Bolnhurst

Bolnhurst is a village in the civil parish of Bolnhurst and Keysoe, in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire. The village is about 7 miles (11 km) north-northeast of Bedford and about 6 miles (10 km) west of St Neots.

Bolnhurst

St Dunstan's parish church
Bolnhurst
Location within Bedfordshire
OS grid referenceTL086597
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBedford
Postcode districtMK44
Dialling code01234
PoliceBedfordshire
FireBedfordshire and Luton
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
WebsiteBolnhurst and Keysoe Parish Council

The name is derived from the Old English bula-hyrst, meaning "wooded hill where bulls are kept".[1]

History

Bolnhurst grew up around the main road between Bedford and Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire. the Domesday Book of 1086 lists it as Bulehestre or Bolehestre. At that time the manor was held by Thorney Abbey. The Abbey retained Bolnhurst until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century.[2]

After inclosure of the parish in 1778, Arthur Young, despite never having visited the village, described Bolnhurst as:

a wet heavy bad country very disadvantageously circumstanced respecting roads, for every way around they are almost impassable... after inclosing fell into bad hands, they laid much of it down to grass in as bad order as possible, and it has continued so ever since in as rough and ill conditioned and unprofitable a state as can be well conceived... It should seem that corn has there been lessened without making amends for the loss by ample products of new grass.[3]

Parish church

The Church of England parish church of St Dunstan is about 2⁄5 mile (1 km) southwest of the current village. The earliest part of the present building is the 13th-century chancel. The chancel arch and three of the nave windows are 14th-century, including a three-light Decorated Gothic traceried one on the south side. But most of the nave is now Perpendicular Gothic, including two transomed and traceried windows on the north side.[4]

Inside the nave over the north door is the remains of a large medieval wall painting of St Christopher. In the northeast corner of the nave are monuments to two members of the Francklin family: John (died 1707) and Dame Dorothy (died 1727).[5]

St Dunstan's is a Grade II* listed building.[6] The ecclesiastical parish is part of the Benefice of Keysoe with Bolnhurst and Little Staughton.[7]

The tower has a ring of four bells. John Dier of Hitchin, Hertfordshire cast the second and third bells in 1587. One of the Newcombe family of bellfounders from Leicester cast the tenor bell in 1618. Alfred Bowell of Ipswich, Suffolk cast the treble bell in 1907.[8]

Culture and community
The Plough pub

Bolnhurst has a pub, The Plough,[9] which is a 17th-century Jacobean building.[10]

Since 1984 Bolnhurst has hosted the annual Bolnhurst Vintage and Country Fayre, which is a rally of historic tractors, cars and other vehicles.[11]

gollark: 011d3b0 ecda fe42 f33d d112 2b8c 7e1d 24d2 11e5011d3c0 2475 ae6a bb0f 0c59 592b 3e75 6074 5f61011d3d0 ff42 a907 c773 c81f 3095 97ba 7fe2 5270011d3e0 c021 d886 1dfc 01eb f22a 0174 38cb ab3e011d3f0 2476 6efa 2bb0 6dde cd92 0222 5467 7221011d400 bb13 2647 77f7 8c51 6206 e40d 3c85 117c011d410 86bb 928f 2234 bb31 298e dd89 7209 6a00011d420 49b1 182b 52fc 6659 f720 c14c 7064 213c011d430 be13 5b7f 36db 9228 232a be39 1c9e 4065011d440 3e92 3fa8 a538 8a60 c599 7c88 9f72 9748011d450 8a5d fc83 b21b e48d 666a 8670 3d61 0225
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References
  1. Mills & Room 2003
  2. Page 1912, pp. 124–128.
  3. Young, p. 41
  4. Pevsner 1968, p. 58.
  5. Pevsner 1968, p. 59.
  6. Historic England. "Church of St Dunstan  (Grade II*) (1114777)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  7. Archbishops' Council. "Benefice of Keysoe with Bolnhurst and Little Staughton". A Church Near You. Church of England. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  8. Pickford, Chris (13 June 2006). "Bolnhurst S Dunstan". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Central Council for Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  9. "The Plough Bolnhurst".
  10. Historic England. "Ye Olde Plough Public House  (Grade II) (1114783)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  11. "Bolnhurst Vintage & Country Fayre".

Sources
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