Felmersham
Timeline
Places > Felmersham
1220c: Present day church built by monks of Lenton Priory between 1220-1240.
1221: First mention of Pinch Mill Watermill by name.
1428: Tithe Barn built, it was converted into four dwellings in the early 1980s.
1749: The Rev. Thomas Orlebar Marsh born at Felmersham House, he became a well known local antiquarian and was vicar of Stevington from 1776-183, although he still lived in Felmersham House.
1766: Felmersham Enclosure Act passed, it was one of the first in the county.
1818: Felmersham Bridge built, the money was raised by private subscription. Work began in May and the bridge of four arches was declared passable for pedestrians and horsemen on the 31st August. It was then decided to add an extra arch and the bridge was finally finished in December.
1846: The National School opened, it closed in 1974 when the new school opened; the old school was converted into a private dwelling.
c1850: Felmersham Grange built, it was on the site of a previous house known as Felmersham House.
1853: The Chancel was restored.
1872: Church organ installed at a cost of 328.
1880: Pinch Mill Watermill demolished
1894: School closes for three weeks due to a diphtheria epidemic in which three children died.
1918: South transept fitted up as a War Memorial Chapel.
1920: Obelisk erected by public subscription as a war memorial.
1921: Felmersham and Radwell Women's Institute formed.
1942: In January a bronze bowl, a fish-head spout and other bronze fragments were found during gravel extractions in what is now known as Felmersham Nature Reserve. They are thought to be part of the contents of a burial vault dating from the late Iron Age. The items were deposited with Bedford Museum.
1951: The original ring of the five church bells were retuned and augmented into a ring of eight.
1962: Felmersham Nature Reserve - site of former gravel extraction in the 1930s and 1940s for road building and airfield construction - was dug out and developed. The reserve was leased by the Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire Naturalists' Trust Limited from the Stileman Estate.
1974: The School and Village Hall opened in September, the school was named Pinchmill Lower School.
1977: To commemorate the Queen's Silver Jubilee the Jubilee Lawn was constructed alongside the river next to the bridge.
1991: The Plough Public House closes.
1993: Felmersham bridge strengthened and repaired.
1995: The Six Ringers Public House closes in October.
Sources:
- The Newspaper Cuttings Collection in the Local Studies Library at Bedford Central Library
- The Victoria County History of Bedfordshire, 1912.
Page last updated: 28th January 2014