Renhold, Bedfordshire
Historical Description
Renhold, a parish, with a straggling village, in Bedfordshire, on an affluent of the river Ouse, 3½ miles NE of Bedford railway station. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Bedford. Acreage, 2211; population, 481. There is a parish council consisting of seven members. The manor, with Howbury Hall, a fine mansion standing in well-wooded grounds, belongs to the Polhill-Turner family. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely; net value, £133 with residence. The church is a building of stone in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, nave, N aisle, S porch, and an embattled tower, which has a fine peal of bells. It was restored in 1863, and contains an altar-tomb of 1510 to W. Wayte, and four ancient marble monuments to the Polliills and the Beechers. There is an endowed school with £20 a year.
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 | Renhold All Saints | |
Hundred | Barford |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1654.
The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service (BLARS) hold the registers for Renhold: Baptisms 1654-1970, Marriages 1654-1992, Burials 1654-1993, Banns 1754-1950. 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 church of All Saints is an edifice of stone, in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, nave, north aisle, south porch and an embattled tower containing 5 bells: there are four ancient monuments, in white marble, to the Polhill and Beecher families; and on the north side of the chancel is an altar tomb, with brasses to Edmund Wayte and his wife, 1518: the church was thoroughly restored in 1863, at a cost of £800, and has since been refurnished and decorated: in 1889 the belfry was restored and the tenor bell recast: and in 1901 the tower roof was restored at a cost of £80: there are about 120 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Renhold was in Bedford Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Renhold from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Renhold (All Saints))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Bedfordshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Renhold 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
Renhold 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.