Woburn

Woburn, a small market-town 13 miles SW. of Bedford, noted chiefly for Woburn Abbey, seat of the Dukes of Bedford, which stands in a park 12 miles in circumference. The Cistercian abbey, a daughter house of Fountains, was founded in 1145, and rapidly became powerful. It and its lands were granted in 1547 to John, Earl Russell, afterwards Duke of Bedford. Of the abbey nothing now remains; the mansion, built mainly in the 18th century, occupies four sides of a quadrangle, and contains a magnificent collection of portraits. Pop. 1300.