Homes to Rent and Buy in Ampthill

Ampthill is a Georgian market town about seven and a half miles south of Bedford, with around 8,800 people at the 2021 census. Henry III granted its Thursday market in 1219. The market place, pump and clock tower date from the 1780s, and much of the centre, including the almshouses in Church Square, is a conservation area.

It has a royal past. Henry VIII stayed often at Ampthill Castle, and Catherine of Aragon lived there between 1531 and 1533. Katherine’s Cross in the park marks where the castle stood.

The park is the town’s real draw. Ampthill Great Park was landscaped by Capability Brown, sits just north of the centre, and links up with the Greensand Ridge Walk. There’s a Waitrose, independent shops, pubs and restaurants, and sports clubs going back well over a century.

Schools follow the three-tier system, with lower schools, Alameda Middle School and Redborne Upper School. Ampthill’s own station closed in 1959, but Flitwick on Thameslink is under two miles away, and the A507 runs west to the M1.

It’s popular with families and commuters, and newer homes have gone up on the south side of town at Ampthill Heights and Ampthill Gardens.