Stopsley


Stopsley is a suburb in the north-east of Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The area is roughly bounded by the edge of Luton to the north, Vauxhall Way and Turners Road North to the south, Bradgers Hill to the west, and Cannon Lane, Stapleford Road and Brays Road to the east.

Etymology

Frederick Davis, writing in 1965 believed the name of Stospley to come from Scrobbale, Scrapes or Scroppeslie, Shrubsley, meaning a hill covered with scrobbes Most modern etymologists consider the name to be made up of two elements 'Stopp' and 'ley'. dating between AD 750 and AD 950. The ending comes from the Old English 'leah' meaning a wood or clearing in a wood. 'Stopp' was a personal name and indicated ownership of the wood or clearing.
It appears as 'Stopeslegh in Soca de Luton' in a law record, dated 1440.
haadihayat
Originally a hill-top village settlement, most of the urbanised part of the civil parish of Stopsley became part of Luton when the boundaries were extended in 1933, with the rural areas going to Hyde and Streatley.

Local Area

The centre of Stopsley is made up of a series of local shops around a village church. From a distance the skyline is dominated by Jansel House, an office block built in 1961 which houses the Luton VAT office over a parade of shops at street level including a Greengrocer, Chemist, Charity Shop. Estate Agent, hairdresser and cafe. One of Luton's two cemeteries, The Vale, is located nearby on the Hitchin Road.
The centre of Stopsley Village contains many shops on either side of the road including a Barclays branch, Co-Operative supermarket, Henderson newsagents, Cafe, Tesco Express, Chemist, Hardware, charity shops, Sandwich stores and Off licences/Wine stores. There are also several takeaways and restaurants such as; Ashuka, Stopsley Surma, May Sek Oriental, Jay Raj Indian Cuisine, Pankaj Sor. The HSBC branch that was based in Stopsley closed its doors in September, 2015.
Many estate and lettings agents are also situated in the Stopsley Village and Jansel House area, Connors, Haart, Taylors and Acorn Residential Lettings.
Stopsley High School is also in the area.
Politics
Stopsley is part of the larger Stopsley ward which also includes Putteridge and part of Ramridge End. The ward is represented by Cllr David Wynn and Cllr Richard Underwood.
The ward forms part of the parliamentary constituency of Luton South, and the MP is Rachel Hopkins.
showing Stopsley

Local attractions


Education

Stopsley includes the specialist Sports College, Stopsley High School. Notable alumni include Monty Panesar, "the Python", cricketer.
In the 1960s Stopsley Infant and Junior School pupils included Alec Jeffreys, who went on to discover the DNA genetic fingerprint. He is now Professor of Genetics at Leicester University and was Knighted in 1994. Another pupil, David Renwick, created the television series 'One Foot in the Grave', and 'Jonathan Creek'. Both went on to study at Luton Grammar School and Luton Sixth Form College.

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