Roxton, Bedfordshire
Historical Description
Roxton, a village and a parish in Bedfordshire. The village stands near the river Ouse and the Great North Road, 2¾ miles NW of Tempsford station on the G.N.R., and 4½ SSW of St Neots, and has a post office under St Neots; money order office, Great Barford; telegraph office, Tempsford. The parish contains also the hamlets of Chawson and Golesdon. Acreage, 2941; population of the civil parish, 441; of the ecclesiastical, 1187. There is a parish council consisting of seven members. The manor belongs to the Delap family. The principal manor house is an ancient moated edifice situated in Chawson, and is now a farmhouse. Roxton House is the chief residence. The living is a vicarage, united with Great Barford, in the diocese of Ely; joint gross value, £400 with residence. Patron, Trinity College, Cambridge. The church is an ancient building in mixed styles, consisting of chancel, nave, S aisle, and an embattled western tower, and contains a brass of 1400, and an altar-tomb of 1439. The church was restored in 1890, and the tower and bells in 1893. There is a Congregational chapel.
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 | Roxton St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Barford |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1684.
The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service (BLARS) hold the registers for Roxton: Baptisms 1684-1996, Marriages 1684-1986, Burials 1684-1972, Banns 1824-1891. 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 is an ancient edifice originally Decorated, but much altered in the Perpendicular period, and consists of chancel, nave of three bays with south aisle and an embattled western tower of Late Decorated character, containing 5 bells: the chancel retains a piscina and locker, and once had a chapel on south aisle, the arches of the arcade of which are now built into the south wall of the chancel: part of the screen remains, the lower panels being painted and gilt, with figures; on the south side of the chancel is an altar tomb to Roger Hunt, Speaker of the Parliamens 8 Hen. V. (1420-1), and again in 1433, and appointed a baron of the Exchequer in 1438; on the north side of the church is a Perpendicular arched recess, with the recumbent effigy of a female on a low slab: a brass inscribed to John Fage of Chalverstone, died 1400, has been recovered and placed in the chancel: the body of the church was restored in 1887 and 1890, at a cost of £320, under the direction of Mr. W. M. Pawcett, architect, of Cambridge, and in 1893 the tower was repaired and a peal of 5 bells hung, at a cost of £260. The chancel has also been refloored and reseated.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Roxton was in Bedford Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Roxton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Roxton (St. Mary))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Bedfordshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Roxton 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
Roxton 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.
Villages, Hamlets, &c
ChawstonVisitations Heraldic
A full transcript of the Visitations of Bedfordshire 1566, 1582, and 1634 is available online.