Bedfordshire 
Contents 
Nearby Places
Nearby churches
RENHOLD, a parish in the hundred of BARFORD, county of BEDFORD, 3¾ Miles (N.E.) from Bedford, containing 340 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Bedford, and diocese of Lincoln, rated in the king's books at £8.3.4., endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £200 royal bounty, and in the patronage of John Polhill, Esq. The church is dedicated to All Saints. The river Ouse runs through the parish. William Belcher, in 1723, gave £600 for the support of a school, in which from twenty to thirty children are educated; the annual income is about £20. In the neighbourhood are several ancient mounds, called "the Amphitheatre."
[A Topographical Dictionary of England - Samuel Lewis - 1831]
The 1851 Census Index for Renhold can be found in the 1851 Index to Census of Bedfordshire, Volume 2, Book 2 available from the Bedfordshire Family History Society.
Church of England
The church of All Saints is an edifice of stone, in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, nave, north aisle, south porch and an embattled tower containing 5 bells: there are four ancient monuments, in white marble, to the Polhill and Beecher families; and on the north side of the chancel is an alter tomb, with brasses to W. Wayte and his wife, 1509: the church was thoroughly restored in 1863, at a cost of £800, and has since been refurnished and decorated: in 1889 the belfry was restored and the tenor bell recast: there are sittings for about 230 persons. The register dates from the year 1564.
[Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
All Saints Church has its own webiste maintained by Rob Gaskell. here you will find a History of All Saints Church, a History of all the Vicars, a History of Joye, a History of the Lords of the Manor - Becher Family 1602-1781 and Polhill family 1781 to date, the Parish Registers 1602 - 1812 in date order and alpha order, the MIs of the Churchyard in number order with plan and alpha order and details of The War Memorial.
Church of England
The parish record transcripts for All Saints are available on microfiche for the period 1564-1812 from the Bedfordshire Family History Society.
Howbury Hall, now occupied by Robert Peck esq. but formerly the residence of the Beauchamps, was rebuilt in 1849, and is a fine mansion, standing in wooded grounds of 150 acres, and surrounded by shrubberies; it is the property of Fredk. Edwd. Fiennes Polhill-Turner esq. lord of the manor and sole landowner. The soil is clay; subsoil, clay and gravel. The chief crops am wheat, barley, peas, beans and oats. Bricks, tiles and draining pipes are made here. The area is 2,196 acres of land and 15 of water; rateable value, £2,387; the population in 1891 was 481.
[Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
Genweb Bedfordshire contains a descriptive page about Renhold.
Find help, report problems, and contribute information.
[Last updated 16 March 2003 Martin Edwards]