Chalgrave, Bedfordshire
Historical Description
Chalgrave, a parish in Beds, 3½ miles N by W of Dunstable railway station, and 6¼ ENE of Leighton-Buzzard. It includes the hamlets of Tebworth and Wingfield, and half of Stockliffe, and its post town is Leighton-Buzzard; money order office, Tebworth; telegraph office, Toddington. Acreage, 2430; population, 730. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely; net yearly value, £151 with residence. The church is ancient and ruinous. A new church has been built at Tebworth. There is a Wesleyan chapel.
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 | Chalgrave All Saints | |
| Hundred | Manshead |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1539.
The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service (BLARS) hold the registers for Chalgrave: Baptisms 1538-1983, Marriages 1539-1987, Burials 1539-1982, Banns 1823-1982. 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
All Saints (parish church)
The church of All Saints is an ancient structure of mixed styles, consisting of chancel, nave of five bays, aisles, porch, and a now ruined western tower of Perpendicular date, containing 3 bells: the chancel is of the Decorated period, with Perpendicular insertions: the north arcade is Early English, the south, Decorated, the aisles are Early Decorated with some Perpendicular insertions: there are two ancient tombs, one on each side of the nave, with life-sized effigies of knights in armour, in a good state of preservation. In 1889 the tower fell during a thunderstorm; and in falling destroyed part of the nave, but the church has since been repaired.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Chalgrave was in Woburn Registration District from 1837 to 1899 and Leighton Buzzard Registration District from 1899 to 1964
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Chalgrave from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Chalgrave (All Saints))
- 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 Chalgrave 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
Chalgrave was in Woburn Poor Law Union from 1835-1899 when it transferred to Leighton Buzzard Poor Law Union. For further detailed history of the Leighton Buzzard Union see Peter Higginbotham's excellent resource: Leighton Buzzard Poor Law Union and Workhouse.
Villages, Hamlets, &c
TebworthWingfield
Visitations Heraldic
A full transcript of the Visitations of Bedfordshire 1566, 1582, and 1634 is available online.