BedfordNow.co.uk
About BedfordNow.co.uk
The name of Bedford was derived around 700AD, after a local chieften gave his name to a part of the River Great Ouse that was suitable for crossing; Beda's Ford. In 919 King Edward the Elder, son of Alfred the Great visited the settlement of Beda's Ford and ordered the construction of the King's Ditch defences, part of which survives today. After the Norman conquest, a castle was built at Bedford for the Beauchamp family.
