Roughly two miles east-north-east of Luton town centre, Wigmore sits at the edge of the borough where suburban Bedfordshire meets rural Hertfordshire. Telscombe Way and Someries Hill mark its northern boundary, while Wigmore Park lies to the south, and Buckingham Drive and Wigmore Lane trace its western edge. Until the 1970s the area was entirely agricultural, but extensive low-density residential development through that decade and the 1980s transformed it into the suburb it is today, eventually pushing all the way to the county border.
Local Facilities and Landmarks
The Wigmore Park District Centre provides everyday amenities including a health centre, a supermarket, smaller shops, and eating places. Close by, the Wigmore Place office development brings together three interlinked four-storey buildings – Marlborough House, Eaton House, and Wigmore House – the last of which holds the head office of TUI Airways. The original Wigmore Hall was demolished to make way for housing, but the early 19th-century Wigmore Hall Farmhouse, though much extended to the rear, still stands and now operates as a conference centre managed by Active Luton, a Community Wellbeing Trust. Schools in the area include Wigmore Primary School, which takes up to 630 children aged 4 to 11, and Richmond Hill East, a special primary school for pupils with severe and complex needs, which opened in 2016 just off Wigmore Lane on Crawley Green Road.
Green Spaces and Wildlife
Wigmore Valley Park and County Wildlife Site, totalling around 85 acres, is accessed from Eaton Green Road and bordered to the south and west by London Luton Airport. Much of the park was laid over a landfill site last used in 1978, and it now contains play areas for younger and older children, a metal skate park, car parking, and a community centre. Near the skate park, the World War II Battle Headquarters of Luton Airfield can still be seen. The park is well known for its wild orchids that flower in early summer, including Common Spotted, Bee, and Pyramidal varieties and hybrids, while the County Wildlife Site is recognised for its hedgerows and neutral and calcareous grassland, home to common toads, voles, and shrews. Elsewhere, Malthouse Green Park covers 0.5 acres set among the detached houses of Malthouse Green and Ennismore Green, and Wigmore Church Park offers 5 acres between Crawley Green Road and Colwell Rise with gym equipment and a children’s adventure area. The privately owned Slaughter’s Wood, an 11-acre woodland of mainly oak and hornbeam, adds further green cover to the area. Despite its proximity to London Luton Airport – one of the busiest airports in the United Kingdom – Wigmore is not on the flight path and experiences little aircraft noise.