ASPLEY-GUISE
[Transcribed and edited information from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868]
"ASPLEY-GUISE, a parish in the hundred of Manshead, in the county of
Bedford, 2 miles to the north of Woburn, its post town. It is situated in a
hilly and pleasant country on the borders of Buckinghamshire. Fuller's
earth was formerly obtained here; but the ancient pit has long been
disused, and is now adorned with fine trees. The living is a rectory* in
the diocese of Ely, value £325, in the patronage of the Duke of Bedford.
The church is dedicated to St. Botolph. There is an altar tomb in the
chancel with the figure of a knight, and a brass of one of the Guises, to
whom the manor belonged, and who had their seat here. Aspley Wood, which is
the property of the Duke of Bedford, is one of the finest pieces of
woodland now in England. Aspley-Guise House and Aspley House are the
principal residences."
[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2013
- Church of England
-
The church of St. Botolph is an elegant building in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles,
consisting of chancel, with organ chamber and vestry on the north, and a small chapel on the south,
clerestoried nave of four bays, aisles and an embattled western tower .with crocketed pinnacles and
containing a clock and 6 bells: the south aisle was added and the whole fabric greatly enlarged and
restored through the exertions and almost at the sole expense, as well as under the superintendence,
of the Rev. John Vaux Moore, formerly rector: the windows, twenty-eight in number, are stained: there
is a memorial window in the vestry to E.R.H. the Prince Consort, placed in 1862, and three memorial
windows in the south aisle to the Moore family: in the north aisle is an altar tomb, with fine brass
effigy, of a knight in plate armour, worn over a hauberk, to one of the Guise family, circ. 1490,
from whom the village derives its adjunct; there is also an ancient slab, from which a floriated cross
and marginal inscription are lost, but at the foot are figures in brass of a priest kneeling and St.
John the Baptist standing, c. 1410, and there is a tomb with life-sized effigy in stone to Sir - de
Tyrington, 1400; another marble monument is to the Rev. J. V. Moore: this pulpit is richly carved in
oak, representing the principal incidents in the life, of 0ur Lord: the church was restored in 1853,
and in 1884 the upper portion of the tower was rebuilt at a cost of £150, and the peaI of 4 bells
increased to 6.: the organ was enlarged in 1897; at a cost of £350 : in 1890 the church was entirely
restored, an organ chamber, vestries and chapel erected, and the interior reseated at a total cost of
£2,200: there are sittings for 325 persons : the burying-ground has been increased by the addition
of an acre, situated on the opposite side of the road, the gift ,of the Rev. H. R. Moody, late lord of the manor. The register dates from the year 1563.
[Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
- Non-conformist
- There are Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels.
[Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
- The BFHS Project in conjunction with Roll of Honour contains the
Aspley Guise War Memorial transcription for WW1 and WW2 with details of the men found on it.
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