House. Most of its stained glass windows represent the families of Wrest House. On Sunday, 25 July 1909 King Edward VII attended the church service here and made a donation towards the clock fund. The War Memorial outside the church is of stone. The church also has an inscribed board with a further list of men. The Lock-up In Church Road, is an ironstone lock-up erected 1796, octagonal, with a pointed head to the doorway. It was used as a temporary place for stray animals or drunks, and its central pole, now removed, was used to chain prisoners in transit between Bedford and Luton. Modern history The village was struck by an F1/T2 tornado on 23 November 1981, as part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day. The Millennium Green is a 4.94-hectare amenity space located off the High Street. Cranfield University landscape engineering students drew up designs in collaboration with residents of the village and won a grant of over £45,000 to form the Green, a tranquil centrepiece for the village. As an integral part of the village, Cranfield University had also been invited to contribute to Silsoe Parish Council's Millennium Time Capsule which was placed there in March 2000. Governance The village has a Parish Council which has details of the Chair and meeting dates on its website. Silsoe is currently part of Central Bedfordshire Council, headed by Councillor Naan for the ward of Wrest. Demography The 2001 Census showed 1,729 residents in the parish, 869 male and 860 female living in 620 dwellings. Over 130 of these are listed. This will have included a number of residents of Silsoe College, closed in 2007, the site of which has been redeveloped for housing and community use. Facilities The village has a convenience store, chip shop and pizzeria, hairdresser, one estate agents, one pub, dentist, lower school, nursery, drama society, dance school, sports centre and parish council. See also Wrest Park de Grey Mausoleum Further reading Bradshaw, Roger (2011), A History of Silsoe, Clophill: Roger Bradshaw, References Villages in Bedfordshire Civil parishes in Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire District