Bolnhurst is a village in the Bedford district

Bedford (borough)

Bedford is a unitary authority with the status of a borough in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Its council is based at Bedford, which is also the county town of Bedfordshire. The borough contains a single urban area, the 69th largest in the United Kingdom that comprises Bedford and...

 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...

, about eight miles north of Bedford

Bedford

Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...

 itself, and eight miles west of St Neots

St Neots

St Neots is a town and civil parish with a population of 26,356 people. It lies on the River Great Ouse in Huntingdonshire District, approximately north of central London, and is the largest town in Cambridgeshire . The town is named after the Cornish monk St...

. The village is part of the civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 of Bolnhurst and Keysoe

Bolnhurst and Keysoe

Bolnhurst and Keysoe is a civil parish in the Bedford borough of Bedfordshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 734. The parish includes the villages of Bolnhurst and Keysoe, and the hamlet of Keysoe Row. The parish is located about eight miles north of...

.

The village's name is derived from bula-hyrst, meaning "wooded hill where bulls are kept".

History

Bolnhurst grew up around the main road between Bedford and Kimbolton

Kimbolton

Kimbolton could be:*Kimbolton, Herefordshire*Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire**Kimbolton School**Kimbolton Castle**Kimbolton Airfield*Kimbolton Fireworks, the UK's only fireworks manufacturer*Kimbolton, Ohio*Kimbolton, New Zealand...

. The village was listed as Bulehestre, or Bolehestre in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

, during which time the manor was owned by the Abbot of Thorney

Thorney

Thorney is the name of more than one place. It is also used as a common nickname for people with the surname Thorne.It often means "Thorn eyot", or Isle of Thorns; the isle might be in a fen or river, or the sea.In the United Kingdom:...

 in Cambridgeshire, and remained a property of the Abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries

Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...

.

Following inclosure of the parish in 1778, Arthur Young, despite never having visited the village, described Bolnhurst as:

a wet heavy bad country very disadvantageously circumstanced respecting roads, for every way around they are almost impassable... after inclosing fell into bad hands, they laid much of it down to grass in as bad order as possible, and it has continued so ever since in as rough and ill conditioned and unprofitable a state as can be well conceived... It should seem that corn has there been lessened without making amends for the loss by ample products of new grass.

Church

The church, built in the Early Decorated and Perpendicular styles and dedicated to Saint Dunstan, is located on higher ground away from the village itself. The oldest part of the present building is the chancel, dating from the first half of the 13th century. The nave and west tower were added in the 15th century. The tower houses four bells, two of which were made by John Dier in 1587.

Village life

The village is home to The Plough public house, a building dating back to Tudor times.

Since 1984 Bolnhurst has hosted an annual charity rally for tractor

Tractor

A tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction...

s, cars and other vintage vehicles known as the Bolnhurst Vintage and Country Fayre.

External links

• Keysoe and Bolnhurst Village Website