Homes to Rent and Buy in Ravensden

Ravensden sits just north of Bedford, so close that only Mowsbury Park, farmland and Freeman’s Common keep the two apart. Around 2,000 people lived in the parish at the 2011 census, spread across Church End, Wood End, Cleat Hill and Oldways Road.

Church End is the biggest part, up on high ground, with All Saints Church at the top of the hill. The main building is 12th century, with a red-brick porch and chancel added later. Nearby Mowsbury Hill once had an Iron Age hill fort and a moated Norman house, and today it’s a nature reserve.

For families, Ravensden CofE Primary Academy is tucked behind the church on Vicarage Close, and secondary-age children are in the catchment for Mark Rutherford School in Putnoe. The Horse and Jockey, next to the church, was rebuilt by Charles Wells in the 1920s and reopened under new management in 2022. There’s a village hall too.

Stagecoach’s 28A runs into Bedford from Monday to Saturday. Ravensden works well if you want a village feel with Bedford’s shops and station only a few minutes’ drive away.