URPoint Details
This is a very ancient village, the name may have changed from Stoden to Stodden and eventually to Staughton, but it appeared in the Bedfordshire Magazine in 1948, as the lost village. This was due to the fact that in WWII, the Top End was demolished to make way for an aerodrome.
The aerodrome was used for Flying Fortresses and Lancaster Bombers. Many lives were lost in bombing raids from Little Staughton airfield.
One day, a Lancaster Bomber took off from the short runway and one of its wheels caught the roof of the Baptist chapel and tore a great hole, and a result the chapel was demolished.
There are some tales of witchcraft and murder here in the village. In October 1653, a certain Emma Saunders was accused of bewitching William Holland.
In 1870, a murder was committed in the village by William Bull aged 21. The old lady he murdered was Sarah Marshall who lived opposite the little shop in an old cottage. Bull was executed in Bedford on the 3rd April 1871.
- Type:
- Landmark