Construction was slow at first, but the new district soon began to expand steadily and Kempston acquired a more urban feel.

The growth of Kempston's population levelled off in the early decades of the 20th century, with a rise of just 12% between 1901 and 1931, but it then began to expand rapidly.

Kempston Rural remains a civil parish and is part of Turvey Ward for borough election purposes.

A short lived greyhound racing track was opened by the Box End (Kempston) Dog Club during 1932.

Refurbishments were carried out in the 19th century, and the north and south galleries were added at that time to accommodate children.

The burgeoning population of Kempston New Town was served by St Stephen's, a temporary iron church in Spring Road which was built in 1888.

St Stephen's was sold to the Saunders' leather factory on nearby College St. Methodism has been prominent in Kempston since the mid-19th century.

The first Methodist chapel in the parish was built in Bell End in 1839, and its capacity was expanded by adding a gallery in 1843.

Sir Frederick Howard donated the site and £1,000, the Twentieth Century Trust provided another £1,000 and a local appeal raised around £3,000.

The church is an attractive Gothic building in pale rustic Weldon stone, and has a hammerbeam roof.

Kempston abuts both John Bunyan's home parish of Elstow and Bedford, where he was imprisoned.

Up until the Second World War Roman Catholics who lived in Kempston were obliged to worship at a church in Bedford.

A Roman Catholic chapel was established during the war at the Army's Grange Camp, which was situated where Hillgrounds is now, and it retained after 1945.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was first introduced in Bedford and Kempston by a missionary called Willard Richards on 1 August 1837.

Between that time and Willard Richards being called back to Preston on 7 March 1838 about 40 people were baptised members of the LDS Church in the Bedford area.

This estate was owned in the 1880s by the Howard family (ancestors of the randlord Sir George Herbert Farrar Bt and the current Earl of Lonsdale) proprietors of the Britannia Iron Works in Bedford (opposite Bedford Hospital, and also known as George Fisher Castings, before its closure and demolition in the late 20th century).

Scions of the Howard family were also settled at the nearby estates of Clapham Park and Biddenham Manor.

Apart from All Saints' Church, the best-known historic buildings are the King William IV pub and Kempston Barracks.

The Bedford Southern Bypass on the A421, was constructed in the 1990s and links with the Kempston relief road, built in the 1980s.

The road cuts through Kempston Rural, crossing the Great Ouse between the urban area and Church End.

In 2011 preliminary work began on extending the Western Bypass to join the A6 to the north of Bedford.

In 2003 Bedford Borough Council adopted a planning brief for the land close to the Western bypass that proposes the construction of 1,000 new homes.

[18] In December 2010 work finished on construction of a new stretch of the A421 from Kempston to Junction 13 of the M1 motorway, this now provides a full dual carriageway link road between the A1 and the M1, with the construction of an additional section of dual carriageway between M1 J13 and Milton Keynes completed in 2020.