Stotfold, Bedfordshire
Historical Description
Stotfold, a parish, with a large village, in Beds, 2½ miles NW by W of Baldock, and 2 E from Arlesey station on the G.N.R. It has a post and money order office under Baldock; telegraph office, Baldock. Acreage, 2398; population, 3004. The lunatic asylum for Herts, Beds, and Hunts, is an extensive and ornate edifice, and stands conspicuously on high ground, 220 feet above the sea-level, within grounds of 253 acres. It was enlarged in 1879, and can accommodate 1000 inmates. The industries of the parish include brewing, straw-plaiting, and the manufacture of bricks and tiles, and there are two large corn mills. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely; gross value, £242 with residence. Patron, Trinity College, Cambridge. The church, dedicated to St Mary, is a building of flint and clunch chiefly in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, N and S porches, and a western embattled tower. It was restored and partly rebuilt in 1890. There are a large Wesleyan and two Baptist chapels, a reading-room and lecture hall, seven almshouses, and some useful charities.
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 | Stotfold 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 1559.
The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service (BLARS) hold the registers for Stotfold: Baptisms 1559-1984, Marriages 1559-1993, Burials 1559-1955, Banns 1823-1925, 1961-1997. 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 a building of flint, with Ashwell clunch stone dressings to the buttresses, and chiefly in the Early Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south and modern porch and a western embattled tower containing 3 bells, one of which belongs to the pre-Reformation period: there are grotesque heads in several of the bosses, and to the hood mouldings of the principal arches: there were formerly some curious frescoes of St. George and the Dragon, St. Michael weighing souls &c.; these are now destroyed, but a print, with description, is given in the Gentleman's Magazine for Nov. 1827: the font is of Perpendicular date, octagonal and panelled; the chancel was entirely rebuilt and an organ chamber added in 1890, at a cost of £710, and the rest of the church has been restored at a total cost of £2,500.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Stotfold was in Biggleswade Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Stotfold from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Stotfold (St. Mary))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Bedfordshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Stotfold 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
Stotfold 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.