Sitting about one mile north-west of Luton town centre along the A505 road towards Dunstable, Bury Park is a well-established area of Luton, Bedfordshire. Its boundaries are roughly defined by Claremont Road and Highfield Road to the north, Telford Way to the south, Hatters Way to the west, and the Midland Main Line railway to the east. The area has a busy commercial strip along Dunstable Road, with shops specialising in fruit, vegetables, technology, and cultural clothing, alongside a strong selection of restaurants serving Halal food.
History and Development
The name Bury Park comes from Bury Farm, which once stood near the site now occupied by Kenilworth Road football ground. The first houses on the estate were occupied in 1882, and the area grew steadily over the following decades. Church school halls opened in 1895, Bury Park Congregational Church was built in 1903, and the Luton Industrial Co-operative Society opened a general store at the junction of Dunstable Road and Leagrave Road in 1906. The coming of the trams in 1908 changed the character of Dunstable Road considerably – Victorian terraced houses were converted into shops, and their front gardens were paved over to create forecourts. During World War I, Edgar Barber ran an aeroplane propeller factory at 116 Bury Park Road. The building was later converted into the Empire Cinema, which operated from 1921 until 1938, when the new Odeon opened on Dunstable Road. Designed by Keith P. Roberts and seating 1,958 people, the Odeon is now a listed building. The Beatles performed there in 1963. It closed in 1983, reopened as a bingo club, and eventually became a church in 1999. The old Empire building had its own postwar life too – it was used as a synagogue and then as an Islamic centre after serving government purposes during World War II.
Community and Points of Interest
Since the mid-1970s, Bury Park has been home to a large Muslim community, and this is reflected in the area’s mosques, food outlets, and shops. The Bury Park Jamia Masjid expanded in July 2023 to take over the former United Reformed Church building in Waldeck Road. Kenilworth Road, the ground of Luton Town F.C., is located within the area and takes its name from the road it sits on – itself named after the farm that once occupied this part of Luton. The Church of All Saints on Shaftesbury Road, opened in 1923, also remains part of the local fabric, built to serve the growing residential population on Luton’s western side.