Everton
Timeline
Places > Everton
1086: Everton Church and priest mentioned in the Domesday book.
1340-1350: During The Black Death there were no less than six vicars, when the plague was at its height, William Botte the vicar went elsewhere.
1552: King Edwards V1 sent his commissioners to the church to carry away any silver plate that they could lay their hands on and destroy or sell anything they considered superstitious.
1599: Andrew Bying appointed Vicar of Everton, appointed by James 1 to make an authorised translation of the bible, vicar until 1601.
1616: Sir Humphrey Winch, was given the very high appointment of Judge of Common Pleas but fell into disgrace for executing nine women as witches on the evidence of a boy at Leicester, there is a memorial to him in the church.
1635: Thomas Fowl, Fellow of Clare College became Vicar until his death in 1662
1747: Everton Hall demolished.
1755: John Berridge appointed Vicar, he was a close friend of John Wesley who often preached at Everton and Berridge played a significant role in the spread of the Non-Conformist church in Bedfordshire and surrounding counties. Although the parish at that time was estimated to have a population of about 250 his popularity attracted congregations of many thousands at weekends. Berridge was vicar until his death in 1793.
1807: Everton Enclosure Act.
1824: A Methodist meeting was licensed.
1830: Council School opened, enlarged in 1873 for 80 children.
1850: Everton House demolished.
1883: Everton and Gamlingay Heath Methodist Church built.
1886: St. Sylvester's Church built.
1905: Village Hall erected by John Harvey Astell of Woodbury Hall, Cambs.
1912: The church clock was restored by John Bull of Bedford.
1921: Everton War Memorial unveiled in March.
1940-45: A red light was installed on the church tower as a warning to pilots using Tempsford Airfield.
1974: June 16th church tower struck by lightening so badly that the bells could not ring, the repair bill was 21,000. Faced with a task of major restoration the decision was made to shorten the tower and dispose of four of the five bells.
1993: St. Sylvester's Mission Church closed down and the parish absorbed into St. Mary's.
Sources
- Newspaper Cuttings Collection in the Local Studies Library at Bedford Central Library.
- Victoria County History of Bedfordshire Vol.2 1908
- The History of St. Mary's Church by Bernard O'Connor, 2000.
Page last updated: 28th January 2014