The Chilterns Gateway Centre
The doors to the Chilterns Gateway Centre are now open - inviting everyone to come and enjoy this wonderful new visitor facility on the Dunstable Downs.Situated at Bedfordshire’s highest point, 798 feet above sea-level, the new centre offers spectacular views over Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Hertfordshire.
Aerial View of the Centre and Giant butterfly
“Dunstable Downs can at last boast visitor facilities fit for the 21st century,” said Philip Broadbent -Yale, Area Manager for the National Trust. “If you’ve never set foot on the Downs before, then now’s the time to come along and discover what you’ve been missing - the views from inside the Gateway Centre are stunning!”
Open daily 10am - 5pm
The Gateway Centre was designed by Architype, an architectural practice nationally respected for its expertise in social and environmental architecture, with construction undertaken by Haymills under the project management of Hannah Reed.
Construction of the new centre was made possible thanks to £1.5 million funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and part-funded through a partnership led by Bedfordshire County Council and The National Trust. In addition, the partnership successfully secured £100,000 funding from a range of parties, including the Chilterns Conservation Board, the Heritage Lottery Fund, DTI Clear Skies and Sport England/the Big Lottery Fund.
More than 400,000 people visit the Downs each year to enjoy its acres of unspoilt chalk grassland and commanding views across the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Visitor numbers are set to increase as the Downs become a natural focus and attraction for the growing residential and business communities proposed for Luton, Dunstable and Houghton Regis.