Lidlington
General History
Kelly's Directory of Bedfordshire 1894 (Extract)

Places > Lidlington > General History

Lidlington is a village and parish, with a station on the Bedford and Bletchley branch of the London and North Western railway, 55 miles from London, 3 west from Ampthill and 8 south-south-west from Bedford, in the Northern division of the county, hundred of Redbornestoke, petty sessional division, union and county court district of Ampthill, rural deanery of Fleete, archdeaconry of Bedford and diocese of Ely. The old church of St Margaret, prettily situated on a hill, is an edifice of brick and stone, consisting of chancel and nave and a tower containing 2 bells: in the church are two ancient memorial tablets of the Platt family, a stone inscribed to Richard Jones, citizen and grocer of London, 1669, and a mutilated brass with figures: in the churchyard is an elegant marble tomb to Mrs William Charles Cavendish Bentinck, of Ridgmont: this church is now used for burial purposes only.  The new church of Lidlington, which was given to the parish by the late Duke of Bedford, was opened in Nov 1886: it is in the centre of the village, and is built of sandstone from a quarry on his Grace's estate at Maulden: the style is Early English Decorated, and consists of chancel, transepts and nave: there are 400 sittings, all free. The register dates prior to the year 1554. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value 160, in the gift of the Duke of Bedford, and held since 1876 by the Rev. Frederick Vassey M.A. of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. There are Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels. A charity given by Thomas Johnson is partly for the education and clothing for six aged men and women, but a portion of the income, amounting to about 45 yearly, is devoted to various charitable purposes. Some of the inhabitants are engaged in lace making. The Duke of Bedford is lord of the manor and chief landowner. The chief crops are wheat, oats, barley, peas and roots. The soil is sand , gravel and clay. The area is 2,449 acres; rateable value 3,969;the population in 1891 was 600.

BOUGHTON END, about one mile south, is a portion of this parish.

Parish Clerk, Joseph Roe.

POST & M.O.O.S.B> & Annuity & Insurance Office,- Thomas William Ruffhead, sub-postmaster. Letters through Ampthill; delivery commences about 9 am. Box closes at 4.50 pm & 7.50 pm. No delivery or despatch on sunday. The nearest telegraph office is at Ampthill. Postal orders are issued and paid here.

A school Board of 5 members was formed April 29th 1874; Robert Michael White, Ampthill, clerk & attendance officer.

Board (formerly National) School (mixed & infants), for 180 children; average attendance, 125; Joseph Brabin, master; Mrs Brabin, sewing mistress.

Railway Station, William Boddington, station master.

CARRIERS - William Welch & Thomas William Ruffhead of Bedford, wed. & sat. returning same days.

Commercial

Page last updated: 3rd February 2014