Homes to Rent and Buy in Cotton End

Cotton End is about three and a half miles south-east of Bedford, strung along the A600 to Hitchin, with Shortstown and the Cardington sheds just to the north. It only became a parish in its own right in 2019, having been part of Eastcotts before that.

It’s an old place that grew slowly. Manor Farmhouse, the former manor, is late 16th century and Grade II* listed, with an 18th-century dovecote. The Baptist chapel was founded in 1777, and its present building from 1837 could seat up to 600. The Bell on High Road is a thatched, listed inn from 1772, with old photographs of the airships in the bar.

The school is something different. Cotton End Forest School was built in 2019, largely of timber, and takes an outdoor-learning approach for children from two to eleven. Shocott Spring, a woodland planted in 2005 as part of the Forest of Marston Vale, lies between the village and Shortstown.

Buses on the 9A, 9B and 9D run to Bedford and on to Hitchin and Stevenage. Cotton End suits families who like the idea of that school, with Bedford close by.