There are 22 recent streets not on my AA Street by Street map of Luton dated August 2005. Some of these were built and named before 2005 but did not make it on to the map for some reason. Nine of these streets have the suffix ‘Close’ while all but three have suffixes indicating they have only one entrance (e.g. Grove and Gardens). This is an indication of the nature of most new developments in Luton. Most new streets now are ‘infill’ – a small group of properties on a plot of land between existing buildings, sometimes involving knocking down a house as was the case with Hogarth Close detailed below.

It is interesting to note that the last place with the suffix street to be named in Luton was Gillam Street in 1928. This was actually a renaming of a street formerly called Ashton Street, which was thought too similar to Ashton Road. To find a newly named ‘street’ we have to go back to around 1914 and Winch Street and Reginald Street in High Town, the last named of about 80 streets in Luton.

The first close was, aptly enough, The Close, named in 1931. There are now over 400 closes, even before including variations that often indicate a cul-de-sac, such as Grove, Gardens and Place.

A recent trend is the ‘gated community’. Examples are St Andrews Grove, Hogarth Close and Treetop Close. The advantages, desirability and social impact of living either side of the gates has been a hot topic in planning and sociological circles for some years. Enhanced property values and increased security are the benefits that gated communities are said to provide. You can view a paper from 2001 entitled ‘Enemies Within? Gated Communities Unhinged’ by Sarah Blandy of Sheffield University here. It outlines the legal and social issues and the treatment of the subject in modern fiction. I assume that the roads behind the gates are private roads and this link explains some of the rules about these.

Are any trends discernible from recent street names? If anything they show our liking for individualism, and in some cases a pleasing regard for history.

Hogarth Close was built in the space created by the demolition of number 436 Hitchin Road, listed in the 1971 Kelly’s as belonging to John Saunders & Son, Funeral Directors. The developer, a Mr Constable, wanted the name of an artist for this new close and was told that Hogarth, as well as being the name of William Hogarth (1697-1764) the artist famous for ‘Gin Lane’ was also the name of a family who had lived nearby for about 50 years. The name therefore has a pleasing link with the developer and a long established local family.

Great Marlings is the new development on the very eastern edge of Luton where a Hilton Garden hotel and offices are located. The developers, Easter Group, advise that it is built on fields called Great and Little Marlings and so a link with our agricultural heritage is maintained. Marl is soil consisting of clay and lime with fertilizing properties and I assume the fields were originally named in connection with this.

Across the Hitchin Road from Great Marlings is Lambert Close. Hoardings showed the involvement of property consultants Lambert Smith Hampton in this development but the assumption that they provided the Lambert name has not been confirmed.

Treetop Close I imagine refers to the fact that the view from here is over the tops of trees towards the town, but as it is gated I have not confirmed this. Milligan Close was named after the death (February 2002) of Spike Milligan so it is possibly named for the leading light of The Goons.

Foxglove Way and Orchid Close are further examples in Luton of using names with floral connections. I am not aware of any deeper links of foxgloves or orchids with the area around these roads.

Collingwood, Cresswell, Farnley and Hutton are probably names of people associated with the developments and it should be easier to confirm this than it has been for streets named 100 years ago. The same may be true for Hatherley and Shervington.

I cannot see any significance for the naming of Almond Close unless it is the name of a person, or did almond trees once flourish here?

Four streets take the name from the road they lead off, such as Leicester Close in Leicester Road.

Parkway Road is the logical name for the road leading to Luton Parkway railway station.

I have dealt with St Christopher’s Place and St Andrews Grove in the story of the Saints roads in this section.

Finally Oak Tree Row is shown on the Google map site but I have not visited it and do not know whether it is a street or row of properties.