Woburn Sands

Woburn Sands
Woburn Sands High Street
Woburn Sands  Woburn Sands shown within Buckinghamshire
Population	2,916 (2011 Census)
OS grid reference	SP927360
Civil parish	Woburn Sands
Unitary authority	Milton Keynes
Ceremonial county	Buckinghamshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Milton Keynes
Postcode district	MK17
Dialling code	01908
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Buckinghamshire
Ambulance	South Central
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Milton Keynes South
Website	Woburn Sands Town Council
List of places UK England Buckinghamshire

Woburn Sands is a small town and civil parish in the Borough of Milton Keynes, England. It is south-east of Milton Keynes itself, near Wavendon. The county boundary between Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire borders the town. All of Woburn Sands is in the Borough of Milton Keynes although many find the meandering boundary with Aspley Guise and Aspley Heath confusing with the Primary and Middle Schools that serve the town both in the Parish of Aspley Guise (Central Bedfordshire).

History

The earliest evidence of settlement is an Iron Age hill fort dating from around 500 BC, called Danesborough Camp which is located to the southwest of the present town. Later when the settlement had developed into a hamlet it was part of the parish of Wavendon, becoming a separate civil parish in 1907. Under the Local Government Act 1972 the parish council has adopted the status of a town in its own right. It has separated from Wavendon which is just to the north of the Marston Vale Line.

The village name was originally Hogsty End, one of Wavendon's four 'ends' (along with Church End, Cross End and Lower End) but by Victorian times, this un-picturesque name had fallen out of favour, and Woburn Sands had taken over as the accepted name. There is a local story that a schoolmaster was unable to attract business to his "Hogsty End Academy", and was one of the first to promote the use of the new name, but in fact it had been in use before this. The modern place name is related to nearby Woburn in Bedfordshire, and to the sandy local soil resulting from its proximity to the Greensand Ridge, an escarpment of Greensand.

The town had a reputation as a health spa because of the micro-climate, and people would come from far and wide to "take the airs". Several convalescent homes were built locally.

External links

• Woburn Sands Town Council
• Woburn Sands local history site
• The Hogsty End Handbook local community magazine
• Cyclone Mountain Bike Club – MTB around local forest trails
• Woburn Sands Folk Festival