Coordinates: 51°54′14″N 0°31′29″W / 51.9039°N 0.5247°W / 51.9039; -0.5247
Houghton Regis /ˈhaʊtən ˈriːdʒᵻz/ is a town and civil (administrative) parish contiguous to the larger town of Dunstable to the south. Its parish council provides certain sports and open space amenities and includes the ancient hamlets of Bidwell, Thorn, and Sewell. Houghton Regis, along with its near neighbours of Dunstable and Luton form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area, with a population over 255,000.
Relics of Palæolithic man, such as flint implements and the bones of contemporary wild animals, suggest prehistoric settlement. At Maiden Bower within Houghton Regis CP, near Sewell, there is an Iron Age hill fort. This is clearly marked on the Ordnance Survey maps.
Maiden Bower has some of the ramparts showing through the edge of an old chalk quarry where there are Bronze Age remains of an older Fort. According to W.H. Matthews (Mazes and Labyrinths, 1922), a turf maze once existed at "Maiden Bower".