Turvey (All Saints)

TURVEY (All Saints), a parish, in the hundred of Willey, union and county of Bedford, 4 miles (E.) from Olney; containing 960 inhabitants. The parish is bounded on the west by the river Ouse (which here separates the county from that of Buckingham), and is situated on the road from Northampton to Bedford. It comprises by admeasurement 3960 acres, of which about half are under tillage, and the remainder pasture and woodland. In the parish are quarries of limestone and of stone for building. Most of the females are engaged in lace-making. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £l6; patron, T. C. Higgins, Esq.; appropriator, the Bishop of Ely: the appropriate tithes have been commuted for £253, and the incumbent's for £458. 9. The church contains portions in various styles, and has several fine monuments to the noble family of Mordaunt; the remains of the celebrated Earl of Peterborough are deposited in the family vault. The glebe-house was lately rebuilt in the Elizabethan style. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans. A national school has an endowment of £40 per annum, and an infant school is supported by subscription. The ancient mansion called Turvey Abbey, situated here, was formerly a convent, dependent on the abbey of St. Neot's, Huntingdonshire: the moats and foundations of Turvey Hall, the residence of the lords Peterborough, are still visible. The Rev. Legh Richmond, author of the 'Annals of the Poor,' the Dairyman's Daughter, &c., was rector from 1805 till his death in May 1828. The parish confers the title of Baron on the Duke of Bedford.