Lewsey

Lewsey is a suburb of Luton, about west north-west of the town centre, and a ward of the Borough of Luton, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. The suburb is roughly bounded by Leagrave High Street to the north, Dunstable Road to the south, Poynters Road, Dunstable to the west, and the M1 to the east.

History

Lewsey derives its name from the Lucy family, who owned the land Lewsey is built on, as well as neighbouring Lewsey Farm and Lewsey Park. The Lucy family owned the manor from 1305 to 1455. The manor then passed to the Wingate family who were the lords of the manor of Toddington. The old manor house stood partly in the parish of Luton and partly in the parish of Houghton Regis; most of the manor buildings were destroyed by fire in 1832.

Lewsey is much older than both Lewsey Farm and Lewsey Park, first built on land off Dunstable Road in the 1950s along with the hospital. At this time it was a fairly rural suburb, surrounded by farmland on all sides, including the original Lewsey Farmhouse to the north. The estate is characteristic of its time, consisting of a mixture of square, large windowed houses and a large number of bungalows of a similar style, many of the bungalows with a bay window at the front.

Local area

Near the centre of Lewsey is the Luton and Dunstable University Hospital, which serves Luton and the rest of its urban area, including Dunstable and Houghton Regis.

Lewsey is served by two churches; St. Hugh's C. of E. Church on Leagrave High Street and a chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Poynters Road. Lewsey also has a post office on Dunstable Road.

Schools

• Ferrars Junior School
• Ferrars Nursery
• The Ferrars Academy
• The Chalk Hills Academy
• Seabrook Day Nursery

Politics

Lewsey is part of the larger Lewsey ward, which also includes Lewsey Farm and Lewsey Park. The ward is represented by Cllr Jacqui Burnett (Labour), Cllr Aslam Khan (Labour) and Council leader Cllr Hazel Simmons (Labour). The ward forms part of the parliamentary constituency of Luton North and the MP is Sarah Owen (Labour).

File:Lutonwardmap.jpg

Map of Luton showing Lewsey

Local attractions

File:NTE icon.png Dunstable Downs File:UKAL icon.svg Chiltern Hills File:UKAL icon.svg Leagrave Park File:HR icon.svg Leighton Buzzard Light Railway File:Museum icon.png Wardown Park Museum The Hat Factory File:HH icon.png Luton Hoo File:Museum icon.png Mossman Collection Someries castle File:Museum icon.png Stockwood Craft Museum File:UKAL icon.svg Stockwood Park File:UKAL icon.svg Wardown Park File:UKAL icon.svg Waulud's Bank File:NTE icon.png Whipsnade Tree Cathedral File:Museum icon (red).png Whipsnade Wildlife Park Woodside Farm and Wildfowl Park File:EH icon.svg Wrest Park Gardens

Local newspapers

Two weekly newspapers cover Lewsey, although they are not specific to the area.

They are the:

• Herald and Post
• Luton News