Thurleigh, Bedfordshire
Historical Description
Thurleigh, a parish, with a village, in Bedfordshire, S½ miles E by S of Sharnbrook station on the M.R., and 6½ N of Bedford. It has a post office under Bedford; money order and telegraph office, Milton Ernest. Acreage, 3418; population, 529. There is a parish council consisting of seven members. The manor belongs to the Crawley family. There are some moated earthworks in the parish. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely; gross value, £222 with residence. The church, which stands on ac eminence, is a handsome ancient edifice of stone, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, and a central Norman tower. Both chancel and tower are overgrown with ivy. There is a Baptist chapel.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Bedfordshire | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Thurleigh St. Peter | |
Hundred | Willey |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1562.
The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service (BLARS) hold the registers for Thurleigh: Baptisms 1562-1985, Marriages 1562-1966, Burials 1562-1985, Banns 1754-1811, 1823-1945. Transcripts in either book or microfiche form for registers prior to 1813 can be purchased from the BLARS (see website for details).
Churches
Church of England
St. Peter (parish church)
The church of St. Peter, situated on an eminence, is a fine and ancient building of stone, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and a central tower of Norman date containing a clock and 6 bells, the 6th bell and a clock dial being added in 1897 in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Victoria: the chancel and tower are covered with ivy: in the nave is a brass to John Harvey, supposed to be of the 13th century: in the chancel is a marble slab to John Harvey or Hervey, the last of the family, who died in 1715: the church was thoroughly restored in 1882, at a cost of about £700; the chancel was restored in 1887, at a cost of £100, and the bells in 1889, at a cost of £150: there are memorial windows to the children of Mr. and Mrs. Feazey, and to the Rev. Benjamin Trapp M.A. vicar here 1838-1900: during the restoration of the chancel a low-side window was discovered on the south side with traces of ancient fastenings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Thurleigh was in Bedford Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Thurleigh from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Thurleigh (St. Peter))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Bedfordshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Thurleigh are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Bedfordshire papers online:
- Bedfordshire Times and Independent
- Biggleswade Chronicle
- Luton Times and Advertiser
- Luton News and Bedfordshire Chronicle
Poor Law
Thurleigh was in Bedford Poor Law Union. For further detailed history of the Bedford Union see Peter Higginbotham's excellent resource: Bedford Poor Law Union and Workhouse.
Villages, Hamlets, &c
ParkendVisitations Heraldic
A full transcript of the Visitations of Bedfordshire 1566, 1582, and 1634 is available online.