BIGGLESWADE  , a

market town in the Biggleswade parliamentary division of Bedfordshire, England, 41 M . N. by W. of London by the Great Northern railway . Pop. of urban district (1901) 5120 . It lies on the east bank of the Ivel, a tributary of the Ouse, in a flat plain in which vegetables are largely grown for the London markets . The town is a centre of this trade . Biggleswade (Bichelswade, Beckeleswade, Bickleswade) is an ancient borough by prescription which has never returned representatives to parliament . The borough court was held by the lord of the manor . At the time of Edward the Confessor, Archbishop Stigand owned the manor, which according to Domesday passed to Ralf de Insula . Henry I. granted it to the bishop of Lincoln, under whose protection the borough evidently grew up . In 1547 the bishop surrendered his rights to the king, and in the 17th century Biggleswade formed part of the jointure of the queens of England . Owing to its important position on the Roman road to the north the town became an agricultural centre for the surrounding district . In 1335 Edward III. renewed the bishop's licence to hold a Monday market, and annual fairs were held here from very early times .

Those for horses are mentioned as famous by

Camden . In addition to agriculture, Biggleswade was formerly engaged in straw-plaiting and lace manufacture .