household of Ruxox under the year 1283; and a notice that two of the canons at Ruxox along with Stephen, parson of Flitwick, died and were buried at the site in 1290.Archaeological excavation at the site has revealed foundations of a wall near the bank of the River Flit, which runs five feet below ground parallel to the river for a short distance before going off at a 45o angle. It is composed of sandstone and other blocks, and partly pinned beneath it is a beam 10 ft. long and 2 ft. wide resting on underlying piles. Remains of Roman roads have been nearby, yet, even though Roman pottery has also been found along the wall, researchers consider the site to be more medieval than Roman primarily due to the re-use of a carved sandstone column base in the wall.

Cut-throat Meadow is a 1.5 hectare nature reserve in Ampthill in Bedfordshire. It is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.The reserve is in three separate areas off Ailesbury Road. There is a steeply sloping meadow area at the corner of Ailesbury Road and Church Street, a steeply sloping wood at the corner of Ailesbury Road and Snow Hill, and a pond between Rushbrook Close and Manton Close.Meadow saxifrage and field woodrush flower in the spring in the meadow area, and invertebrates include grasshoppers and bush crickets. The main trees in the wood are beech and scots pine, with an understorey of hawthorn, yew and hazel. The pond has reedmace and celery-leaved buttercup, and there are water boatmen and pond skaters on the surface.

Kings Wood and Glebe Meadows is a 36.1-hectare (89-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest in Houghton Conquest in Bedfordshire. A local teenage boy, Peter Sollars, discovered many rich communities of plants there, including a number of rare species, e.g. Butcher's Broom, Small Teasel and Green Hellebore in the wood, and combinations of Lady's Bedstraw, Spiny Restharrow, Great Burnet, Adders Tongue Fern and Cowslips in the meadows. The County Botanist at the time, John Dony, was notified of his findings, which were confirmed by a site visit with Peter . The site was notified in 1984 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the planning authority is Central Bedfordshire. It is also a Local Nature Reserve.This site has ash and maple woodland on heavy clay, a habitat which has become rare in lowland England. It is biologically diverse, with a number of rare species. Several plants are indicative of ancient woodland, such as wood melick and wood anemone. Glebe Meadows has a rich variety of species due to its traditional management, and there are also some small ponds and mature hedgerows.There is access by a footpath from Rectory Lane.

Greenfield is a small village about 2 km (1.2 mi) from the town of Flitwick in Bedfordshire, England. It lies across Flitwick Moor from the larger settlement of Flitwick and is on the opposite side of the River Flit. It forms part of the parish of Flitton and Greenfield. The main street (High Street) has junctions with Pulloxhill road, leading to the village of Pulloxhill, School Lane, the site of the old village school. High Street also has a junction with Mill Lane, which was until the 1960s a cart route to Ruxox Farm, Maulden and Ampthill and now leads to footpaths and bridleways to Maggot Moor, Flitwick Moor, Ruxox Farm, Flitton Moor, and the village of Flitton. Houses along High Street are a mix of thatched cottages and Bedfordshire brick dwellings, with an assortment of renovated or rebuilt barn buildings in keeping to some extent with earlier farm courtyard structures. Due to closures, there is now only one public house in Greenfield called The Compasses. Three former pubs, were the Swan Beerhouse on Mill Lane which closed in 1909, the Nags Head Beerhouse on the High Street which closed in 1913, and the Old Bell Public House which closed more recently in 2007. There was also once a post office and store on Mill Lane, and the village store on the High Street (formerly Cockroft's), and a village school on School Lane that was later used as an artists studio by artist and sculptor James Butler. The former beer houses and stores are now private residences. A new village school was built on Pulloxhill road during the 1960s.

Flitwick Moor is a 59.8-hectare (148-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Flitwick and Greenfield in Bedfordshire. It was notified under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in 1984 and the local planning authority is Central Bedfordshire Council. The site is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.This is a rich valley mire, and the largest area of wetland in Bedfordshire. Eight species of sphagnum bog moss have been recorded, including one which is nationally rare. The site has areas of woodland as well as wet grassland. The area managed by the Wildlife Trust is 66.6 hectares: it includes Folly Wood, which was added to the site in 2007.There is access from Greenfield Road, which bisects the site.