Great Barford, Bedfordshire
Historical Description
Barford, Great, a parish in Bedfordshire, on the river Ouse, 1½ mile NW from Blunham station on the L. & N.W.R., and 6 miles E by N of Bedford. It has a post and money order office under St Neot's; telegraph office, Blunham. Acreage, 2868; population, 746. The property is subdivided. The river Ouse is here crossed by a bridge of about the beginning of the 16th century, and was till lately navigable. The living is a vicarage, annexed to Roxton, in the diocese of Ely; gross value, £400 with residence. The church is modern, but the tower is Late Perpendicular. There are a Wesleyan chapel, a public elementary school, and several useful charities.
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 | Barford All Souls | |
| Hundred | Barford |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1564
The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service (BLARS) hold the registers for Great Barford: Baptisms 1564-1973, Marriages 1559-1977, Burials 1564-1938, Banns 1848-1896. 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 parish church of All Saints is a handsome structure cheifly in the Perpendicular style (the tower only being ancient), and consists of chancel, nave, aisles and an embattled western tower with pinnacles and a small lead-covered spire, containing 5 bells: in the chancel is a mural monument to Thomas Anscell, his wife, and family, 1591, with figures in high relief: there is a brass with two effigies, and one loose to John Fitzgeffrey, 1535: attached to the chancel is a vault of the Francklin family, and on a marble slab are the names of those deposited therin: the stained east window, erected in 1864, is a memorial to Mr. Arnold, of Great Barford House: the font, of Early English date, is octagonal and supported on four low shafts: the church was repaired and enlarged in 1849 and again enlarged in 1860, and will seat 430 persons.
Methodist
Methodist Chapel
There is a Wesleyan chapel, built in 1824 and rebuilt in 1903.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Great Barford was in Bedford Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Great Barford from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Barford, Great (All Souls))
- 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 Great Barford 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
Great Barford 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.