Biggleswade is a market town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the River Ivel, 11 miles south-east of Bedford. Its population was 16,551 in the 2011 United Kingdom census, This figure increased by 36% to 22,541 at the time of the 2021 United Kingdom census. Evidence of settlement in the area goes back to the Neolithic period, but it is likely that the town as such was founded by Anglo-Saxons.