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Wilstead
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Places > Wilstead

13th Century: There has been a church at Wilstead since at least the 13th century with a list of incumbents going back to 1235. The oldest parts of the church are the 14th century south arcade and the south door c.1340. The north arcade dates from the 15th century.

1686: Endowed School opened as a result of a benefaction of the Reverend William Wells vicar of Wilstead from 1662-1689.

1742: The church tower collapsed on the 11th April.

1808: First Methodist Chapel built on the right hand side of Chapel Lane.

1809: Wilstead Enclosure Act.

1811: The Red Lion was registered as a public house but had been a beer house sometime before 1811.

1829: Sir William Morgan born in the village, he emigrated to Australia and became Prime Minister of South Australia 1878-81.

1832: James Addington, aged 18, hanged for setting fire to a haystack.

1841: Larger Methodist Chapel built on the same site.

1844: Village School built to accommodate about one hundred children.

1851: The church tower was rebuilt.

1873: Infants School opened, the Reverend Lord John Thynne paid for the school.

1894: The Mission Hall Evangelical Church founded. In 1954 the original iron building was replaced with brick walls and a tiled roof.

1906: St. Paul's Mission Church opened at Littleworth with seating for 130. The idea of a separate church to serve the eastern part of the parish was first put forward in 1870 but it was not until 1898 that steps were taken to raise the money. The church closed in the 1970s and was demolished in 1979.

1958: Village school closed when Wilstead Primary School opened.

1965: Extensive repairs carried out on the nave roof of the church.

1967: New Methodist Chapel built at a cost of 22,000.

1973: Village school demolished and houses built on the site.

Sources:

  • Newspaper articles in The Local Studies Library at Bedford Central Library.
  • Victoria County History of Bedfordshire 3 Vols. 1912.
  • PICKFORD, Christopher  Bedfordshire Churches in the 19th Century Vol.79 Bedfordshire Historical Record Society. 2000.
  • PAPWORTH, C and RIPA, G.  Wilshamstead  : homestead of friends.  2002.
  • RHODEN, C.  Wilstead : people of the parish. 2006.

Page last updated: 4th February 2014