Kempston is a large civil parish on the western edge of Bedford in Bedfordshire, which grew from an agricultural village into a mix of suburban neighbourhoods and light industrial areas across the 19th and 20th centuries. It still retains pockets of older village character alongside more modern housing and estates, reflecting its gradual spread from a group of hamlets into a sizeable local community.
Today Kempston functions partly as a commuter area for Bedford and beyond, with good road links and easy access to the rail network, while supporting its own shops, businesses and community groups. Local life is marked by sports clubs, churches and village greens, and the parish’s layered history gives a varied streetscape and a sense of continuity between past and present.
Postcode districts covering Kempston
Most populated places nearby
- Milton Keynes 12.1 miles
- Northampton 18.1 miles
- Luton 15.5 miles
- Bedford 2.1 miles
- Stevenage 19.7 miles
- Aylesbury 24.6 miles
- Kettering 21.4 miles
- Kettering Town 21.3 miles
- Dunstable 16 miles
- Wellingborough 15.6 miles
- Bletchley 13.4 miles
- Bletchley and Fenny Stratford 12.9 miles
Neighbouring places
- Kempston Built-up area 0.2 miles
- Kempston Central & East Ward 0.2 miles
- Kempston North Ward 0.5 miles
- Kempston South Ward 0.5 miles
- Kempston West Ward 0.6 miles
- Great Denham Built-up area 0.8 miles
- Queens Park Ward 1.4 miles
- Box End Built-up area 1.5 miles
- Cauldwell Ward 1.5 miles
- Elstow Parish 1.6 miles
- Greyfriars Ward 1.7 miles
- Biddenham Parish 1.8 miles
Example postcodes in Kempston
MK42 7AS, MK42 8PP, MK42 7RF, MK42 8BX, MK42 8HX, MK42 8BE, MK42 7QT, MK42 7AZ, MK42 8AJ … See all
Transport links
- Luton Airport 17.6 miles
- Stansted Airport 35.1 miles
- Bedford St Johns Railway Station 1.6 miles
- Bedford Railway Station 1.6 miles
Hotels near Kempston Ad
- Holiday Inn Express Bedford 3 1.1 miles
- Verve Hotel 4 1.9 miles
- Embankment Hotel 4 2.1 miles
- Mercure Bedford Centre Hotel 4 1.8 miles
- Woodland Manor Hotel 3 3 miles
- d'Parys 2.2 miles
- Albero Bedrooms 1.8 miles
- Premier Inn Bedford South 3 0.8 miles
- Bedford Swan Hotel 4 1.9 miles
- Bedford Town Centre (Riverside) hotel 3 1.7 miles
Schools in Kempston
- Balliol Primary School Primary
- Camestone School Primary
- Daubeney Academy Secondary
- Grange Academy Special
- Kempston Academy Secondary
- Kempston Rural Primary School Primary
- Ridgeway School Special
- Springfield Primary School Primary
- St John's School Special
Local points of interest
- Moot Hall Museum 1.3 miles
- Redbourne College College 6.7 miles
- Flitwick Moor Nature reserve 8 miles
- Silsoe College - Cranfield University College 8.3 miles
- Wrest House Estate 8.4 miles
- Santa Pod Raceway Recreation 9.2 miles
- Woburn Abbey Estate 10.1 miles
- Toddington library Library 11.7 miles
- Theatre MK Theatre 11.8 miles
- Milton Keynes Xscape Shopping centre 11.8 miles
- Linford Wood Forest 12.1 miles
- Midsummer Place Shopping centre 12.2 miles