Campton, Bedfordshire


Campton is a village in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It is part of the civil parish of Campton and Chicksands with the nearby Chicksands. It is about south of Bedford, and is about north-west from Letchworth and sits on a tributary of the River Ivel. It is just to the west of Shefford. The 13th century Church of All Saints is in the centre of the village.
Campton is mentioned in the Domesday Book. The entry reads: Chambeltone: Ralph de Lanquetot from Walter Giffard; Fulbert from Willian d'Eu; Thurstan. The name Campton is derived from a British stream name similar to the name Camel in Cornwall.
Chicksands is to the north of the village, and consists almost entirely of the wooded Chicksands Priory estate. It was used as an American military base until 1995 and returned to the British military. If was first reopened as the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre in 1997, which in turn became the Joint Intelligence Training Group in 2015.
For local government purposes it forms part of Central Bedfordshire Council and is within the Mid Bedfordshire parliamentary constituency, whose MP is currently Nadine Dorries of the Conservative Party.