Bedfordshire is a county in the southern Midlands of England. It lies in the fertile base of the Great Ouse and its tributary the Ivel. The county town is Bedford. Other principal towns are Dunstable, Luton, Biggleswade, Buzzard and Leighton. Elstow, one mile south of Bedford, was the birthplace of John Bunyan in 1628.
Bedford was part of the ancient kingdom of Mercia.
