Poddington, or Puddington (St. Mary)

PODDINGTON, or Puddington (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Wellingborough, hundred of Willey, county of Bedford, 5 miles (N.) from Harrold; containing, with Hinwick hamlet, 602 inhabitants, of whom 398 are in the township of Poddington. The parish comprises about 2750 acres, of which 1530 are arable, 950 pasture, 30 meadow, and 250 woodland; the soil is chiefly a loamy clay. The manufacture of threadlace is carried on. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 6. 8.; net income, £89; patron and impropriator, R. Orlebar, Esq.: the tithes were commuted for land in 1765. The church contains several ancient monuments, the principal of which is to the memory of General Livesay. There is a petrifying spring; and small shells of the ostroites, belemnitæ, and turbinitæ species are found imbedded in the clay and gravel pits. Canary birds in a wild state are frequently met with in the neighbourhood.