Henlow, Bedfordshire
Historical Description
Henlow, a village and a parish in Beds. The village stands near the river Ivel and the Bedford and Hitchin branch of the M.R., on which it has a station 2½ miles SE from Shefford, and 4½ SW from Biggleswade. The Arlesey station on the G.N.R. is 1 mile SE. It has a post and money order office under Biggleswade; telegraph office, Arlesey (R.S.O.) The parish comprises 2377 acres; population, 879. Henlow Grange is a plain building of red brick, situated in a pleasant park. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely; net yearly value, £218. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church is good and has a fine tower.
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 | Henlow St. Mary | |
Hundred | Clifton |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1558.
The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service (BLARS) hold the registers for Henlow: Baptisms 1558-1963, Marriages 1558-2007, Burials 1558-1930, Banns 1897-1995. 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 (parish church)
The church of St. Mary, which is very picturesquely situated, is an edifice of stone, chiefly in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch, and a fine and massive embattled western tower containing 5 bells: in the north wall of the vestry is a Saxon window: the south aisle retains a shafted piscina, and at the east end of the north aisle is an ancient super altar: there are several marble tablets to members of the Edwards family from 1693 to 1840, and memorials to the families of Buckby, Raynsford, Oades, Bedford and Freeman: several of the windows are filled with modern stained glass.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Henlow was in Biggleswade Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Henlow from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Henlow (St. Mary))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Bedfordshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Henlow 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
Henlow was in Biggleswade Poor Law Union. For further detailed history of the Biggleswade Union see Peter Higginbotham's excellent resource: Biggleswade Poor Law Union and Workhouse.
Visitations Heraldic
A full transcript of the Visitations of Bedfordshire 1566, 1582, and 1634 is available online.