Wilden (St. Nicholas)
WILDEN (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the hundred of Barford, union and county of Bedford, 5¼ miles (N. E. by N.) from Bedford; containing 443 inhabitants. It comprises by measurement 2170 acres, of which 1800 are arable, 350 meadow and pasture, and 20 woodland: the soil is chiefly clay, well adapted to the growth of wheat; the surface is partly flat, but in general hilly, and the scenery is pleasingly diversified. The making of pillow-lace affords employment to the females. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £18. 7. 1.; net income, £250; patron, the Duke of Bedford. The tithes were commuted for land in 1811; the glebe altogether comprises 470 acres. The church has been repewed. John and Thomas Rolle, in 1624, gave land now producing an income of £40 per annum for teaching children.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.