Bedfordshire 
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GOLDINGTON, a parish in the hundred of BARFORD, county of BEDFORD, 1¾ mile (N. E. by NE.) from Bedford, containing 496 inhabitants. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Lincoln, rated in the king's books at £8.9.4½., and in the patronage of the Duke of Bedford. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. The navigable river Ouse bounds the parish on the south. There is a lofty conical mound, the remains of an ancient fortification, called Castle hill. In the reign of Henry II., Simon Beauchamp founded a monastery in honour of St. Paul, and removed hither the Black canons of the priory of St. Paul's, Bedford; at the dissolution its revenue was estimated at £343.15.5.
[A Topographical Dictionary of England - Samuel Lewis - 1831]
The 1851 Census Index for Goldington 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 St. Mary, standing on high ground, is an edifice of stone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, south transept and porch, and a tower containing 4 bells : there is one stained window, a few brasses, and some monuments : in 1859 the church was thoroughly renovated, and in 1876 the chancel was restored and new roofed, at a cost of £145: in 1879, an organ was introduced at a cost of £250, raised by voluntary subscription. The register dates from the year 1559.
[Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
Non-conformist
The Congregationalists (Bunyan Meeting) have a chapel here.
[Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
Church of England
The parish record transcripts for St Mary are available on microfiche for the period 1559-1812 from the Bedfordshire Family History Society.
Newnham Priory, anciently existing here, was founded in 1247, temp. Henry III. by noise de Beauchamp, and colonised by Austin canons from the collegiate church of St. Paul at Bedford ; at the Dissolution there were 16 canons, and the revenue was estimated at £293 ; the priory afterwards fell into private hands and the manor added to the honor of Ampthill. Some remains are still standing on the banks of the Ouse. About three-quarters of a mile east, on the north side of the river Onse, is a high conical mound, the only remains of an earthwork called " Risinghoe Castle." Newnham is the southern part of the parish and here are the outfall works of the Bedford sewage. Goldington Hall, a mansion charmingly situated, is the residence of William Marsh Harvey esq. Goldington Grange, a modern brick house belonging to Cecil Grimshawe esq. is at present (1898) unoccupied. Goldington Bury, the property of Major Shuttleworth, of Old Warden Park, has finely timbered grounds of over 40 acres and is occupied by Griflith Jones esq. The principal land-owner is Major Frank Shuttleworth J.P. of Old Warden Park, Biggleswade.
[Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
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[Last updated 26 May 2003 Martin Edwards]