Luton is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England.
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26 Facts About Luton
2.
Luton is recorded in the Domesday Book as Loitone and Lintone and one of the largest churches in Bedfordshire, St Mary's Church, was built in the 12th century.
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3.
Luton was, for many years, widely known for hatmaking and had a large Vauxhall Motors factory.
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4.
Luton Hoo is an English country house, estate and Grade I listed building originally designed by Scottish architect Robert Adam but later transformed to the designs of Robert Smirke.
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5.
Luton's earliest recorded name is Lygea-Byrig, where Lygea means 'a river in an open field' and Byrig means 'a town'.
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6.
Luton is believed to have been founded by the Anglo-Saxons sometime in the 6th century.
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8.
New private and council housing was built in the 1920s and 1930s, with Luton starting to incorporate nearby villages Leagrave, Limbury and Stopsley between 1928 and 1933.
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9.
Town is situated within the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire but, since 1997, Luton has been an administratively independent unitary authority, administered by Luton Borough Council.
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11.
Luton is located in a break in the eastern part of the Chiltern Hills.
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12.
Luton has a temperate marine climate, like much of the British Isles, with generally light precipitation throughout the year.
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13.
The latter two make up most of the Muslim religious population in Luton, which is the third highest for a town or city in England by proportion.
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14.
Luton has a majority white population when non-British white people are included, such as the Irish and Eastern Europeans.
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15.
Luton's economy has traditionally been focused on several different areas of industry, including car manufacturing, engineering and millinery.
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16.
However, today, Luton is moving towards a service based economy mainly in the retail and the airport sectors, although there is still a focus on light industry in the town.
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17.
Luton is situated less than 30 miles north of the centre of London, giving it good links with the City and other parts of the country via rail and major roads such as the M1 and the A6.
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18.
Luton is home to London Luton Airport, one of the major feeder airports for London and the south-east.
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19.
Luton is one of the main locations of the University of Bedfordshire.
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20.
Luton is in the third wave of this long-term programme with work intending to start in 2009.
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21.
Luton is home to the UK Centre for Carnival Arts, the country's first purpose-built facility of its kind.
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22.
Luton is home to the Library Theatre, a 238-seat theatre located on the 3rd floor of the town's Central Library.
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23.
Luton is home to the Hat Factory, originally as its name suggests, this arts centre was in fact a real hat factory.
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24.
Luton has a variety of parks ranging from district parks, neighbourhood parks, local open space and leisure gardens.
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25.
Kidney Wood is ancient semi-natural woodland on the southern edge of Luton that has been identified as a County Wildlife Site.
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26.
Luton carried out substantial renovation works to the Manor and grounds.
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