Kensworth, Hertfordshire

Historical Description

Kensworth, a village and a parish in Hertfordshire. The village stands near the boundary with Beds, 3 miles SE of Dunstable station on the G.N.R., and 4 from a station of the same name on the L. & N.W.R., and has a post office under Dunstable; money order and telegraph office, Mark-yate. The parish comprises 2553 acres; population, 605. Chalk hills form much of the surface, and one of them has an altitude of 904 feet. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St Albans; gross value, £240 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's. The church is Norman, has an embattled tower with five bells, and contains some interesting monuments and inscriptions, the mouldings on the Norman arches being particularly good. There is a Wesleyan chapel.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

Findmypast, in association with the Hertfordshire Archives & Local Studies have the Baptisms, Banns, Marriages, and Burials online for Kensworth

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Kensworth from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Kensworth (St. Mary))

Land and Property

A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Hertfordshire is online.

Maps

Online maps of Kensworth 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 Hertfordshire newspapers online:

• Hertford Mercury and Reformer
• Herts Guardian, Agricultural Journal, and General Advertiser
• Watford Observer

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitations of Hertfordshire, 1572 and 1634. Edited by Walter C. Metcalfe, F.S.A. is available on the Heraldry page.