Chellington, Bedfordshire
Historical Description
Chellington, a parish in Bedfordshire, on the river Ouse, 1½ mile ESE of Harrold, and 4 miles from Turvey station on the M.R. Post town, Bedford; money order and telegraph office, Harrold. Acreage, 549; population, 95. The living is a rectory, annexed to the rectory of Carlton, in the diocese of Ely; joint net yearly value, £310 with residence. The church is a building of stone in the Early English and Decorated styles.
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 | Chellington St. Nicholas | |
| Hundred | Willey |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service (BLARS) hold the registers for Chellington: Baptisms 1567-1967, Marriages 1567-1964, Burials 1567-1982, Banns 1823-1917. 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. Nicholas (parish church)
The church of St. Nicholas, pleasantly situated on the summit of a hill, is a building of stone, in the Early English and Decorated styles, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch and a Decorated western tower with broach spire, containing 4 bells: the font, Early English, is a cylindrical basin on circular shafts: there is a parish chest, dated 1667; the inscriptions to William Chaderton A.M. 1724, Rev. Thomas Chaderton A.M. 1735, and to the Bamford family: in the churchyard is a tomb to Sir Robert Darling kt. who, as a boy, it is said, used to keep cows on Chellington Hill; in 1767 he was sheriff of London and Middlesex and in 1768 was elected M.P. for Wendover, as the colleague of Burke; he died 4th August, 1770: the church was restored in 1869 and 1892, and affords 140 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Chellington was in Bedford Registration District from 1837 to 1934
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Chellington from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Chellington (St. Nicholas))
- 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 Chellington 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
Chellington 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.