a market-town of England, Bedfordshire, on the Grand Junction Canal, 40 miles N.W. of London by railway. Its streets are ill laid out, and the sewerage is defective. An elegant pentagonal cross, two storeys in height, and said to have been erected in the fourteenth century, stands in the market-place. The parish church, built in the early part of the thirteenth century, has been so frequently repaired that it has in a great measure lost its original appearance of early English architecture. There are, besides, in the town a new town-hall, a literary institute, and several chapels, schools, and charities. The trade is partly dependent on straw-plaiting and lace-making, executed by the women; and partly on the cattle, horses, timber, and wool of the neighbourhood. Cattle are reared here in large numbers for London consumption. Market-day, Tuesday, chiefly for cattle; and five fairs take place during the year, the July one for wool exclusively. Pop. (1851) 4465.