GenUKI Contents

Bedfordshire

TILSWORTH

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"TILSWORTH, a parish in the hundred of Manshead, county Bedford, 3½ miles north west of Dunstable, its post town. The village is near the ancient Watling Street. The living is a vicarage (with parsonage and glebe) in the diocese of Ely, value £47. The church, dedicated to All Saints, contains some old tombs and effigies. The parochial charities produce about £20 per annum. The executors of the late Sir E. P. Turner, Bart., are lords 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 Tilsworth can be found in the 1851 Index to Census of Bedfordshire, Volume 5, Book 2 available from the Bedfordshire Family History Society.

Churches

• The following Churches have their own websites:
  • All Saints Church, Tilsworth

Church History

• Church of England
  • The church of All Saints is a structure of the Decorated and Perpendicular periods, consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle with porch and a low western embattled tower, containing, 5 bells: the chancel and north side of the nave are Decorated, and the latter has a sepulchral recess with a deeply moulded arch, crocketed and foliated and retaining one pinnacle; within, on a low altar-tomb, is a full-length recumbent effigy of an ecclesiastic in a chasuble, the head resting on two cushions; the front of tomb is panelled in quatrefoils: there are two tombs in the chancel one in memory of Gabriel Fowler, another to Sir Henry Chester knt. With effigy of himself, wife and son: near the south door is a stone slab, with traces of an incised effigy and an inscription in Norman-French to Adam de Tullesworth, supposed to be the founder of an older church on the site of which the present church stands; there is also a very ancient tablet to Mary Willowbi: there are four stained windows. The register dates from the year 1649. [Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
• Non-conformist
  • Here is a Wesleyan chapel, built 1862. [Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]

Church Records

• Church of England
  • The parish record transcripts for All Saints are available on microfiche for the period 1649-1812 from the Bedfordshire Family History Society.

Description and Travel

• The Manor farm-house, situated near the church, is built on the site of the old Manor house demolished about the year 1800, and some fine old architectural remains brought to light. The poor's land produces £8 yearly. The trustees of the late Sir E. H. Page Turner bart. are lords of the manor and principal landowners. The soil is of a clayey nature; subsoil, varied, chalk and clay. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats, beans and peas. The area is 1,246 acres ; rateable value, 1,209; the population in 1891 was 219. [Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]

Gazetteers

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

Military History

• The BFHS Project in conjunction with Roll of Honour contains the Tilsworth War Memorial transcription, with details of the men found on it.