Sitting roughly two miles north of central Luton, Limbury began as a small hamlet of a few cottages and two farms before the town’s rapid industrial growth swept over it in the early twentieth century. Today it is a suburb within the Luton district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, bounded by Bramingham Road to the north and west, Marsh Road to the south, and a line of streets including Bancroft Road, Blundell Road, and Catsbrook Road to the east. The suburb sits close to Leagrave, the neighbouring community to the west.
Ancient Origins and the Icknield Way
The name Limbury almost certainly traces back to Lygeanburgh, a settlement recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as one of four places captured by Cuthwulf, Prince of Wessex, in 571. The name meant a fortified place on the River Lea, and Waulud’s Bank in nearby Leagrave has long been associated with this early settlement, though no excavated evidence has directly linked the two. The Icknield Way, a Roman road, still passes through Limbury – entering from Leagrave along a stretch called Icknield Road before continuing as Icknield Way. By the thirteenth century, Limbury lay within Flitt Hundred, under the control of the manor of Luton.
Growth and Administrative Change
In 1866, Limbury and Leagrave were joined into the ecclesiastical parish of Holy Trinity, Biscot. Under the Local Government Act 1894, they became the separate civil parish of Limbury-cum-Biscot on 1 April 1896. As Luton shifted from hat manufacturing to engineering in the early 1900s – Vauxhall arrived in the town in 1905 – new factories drew large numbers of workers who were housed in Limbury. Housing developments replaced the hedgerows and fields quickly, and a Baptist church was built in 1906 to serve the growing population. The contract, signed in August 1905 by builder Arthur Cole, stipulated that opening services would be held on Good Friday 1906. By 1921 the parish recorded a population of 1,534. On 1 October 1928, the civil parish was abolished and the urbanised area was annexed to Luton.
The Moat House
One notable survival from Limbury’s earlier history is The Moat House, now located in the neighbouring suburb of Saints. Originally just outside Limbury’s boundary, it is reputed to be the oldest secular building in South Bedfordshire and is now used as a pub and restaurant. Moated houses were still present around Limbury at the start of the twentieth century, but The Moat House is the only one remaining. Its thatched roof was replaced in 2007.