Place Name
Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire has been the principal seat of the dukes of Bedford since the mid-16thCentury Dissolution of the Monasteries, otherwise known as King Henry VIII’s land grab against the Roman Catholic Church. The abbey originated as a monastery for Cistercian monks in 1145. After its closure it was given to John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford who demolished it and built a house, which he continued to call an abbey, on its site. The house was rebuilt in 1744, the dukes having by now also acquired the district of Bloomsbury, through the marriage of William, Lord Russell to Rachel Wriothesley, daughter and heiress of the 4th Earl of Southampton who similarly had been given land by Henry VIII. This street appears as the partially-developed Wobourn Place on Horwood’s map of 1819. It was built on the site of a track along the eastern boundary of the Bedford estate, which was upgraded in the 18thCentury into a private road to improve access to the New Road (now Euston Road). Its houses were intended for the wealthy and reputable middle classes. The name itself means a twisted or crooked stream.
