Ampthill, Bedfordshire

Ampthill is a town located between Luton and Bedford, to the north of London. This is a view looking down Church Street, towards the town centre. In the distance is the wooden clock tower, or Moot Hall, presented to the town by the 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory, who lived at Ampthill Park, in 1787, during a campaign to improve the town centre. He also created the current market place and erected a new water pump. In 1852, it was rebuilt by the Duke of Bedford and incorporated into a Jacobean style building. The gates to the right, at no. 28 Church Street, are still there and were removed from Houghton House for which they had been designed by William Chambers. Houghton House, at nearby Houghton Conquest, belonged to the Dukes of Bedford but was abandoned in 1794 but the ruins still exist today.