Introduction

view over Luton from Chaul End - March 2007

The hamlet of Chaul End has always formed part of the parish of Caddington| and, although Caddington itself was, for much of its history divided between Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, Chaul End has always been in Bedfordshire. It stands on a chalk ridge in the north-east part of the parish and there has been a settlement there since at least the early Middle Ages - the names Chalveleye, Challeye, Challe and Chaleie are recorded in manorial surveys and land tax returns from the late 13th century onwards [CRT130CAD4/2].

The settlement has never been large - in 1800 it included three farms and two other tenements and did not expand very much during the 19th century, greater residential development occurring during the twentieth century. A large area of land south-east of the farm and area of settlement was laid out by Vauxhall Motors of Luton as a vehicle test circuit, though this was later used for vehicle storage, rather than testing.

The medieval landscape divided a parish up into one or more large fields, with people having a varying number of strips in those fields. Chaul End Field was one such large field. Then, from the 16th to the 18th century enclosures were made in these large fields - that is to say individuals carved out smaller fields for themselves so that by the time the parish as a whole was inclosed in 1800 much of Chaul End Field had already been divided into much smaller closes and these, together with the subdivision of the remainder of the large field into smaller parcels of land gave us the field system we have today.