Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire
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Eaton Bray is a village that crosses the parishes of Edlesborough in Buckinghamshire, and Dunstable in Bedfordshire, in England. It is located on the border between the two counties, though modernly it is considered to be mainly in Bedfordshire.
The village name 'Eaton' is a common one in England, meaning 'farm by a river'. It was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Eitone. The suffix 'Bray' refers to the family that once owned the manor in this village.
Eaton Bray once had a moated castle. The moat, today all that remains, is open to the public for fishing at 'Park Farm'. In Victorian times Arthur Macnamara (the 'Mad Squire' of Billington) planned to build a mansion on the site of the castle, but ran out of money after completing the lodge at the entrance to Park Farm.
One of the more distinctive Victorian buildings near the church, is the 'Coffee Tavern' built by a tea-total vicar of the parish to encourage the villagers out of the local public houses.
Eaton Bray is often confused with the village of the same name in Leicestershire. See Eaton Bray, Leicestershire.
Church of St Mary the Virgin, Eaton Bray with Edlesborough
The church was begun about AD 1200 under the patronage of the local baron of Eitone (Eaton), William de Cantelou, using stone from nearby Totternhoe.
For more information about the parish church, please see the St Mary's Eaton Bray Community Web (http://www.stmaryseatonbray.org.uk)