Elstow village, which is famed as the home of global best-selling author John Bunyan, is facing a battle.
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England has proposed splitting Elstow into two and putting the parts in different council wards.
This would mean ripping the historic Elstow Abbey Church, Moot Hall and Bunyan’s Mead apart from the rest of the rural parish, and dumping them in the urban Cauldwell Ward.
Pilgrim’s Progress, the best selling book of all time, second only to the Bible for centuries (and only recently taken over by the Harry Potter franchise), was written by Elstow preacher Bunyan and features many rural locations.
These include countryside which spread as far as Stewartby village, with which Elstow currently shares a council ward.
This means it has the same Borough councillor and can campaign on rural issues relevant to the historic settings. The proposal by the Commission would break that ward currently held by Cllr Tim Hill.
Chair of the Elstow Parish Council Jon Miles, pictured centre, at Elstow Green and fellow locals are encouraging people to object the changes by logging on to the website before July 5:
https://consultation.lgbce.org.uk/have-your-say/20441
“It is absolutely absurd for this to even be a consideration. Elstow Parish Council objects in the strongest possible way. Elstow’s character is unique, and it is simply shocking to see it being thought acceptable for the rural parish to be split in two,” said Mr Miles.
Elstow Parish Council is currently surrounding the parish with new signage, using imagery which features John Bunyan’s pilgrim Christian in the revolutionary book published in 1678.
The Pilgrim’s Progress, from This World, to That Which Is to Come, is a Christian allegory. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious, theological fiction in English literature.
It has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been out of print.
