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	Places to Stay: Bed and Breakfast Hotels and Guest Houses Pubs with Accommodation Self Catering
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	Places of Interest: Places to Visit
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	Specialist Shops: Antiques & Restoration Arts and Crafts Fashions Gifts Home and Garden Jewellery Food and Drink Shops

Houghton Conquest

That this village is home to Bedfordshire’s largest parish church seems fitting, as Houghton Conquest also has links with the county’s most famous son, John Bunyan. On a hilltop a little way south of the village stands Houghton House, reputedly the inspiration for the House Beautiful in The Pilgrim’s Progress. Built in 1615 for Mary, Countess of Pembroke, the house was visited by Bunyan in his days as an itinerant tinker. The property later came into the hands of the Dukes of Bedford, one of whom had it partially demolished, and the ruins are now in the care of English Heritage.