Battlesden
Encyclopedia
Battlesden is a hamlet and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire
district of Bedfordshire
, England
. It is just north of the A5, between Dunstable
and Milton Keynes
. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 38. Because of its low electorate, it has a parish meeting
rather than a parish council.
Battlesden House
- was a large manor house situated in parkland, Battlesden Park, close to the hamlet of Battlesden in Bedfordshire, England.
A manor house was constructed in the late 16th century and was associated with the family of Lord Bathurst before he sold the estate to Sir Gregory Page in 1724. The estate was later inherited by Page's great-nephew Sir Gregory Page-Turner in 1775.
The original house was demolished in 1860 and a new house was built in 1864. This had 40 rooms and a large ballroom and cost £40,000 to build, while the surrounding parkland and lake were created by Sir Joseph Paxton. However, the owner, Sir Edward Page-Turner did not like the house, preferring to let it to a wealthy tenant before selling the estate to Francis Russell, 9th Duke of Bedford in 1885. The Duke, who already owned two country houses in the county, was interested in the land rather than the building, so he ordered the partial demolition of the house in 1886. Only the ground floor was retained, which was used as a nursing home during the First World War and a maternity home in the Second World War. This was demolished after the war leaving just the coach house, which is today a private dwelling.
The history of the county of Bedford mentions the church.
The church of ST. PETER AND ALL SAINTS is a small aisleless building set on the south slope of a hill, its earliest part dating apparently from the last quarter of the 13th century. There is a two-light window of this date in the south wall of the nave near the west end, and opposite to it in the north wall a single lancet, their late date being shown by the existence of original glass grooves. The nave is 41 ft. by 21 ft., and in its south-west corner a tower has been built in the 15th century, evidently on insufficient foundations, as it has gone over south-westwards, and is much buttressed and patched in consequence. The chancel is probably of early 14th-century date, though nothing but the chancel arch now remains to show detail of that time; its east window is modern, and its two south windows much restored 16th-century two-light openings. Between them is a plain doorway, and there is a square recess with no sign of a drain below the south-east window. On either side of the east window are 15th-century image brackets carried by angels, whose very modern heads do not agree well with their mediaeval bodies, and in the north wall is a square plastered recess. The chancel arch has good moulded capitals and stops to its chamfered arch, but of the moulded base only a small piece remains.
The nave had a rood-stair at the south-east, of which only the lower doorway remains, and next to it a wide two-light 15th-century window. In the north wall is a 17th-century window of three lights with a transom, and west of it a two-light 15th-century window, and there is a squint to the chancel in the north jamb of the chancel arch. The north doorway of the nave is plain 14th-century work under a small and late porch, and west of it is the lancet already mentioned. There is no trace of a south door to the nave, but high in the wall about midway on this side is a plain and late two-light window, intended to serve a gallery east of the tower, now removed. The low-pitched nave roof has late 15th-century moulded tie-beams, purlins, &c., and the chancel roof is modern.
The tower has simple chamfered arches to the nave on the east and north, and in its west wall is a doorway now blocked by a red brick buttress, but originally opening to a stair turret. The belfry windows are plain two-light openings, and the exterior of the church is very much overgrown with ivy. The font has a rough circular bowl with four pieces of leaf carving, apparently of late 12th-century date, and stands in the eastern tower arch. On the north of the chancel arch is a wall monument to Lady Elizabeth Duncombe undated, on the south another to William Duncombe, 1603, set up about 1640, and on the north wall of the nave a third to Sir John Duncombe, 1687.
There are three bells, the treble and the tenor blank and the second of 1813.
The plate consists of two communion cups of 1676, two standing patens of 1674, and a large paten given in 1696 by Elizabeth daughter of Nathaniel Reynes, vicar of the parish and of Friern Barnet.
The earliest register book contains all entries from 1694 to 1807, but the marriages only till 1753; the second book is of marriages 1754 to 1799, and the third has marriages 1799 to 1812 and baptisms and burials 1807 to 1812.
Central Bedfordshire
Central Bedfordshire is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It was created from the merger of Bedfordshire County Council, Mid Bedfordshire and South Bedfordshire on 1 April 2009...
district of Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is just north of the A5, between Dunstable
Dunstable
Dunstable is a market town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills, 30 miles north of London. These geographical features form several steep chalk escarpments most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north.-Etymology:In...
and Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 38. Because of its low electorate, it has a parish meeting
Parish meeting
A parish meeting, in England, is a meeting to which all the electors in a civil parish are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of the parish council itself, with statutory powers, and electing a...
rather than a parish council.
Battlesden House
Battlesden House
Battlesden House was a large manor house situated in parkland, Battlesden Park, close to the hamlet of Battlesden in Bedfordshire, England.A manor house was constructed in the late 16th century and was associated with the family of Lord Bathurst before he sold the estate to Sir Gregory Page in 1724...
- was a large manor house situated in parkland, Battlesden Park, close to the hamlet of Battlesden in Bedfordshire, England.
A manor house was constructed in the late 16th century and was associated with the family of Lord Bathurst before he sold the estate to Sir Gregory Page in 1724. The estate was later inherited by Page's great-nephew Sir Gregory Page-Turner in 1775.
The original house was demolished in 1860 and a new house was built in 1864. This had 40 rooms and a large ballroom and cost £40,000 to build, while the surrounding parkland and lake were created by Sir Joseph Paxton. However, the owner, Sir Edward Page-Turner did not like the house, preferring to let it to a wealthy tenant before selling the estate to Francis Russell, 9th Duke of Bedford in 1885. The Duke, who already owned two country houses in the county, was interested in the land rather than the building, so he ordered the partial demolition of the house in 1886. Only the ground floor was retained, which was used as a nursing home during the First World War and a maternity home in the Second World War. This was demolished after the war leaving just the coach house, which is today a private dwelling.
Battlesden Church
The church at Battlesden is believed to be haunted by a lay friar.The history of the county of Bedford mentions the church.
The church of ST. PETER AND ALL SAINTS is a small aisleless building set on the south slope of a hill, its earliest part dating apparently from the last quarter of the 13th century. There is a two-light window of this date in the south wall of the nave near the west end, and opposite to it in the north wall a single lancet, their late date being shown by the existence of original glass grooves. The nave is 41 ft. by 21 ft., and in its south-west corner a tower has been built in the 15th century, evidently on insufficient foundations, as it has gone over south-westwards, and is much buttressed and patched in consequence. The chancel is probably of early 14th-century date, though nothing but the chancel arch now remains to show detail of that time; its east window is modern, and its two south windows much restored 16th-century two-light openings. Between them is a plain doorway, and there is a square recess with no sign of a drain below the south-east window. On either side of the east window are 15th-century image brackets carried by angels, whose very modern heads do not agree well with their mediaeval bodies, and in the north wall is a square plastered recess. The chancel arch has good moulded capitals and stops to its chamfered arch, but of the moulded base only a small piece remains.
The nave had a rood-stair at the south-east, of which only the lower doorway remains, and next to it a wide two-light 15th-century window. In the north wall is a 17th-century window of three lights with a transom, and west of it a two-light 15th-century window, and there is a squint to the chancel in the north jamb of the chancel arch. The north doorway of the nave is plain 14th-century work under a small and late porch, and west of it is the lancet already mentioned. There is no trace of a south door to the nave, but high in the wall about midway on this side is a plain and late two-light window, intended to serve a gallery east of the tower, now removed. The low-pitched nave roof has late 15th-century moulded tie-beams, purlins, &c., and the chancel roof is modern.
The tower has simple chamfered arches to the nave on the east and north, and in its west wall is a doorway now blocked by a red brick buttress, but originally opening to a stair turret. The belfry windows are plain two-light openings, and the exterior of the church is very much overgrown with ivy. The font has a rough circular bowl with four pieces of leaf carving, apparently of late 12th-century date, and stands in the eastern tower arch. On the north of the chancel arch is a wall monument to Lady Elizabeth Duncombe undated, on the south another to William Duncombe, 1603, set up about 1640, and on the north wall of the nave a third to Sir John Duncombe, 1687.
There are three bells, the treble and the tenor blank and the second of 1813.
The plate consists of two communion cups of 1676, two standing patens of 1674, and a large paten given in 1696 by Elizabeth daughter of Nathaniel Reynes, vicar of the parish and of Friern Barnet.
The earliest register book contains all entries from 1694 to 1807, but the marriages only till 1753; the second book is of marriages 1754 to 1799, and the third has marriages 1799 to 1812 and baptisms and burials 1807 to 1812.
External links
- Battlesden pages at the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Record Service