GenUKI Contents

Bedfordshire

HOLWELL

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"HOLWELL, a parish in the hundred of Clifton, county Bedford, 3½ miles north-west of Hitchin, its post town, and 4½ south of Shefford. The parish is of small extent, and is situated near the river Hiz. The tithes were commuted for 120 acres of land under an Enclosure Act in 1802. The living is a rectory (with parsonage and glebe) in the diocese of Ely, value £120. The church, which was repaired in 1845, is a stone edifice dedicated to St. Peter. The charities produce about £105 per annum, chiefly the proceeds of a property at East Greenwich, bequeathed to the parish by Mr. Rand in 1706. By order of the Court of Chancery, the accumulations of this fund were applied in 1831 to the building of a school, and a house for the incumbent. Here are almshouses for six inmates. Frederick Delme Radcliffe, Esq., is lord of the manor."

[The above was transcribed (and edited) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2023

Census

• The 1851 Census Index for Holwell can be found in the 1851 Index to Census of Bedfordshire, Volume 4, Book 1 available from the Bedfordshire Family History Society.

Churches

• St. Peter's Church, Holwell.

Church History

• Church of England
  • The church of St. Peter is an ancient building of stone, originally Perpendicular, but much modernised, and consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and a western tower containing a clock and 2 bells : there is a small and curious brass to Robert Wodehouse, priest, 1515, a benefactor to the church: the church was restored in 1877, at a cost of £2,500, and reopened May 8th, 1879, by the Bishop of Ely. The register dates from the year 1560. [Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]

Church Records

• Church of England
  • The parish record transcripts for St. Peter are available on microfiche for the period 1560-1812 from the Bedfordshire Family History Society.

Gazetteers

• A transcript of the Holwell parish entries from Samuel Lewis's 1831 Topographical Dictionary of England,
• A transcript of the Holwell parish entries from Samuel Lewis's 1835 Topographical Dictionary of England,
• A transcript of the Holwell parish entries from The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1866-9
• A transcript of the Holwell parish entries from Kelly's 1898 Directory of Bedfordshire