Sandy is a market town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire, England. It lies to the east of Bedford, to the south west of Cambridge and north of Central London. The town has a population of around 13,400 based on 2015 estimates. The A1 road bypasses the town to the west, with the East Coast Main Line running to the east. The area surrounding the town is dominated by a range of low hills known as the Sand Hills with the River Ivel running through the town. The headquarters of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is on the outskirts of the town, having moved to The Lodge in 1961. The Shuttleworth Collection is also nearby, around south west of Sandy. History An archaeological dig in May 2006 revealed that the area may have been settled earlier than 250 BC. However, Sandy was a Roman settlement and was probably an important trading centre and staging post in the Roman era. An ancient hill fort, now heavily wooded and traditionally known as Caesar's Camp, although more commonly called "the sand hills" or "the lookout", still overlooks the town. Sandy is referred to in the Domesday Book, as Sandeia, a derivation from the Old English Sandieg, meaning a sand-island. In 1086 Sandy was listed in the Domesday Book as being held by Eudo Fitzhubert, who is likely to have been the tenant. He was probably also known as Eudo Dapifer, who was a high steward for William the Conqueror, and based in Colchester Castle. In addition there were also two mills listed, and both of these would have been water-powered. There are still references to one of them in the road name Mill Lane which runs along the River Ivel. However the mill has since been replaced by housing. Further down the river from the site where the mill once stood is Sandye Place Academy where it is believed there was a Danish camp which was built to protect the Danelaw in 886. Evidence at the Riddy, a local nature reserve just south of Sandy, shows that mill-building has taken place on this site since at least the time of the Norman era, though the last mill was built here in 1857. Sandy was part of Biggleswade Rural District between 1894 and 1927, and was then governed as Sandy Urban District between 1927 and 1974. When the urban district