Pertenhall, Bedfordshire
Historical Description
Pertenhall or Partenhale (formerly Peter's Hall), a parish, with a village, in Bedfordshire, adjacent to Hunts, 4 miles S of Kimbolton station on the M.R., 7½ NE of Sharnbrook, and 8 NW of St Neot's. It has a post office under St Neot's; money order and telegraph office, Kimbolton. Acreage, 1615; population of the civil parish, 276; of the ecclesiastical, 286. The manor of Hoo belongs to the Martyn family, the manor of Pertenhall to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and that of Bell's or Covington's Fee to the Claridge family. The manor house, a fine old Tudor mansion, belongs to the Campion family. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely; net value, £336 with residence. The church is a building of stone in the Transition, Early English, and later styles, consisting of chancel, nave, N aisle, S porch, and a western tower with fine octagonal broach spire. It was repaired in 1893, when the arcade was taken down and rebuilt, and contains the monument of a crusader, tablets to the Martyns and the Kings, and one to the youngest daughter of Oliver Cromwell.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Bedfordshire | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Pertenhall St. Peter and St. Paul | |
Hundred | Stodden |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1582.
The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service (BLARS) hold the registers for Pertenhall: Baptisms 1582-1988, Marriages 1584-1981, Burials 1582-1986, Banns 1754-1989. 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. Peter (parish church)
The church of St. Peter is a structure of stone in the Transition, Early English and later styles, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave of the 13th century, north aisle, south porch and a Perpendicular western tower of four stages, with a fine octagonal broach spire with dormer lights, and containing 3 bells: the chancel is Decorated, and there is a good Perpendicular rood screen with rich tracery, painted and gilt: three Transition arches divide the nave and aisle, and at the east end of the latter is an Early English recess, in which is the recumbent stone effigy of a knight, in mail armour, cross-legged: on the eastern gable of the nave is a sanctus bell turret: on the south wall of the nave is a small marble tablet to various members of the Rolt family, who lived during the 17th century, including Mary, wife of Edward Rolt, 1632, and youngest daughter of Sir Oliver Cromwell: in the vestry, which is on the site of a Lady chapel, now destroyed, date 1280, is a classic mural monument of freestone, with Latin inscription, to Susan (Fisher), wife of Simon Gray, 1685; there are also several modern tablets to the Martyn and King families: in the floor of the vestry is the original altar slab, removed from the chancel A.D. 1641 by one of Wi1liam Dowsing's agents, under a warrant from the Earl of Manchester: in 1893 the arcade was taken down and rebuilt, and new roofs put on the nave and north aisle: there are 200 sittings.
Civil Registration
Pertenhall was in St. Neots Registration District from 1837 to 1935 and Bedford Registration District from 1935 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Pertenhall from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Pertenhall (St. Peter and St. Paul))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Bedfordshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Pertenhall 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
Visitations Heraldic
A full transcript of the Visitations of Bedfordshire 1566, 1582, and 1634 is available online.