ROXTON

Source unknown - probably 1975

Within sight of two busy main roads the village is remarkably unspoiled. In the hedgeless and treeless upland which modern farming practice is making of north east Bedfordshire, the trees of Roxton's delightful miniature park are welcome indeed. The village, although strung out for almost a mile, is continuously interesting, retaining many buildings of character.

The Congregational church of 1808 is delightful, thatched, and with a tree trunk verandah contrasting strangely with the precise and refined detailing inside.

St. Mary's church is dumpy, but right in scale in relation to the compact line of village housing behind it, and it says much for the architect of the adjoining school that he has so nicely related it to the church both in scale and materials. In the church the most interesting survival is a 15th century screen, the dado panels painted in the refined style characteristic of East Anglia but dreadfully marred by Reformation inconoclasm.

Roxton Park is the scene of the annual Traction Engine Rally which has now become so important a part of the district's summer calendar of events, and in fact is normally the last of them. No more perfect setting can be found for a scene which, with demonstration steam ploughing in the fields beyond, evokes the excitement of the agricultural fairs of the last century.