Sutton, Bedfordshire, is a small village and civil parish located to the south of Potton

Potton

Potton is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is 10 miles from Bedford and the population in 2001 was 4,473 people. In 1783 the 'Great Fire of Potton' destroyed a large part of the town. The parish church dates from the 13th Century and is dedicated to St Mary...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Sutton falls under the postal town of Sandy

Sandy, Bedfordshire

Sandy is a small market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is between Cambridge and Bedford, and on the A1 road from London to Edinburgh. The area is dominated by a range of hills known as the Sand Hills. The River Ivel runs through Sandy. The dedication of the Anglican church is to...

 and is also near the market town of Biggleswade

Biggleswade

Biggleswade is a market town and civil parish located on the River Ivel in Bedfordshire, England. It is well served by transport routes, being close to the A1 road between London and the North, as well as having a railway station on the main rail link North from London .-Geography:Located about 40...

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History

Sutton Castle was built c1220, though now an oval motte

Motte

Motte may be:*Motte-and-bailey, a type of construction used in castles*Isaac Motte, an 18th century American statesman*La Motte , various places with this name-See also:* Mote * Mott...

 is all that remains. Unusually, the castle is a long way from the village and church. The Sutton Enclosure Act was passed in 1741. In 1825, Sutton Park House was destroyed by a fire. The village pub, the John O'Gaunt Public House, was licensed in 1835 and created in 1836. The pub is named after John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster

John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster

John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster , KG was a member of the House of Plantagenet, the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault...

 and was created from three thatch cottages, which date back to the 1700's. The village school was opened in 1870, Sutton Park House re-designed in 1876.

Sutton was the birthplace of General John Burgoyne

John Burgoyne

General John Burgoyne was a British army officer, politician and dramatist. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several battles, mostly notably during the Portugal Campaign of 1762....

 the British army officer, politician and dramatist best known for his role in the American War of Independence.

Packhorse bridge and ford

The Packhorse bridge

Packhorse bridge

A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow masonry arches, and has low parapets so as not to interfere with the horse's panniers.Packhorse bridges were often built on the trade routes that...

 is a small, double arch bridge which crosses the small village ford

Ford (crossing)

A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading or in a vehicle. A ford is mostly a natural phenomenon, in contrast to a low water crossing, which is an artificial bridge that allows crossing a river or stream when water is low.The names of many towns...

, Potton brook, which is a tributary of the Great Ouse.. The bridge was made sometime in the 13th and 14th century, and was crafted from local sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

 - it is thought to be the only surviving bridge of its type in Bedfordshire. The bridge was situated on an important trade route

Trade route

A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a single trade route contains long distance arteries which may further be connected to several smaller networks of commercial...

 involving wool

Wool

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....

 between the towns of Bedford

Bedford

Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...

 and Dunstable

Dunstable

Dunstable is a market town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills, 30 miles north of London. These geographical features form several steep chalk escarpments most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north.-Etymology:In...

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In 1941, Bedfordshire County Council

Bedfordshire County Council

Bedfordshire County Council was the county council of the non-metropolitan county of Bedfordshire in England. It was established in 1889 and was abolished on 1 April 2009. The county council was based in Bedford. It was replaced with three unitary authorities: Bedford Borough Council, Central...

 assumed responsibility for the Packhorse bridge, and carried out repairs in 1986. The reparis later earnt the council a Civic Trust

Civic Trust

The Civic Trust of England was a charitable organisation founded in 1957. It ceased operations in 2009 and went into administration due to lack of funds/...

 award in 1988.

All Saints Church

The parish church, dedicated to All Saints, has a barrel organ and was once under the control of the scandalous Reverend Edward Drax Free

Edward Drax Free

The Reverend Edward Drax Free DD was an English clergyman.The youngest son of a clergyman, Edward Drax Free became a member of St John's College, Oxford, where he proceeded to the degrees of BA, MA, BD, and DD and was eventually elected to a Fellowship...

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