Carlton, Bedfordshire
Historical Description
Carlton or Carlton-cum-Chellington, a parish in Bedfordshire, on the verge of the county, near the river Ouse, 6 miles NE of Olney, and 3½ from Turvey station on the M.R. It has a post office under Bedford; money order and telegraph office, Harrold. Acreage, 1530; population of the civil parish, 379; of the ecclesiastical, 474. The living is a rectory, united with the rectory of Chellington, in the diocese of Ely; net yearly value, £310 with residence. The church is an ancient edifice of stone in the Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular styles. There is a Baptist chapel, which was built in 1760.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Bedfordshire | |
Diocese | Ely | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Carlton St. Mary | |
Hundred | Willey |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1554.
The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service (BLARS) hold the registers for Carlton: Baptisms 1554-1923, Marriages 1554-1982, Burials 1993-2006, Banns 1554-1982, 1890-1957. 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. Mary the Virgin (parish church)
The church of St. Mary the Virgin, situated about a quarter of a mile from the village, is a stone building, in the Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular styles, with some traces of Norman work, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower, containing 4 bells: the font is Transitional, with rude interlaced carving and cable moulding round the basin, and is supported on tall circular columns: the Perpendicular chancel screen, though mutilated, remains, and there is a piscina; north of the chancel was once a chapel: there is a small inscribed brass to Joane Goddard, 1610, and inscribed stones to Thomas Wells, rector, 1642, aged about 100, Rev. Benjamin Rogers, 50 years rector, 1771, and Rev. Henry John Ellman, rector, 1829-62: there are 140 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Carlton was in Bedford Registration District from 1837 to 1934 and Bedford Registration District from 1934 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Carlton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Carlton (St. Mary))
- Kelly's Directory of Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Northamptonshire, 1914
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Bedfordshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Carlton 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
Carlton 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.
Visitations Heraldic
A full transcript of the Visitations of Bedfordshire 1566, 1582, and 1634 is available online.