Moggerhanger, Bedfordshire
Historical Description
Moggerhanger, Muggerhanger, or Morhanger, a village, a township, and an ecclesiastical parish in Beds. The village stands 1 mile SSW of Blunham station on the L. & N.W.R., U W of the river Ivel, and 4½ miles NW by N of Biggleswade, and has a post office under Sandy; money order and telegraph office, Blunham. The ecclesiastical parishcontains also the hamlet of Charlton, and was constituted in 1860. Acreage of the township, 1815; population, 430; of the ecclesiastical parish, 392. Morhanger Park is a fine mansion in the Classic style, beautifully situated in the middle of a well-wooded park. St John's is a chief residence. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely; net value, £81 with residence. The church was built in 1861 by Mrs Dawkins as a memorial to her deceased husband; is a beautiful building in the Early Norman style, of Kempston stone and Silsoe red sandstone, with pillars of Ancaster stone; consists of nave, aisles, transepts, and apsidal chancel, with a central tower; and contains a splendid brass monument to the Rev E. H. Dawkins, over his remains.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Bedfordshire | |
Civil parish | Blunham | |
Hundred | Wixamtree |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1861.
The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service (BLARS) hold the registers for Mogerhanger: Baptisms 1860-1941, Marriages 1860-1983, Burials 1861-1983, Banns 1860-1939
Churches
Church of England
St. John the Evangelist (parish church)
The church of St. John the Evangelist, consecrated July 31st, 1861, is an elegant building of stone, in the Early Pointed style, and consists of apsidal chancel, nave, aisles and a central tower with pyramidal roof, containing one bell: the church was erected at the expense of the late Mrs. Dawkins, formerly of Morhanger Park, as a memorial to her husband, the Rev. E. H. Dawkins (d. 1859), who is buried in the chancel: the chancel windows are stained, and there are memorial windows to Lieut.-Col. H. G. Thornton and Jeremiah Titmas, first parish clerk: the church affords 300 sittings.
Civil Registration
Moggerhanger was in Biggleswade Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Moggerhanger from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Moggerhanger)
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Bedfordshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Moggerhanger 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
Parochial History
The civil parish was formed, with the hamlet of Chalton, under the provisions of the "Local Government Act, 1894" from Blunham. The ecclesiastical parish was formed in 1860.
Poor Law
Moggerhanger 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.