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General
Wootton lies to the southwest of Bedford and has a population of 4,060.
Wootton, like many villages in the area, had a long association with the brick making industry. In the 18th century church bells were made at Wootton which went to several churches in Bedfordshire and the adjoining counties.
Wootton had grown a lot in the last thirty years but several timber-framed buildings still survive. The church of St Mary the Virgin was built in the fourteenth century and contains two fine monuments to members of the Monoux family who died in 1685 and 1707. To the west of the church lies Wootton House built in the late seventeenth century.
In the Domesday Book of 1086 the name is written Otone. The name derives from the Old English words wudu and tun meaning ‘wood farm or settlement‘.
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Fields Road
In June 2003 Barry Waddington was driving along Fields Road in Wootton. As he came round a right-hand bend a figure appeared from nowhere and Barry had to slam on his brakes. As his car stopped he heard the screech of tyres and a bang as another car drove into him. The woman pedestrian who Barry had seen came over and asked him if he was all right. He noticed that she was wearing all black which he thought was not very sensible seeing as it was night time. Barry ran back to check the other driver and found he was uninjured. When Barry looked back at his own car the woman had gone. Both drivers had seen her yet she had vanished on a straight section of road with nowhere to hide. Barry’s wife was later told that there had been other sightings of the woman in black on that stretch of road.
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