Bedfordshire
Contents 
Nearby Places
Nearby churches
ELSTOW, a parish in the hundred of REDBORNESTOKE, county of BEDFORD, 1¼ mile (S. by w.) from Bedford, containing 548 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Bedford, and diocese of Lincoln, rated in the king's books at £7.9., endowed with £800 royal bounty, and in the patronage of William Henry Whitbread, Esq. The church, dedicated to St. Mary and St. Helen, a fine old structure in the Norman style, was formerly the conventual church, and is now, with its detached tower to the north-west, the only remains, of an abbey of Benedictine nuns, founded in the reign of William the Conqueror, by his niece, Judith, Countess of Huntingdon, to the honour of the Holy Trinity, St. Mary, and St. Helen; at the dissolution it contained an abbess and twenty-one nuns, whose annual revenue amounted to £325. 2.1. There are fairs for all sorts of cattle on May 14th and 15th, and November 5th and 6th. John Bunyan, author of the Pilgrim's Progress, was born here.
[A Topographical Dictionary of England - Samuel Lewis - 1831]
The 1851 Census Index for Elstow 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 SS. Mary and Helena anciently attached to the Benedictine abbey, is chiefly a building of the Norman period, with some portions of early English date, and consists of a chancel, or choir, with clerestory, lofty clerestoried nave, aisles, north porch, a vaulted chamber on the north-west and a noble detached tower on the north-west with low spire, containing a clock and 5 bells: there are several ancient monuments and two marble mural tablets to the two co-heiresses of the late William Hillersdon esq. the former owner of the manor, whose ancestors possessed it for many generations: there are brasses to Elizabeth Hervey, an abbess, and to one of the nuns : the beautiful Early English vaulted room, called the Chapter house, now used as a vestry, has a slender column of Purbeck marble in the centre : the north porch is an interesting example of Norman work : the font and ceiling are Perpendicular : in 1882 the church was thoroughly restored at the expense of Samuel Whitbread esq. under the direction of T. J. Jackson, of Bedford, the cost being upwards of £6,000 : two stained windows have been placed at the east end of the south aisle to the memory of Bunyan and there are three others, one of which was erected in commemoration of the Queen's Jubilee. The register dates from the year 1640.
[Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
Non-conformist
The Moot Hall is used as a Congregational meeting house.
[Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
The Elstow Moot Hall Museum is open 1-4 pm from April to the end of September on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays. They can also arrange to open at other times for group bookings. Telephone number; (UK) 01234 266889. Contact Address; Church End Elstow Bedfordshire MK42 9XT Location is on Elstow village green
The parish record transcripts for SS. Mary and Helena are available on microfiche for the period 1640-1812 from the Bedfordshire Family History Society.
Pillow lace making is carried on to a small extent. There are two large fairs for cattle held here annually on May 15th and November 5th. On the village green are remains of a stone cross. A short distance south of the church ace the remains of the Benedictine nunnery of St. Helen, founded by Judith, Countess of Huntingdon, and niece of William the Conqueror, in 1078 ; at its dissolution there were 21 nuns, and the revenues were estimated at £284. The renowned John Bunyan, author of " The Pilgrim's Progress," was born in this village in 1628 ; the son of a tinker, he was received into the ministry of the Baptists, and for preaching imprisoned in Bedford gaol 1660-72, afterwards was pastor of a chapel in Bedford ; he died in London in 1688, and was buried in Bunhill Fields burial ground. The ancient mansion known as Medbury Farm, one mile south-east, has been removed and the stone used for building purposes. Samuel Whitbread esq. D.L., J.P. of Southill, Biggleswade, is lord of the manor and principal landowner. The soil is gravelly near the town of Bedford, but towards the south of the parish deep loam and clay ; subsoil, clay. The chief crops are wheat and barley. The area is 1,612 acres of land and 5 of water ; rateable value, £7,924 ; the population in 1891 was 478.
[Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
Genweb Bedfordshire contains a descriptive page about Elstow
Find help, report problems, and contribute information.
[Last updated 7 May 2006 Martin Edwards]