BED 



145 



BED 



Bedford and Temesford : but in 1011 the county returned 

 under the sway of Ethelred. 



An account of the castle of Bedford, and the historical 

 circumstances connected with it, has been given in the 

 article BEDFORD. 



It is supposed that all the other baronial castles in the 

 county of any note had been destroyed in the reign of John ; 

 and it is perhaps owing to this that we read of so few occur- 

 rences in Bedfordshire during the civil war of the Roses. 

 This county was the scene of few conspicuous events during 

 the civil war between Charles I. and his parliament. 



Bedfordshire possessed several monastic establishments. 

 There were six ' greater monasteries,' i. e. monasteries pos- 

 sessing above 2001. clear yearly revenue at the time of the 

 Dissolution: viz., Elstow Abbey, near Bedford, for Bene- 

 dictine nuns, founded in the time of William the Conqueror 

 by his niece Judith ; gross yearly income 325/. 2.?. \d., clear 

 income 284/. 12s. \\d. Dunstable Priory, for Black Canons, 

 was founded by Kii:g Henry I. in the latter part of his 

 reign ; at the Dissolution the gross revenuewas 402/. 14s. id., 

 and the clear revenue 344/. 13*. 3d. per annum. Wardon, 

 or Warden, otherwise De Sartis Abbey (Warden, ouce a 

 market town, is to the right of the road to Bedford, between 

 Shefford and that town), was founded by Walter Espec, 

 in 1 1 35, for Cistercian monks ; at the Dissolution it had 

 442/. 1U. llil. gross, or 389/. 16?. 6d. clear yearly revenue. 

 Woburn Abbey and Chicksands Priory, near Shefford, have 

 been already noticed. Newenham Priory, near Bedford, 

 was founded in the time of Henry II. by Simon Beauchamp, 

 who removed hither a priory of Black Canons from St. 

 Paul's, Bedford ; the gross yearly revenue of Newenham 

 Priory at the Dissolution was 343/. 15s. 5d., the clear re- 

 venue 2'J3/. 5*. 11</. There were many minor establish- 

 ments, priories, nunneries, hospitals, &c. 



Of these monastic establishments there are no consider- 

 able remains, except of Dunstable Priory, Elstow Abbey, 

 Xi-.venham and Chicksand's Priory, the last of which has 

 been already noticed. The parish churches of Dunstable 

 and Elstow were the conventual churches ; indeed Dun- 

 sta'ile church is only the nave of the original structure. 

 These exhibit the Norman intermingled with the early 

 English style of architecture. 



Among 'the parochial churches of this county are some 

 relics of early architecture. The nave of Pudington church, 

 in the north-west extremity of the county, has the semi- 

 circular arch and zigzag moulding characteristic of the 

 Norman, or, as some call it, the Saxon style : the same 

 style is also conspicuous in the south door of St. Peter's at 

 Bedford, and in the doors of the churches at Elstow, Flit- 

 wick, and a chapel at Mcppcrshall. The early English 

 is to be traced in the churches of Felmersham, on the 

 Ouse, not far below Harrold; Eaton Bray and Studham, 

 both in the southern extremity of the county ; Barton in 

 the Clay, between Luton and Bedford ; Leighton Buz- 

 zard : and, though in a small degree, Luton. The deco- 

 rated English style, which prevailed in the fourteenth century 

 and succeeded the early English, is to be traced in Low 

 Smidon and Ampthill churches; in St. Paul's, Bedford ; in 

 Silsoc Chapel, and in some churches already mentioned. 

 Dunstablo, Leighton Buzzard and Luton churches are per- 

 haps the best deserving of examination of any in the county. 



It does not appear that there are any remains of baronial 

 castles in Bedfordshire, except the earth works which mark 

 their sites, and which may be observed at Bedford, Eaton- 

 Socon, and other places. 



Education, School*, fyc. The parliamentary papers of 

 1820 exhibit a return of the state of education in this 

 county. The return was ordered by the House of Com- 

 mons to be printed, April 1, 1819. There were then forty- 

 two endowed schools, exclusive of the Harpur free-schools at 

 Be Kurd, giving instruction to 2066 children, and possessing 

 a revenue of 13'25/. per annum: of these schools four were on 

 the plan of Bell or Lancaster, and had in them 655 children. 

 Of unendowed day-schools the return was as follows : 



National and Lancasterian schools 

 Common day-gchools . 



Dames' schools 



School!. 



6 



42 

 46 



Endowed 



Unendowed day-schools 94 

 42 



Total 



13C 



Scholars. 



319 



1149 



849 



'2317 

 2066 



"4383 



Of the 4383 children taught in the day-schools, endowed 

 and unendowed, 2587 received a gratuitous education, and 

 1 796 paid for their instruction. There were at the same 

 time seventy-seven Sunday-schools giving instruction to 

 5060 children. 



An account of the Harpur charity will be found in the 

 article BEDFORD. 



The free-school at Wohurn is not endowed, but has 

 been supported since 1582, by the successive earls and 

 dukes of Bedford. The school is now on the Lancasterian 

 system, and contains 150 boys. The master's stipend (50/. 

 per annum) is paid by the Duke of Bedford, who also keeps 

 the school premises in repair. (Reports of the Commis- 

 sioners appointed to inquire into Charities.) 



The report of the National Society for promoting 

 the Education of the Poor, for 1832, gives an account of 

 the state of education in the county of Bedford, but the 

 account includes only schools connected with the Church 

 of England ; and it is further incomplete from the circum- 

 stance, that from thirty-nine parishes or parochial ehapel- 

 ries no return had been made. The account states, that 

 there were forty-three Sunday and daily schools, and fifty- 

 two schools held on Sunday only. In schools of the former 

 kind 1287 hoys and 1254 girls were instructed; and in 

 those of the latter kind 1771 boys and 1957 girls ; making 

 a total of 3058 boys and 3211 girls, or 6269 children. The 

 population of the county in 1831 was 95,383. 



Population. Bedfordshire is the most purely agricultural 

 county in England, having the smallest proportional number 

 of inhabitants engaged in manufactures and trade. Indeed, 

 it can hardly be said that the county contains any persons 

 engaged in manufactures. At the census of 1831 it was 

 found that thirty-eight males above twenty years of age 

 were so employed, but these few persons might with equal 

 propriety have been included among the class engaged in 

 trade or handicraft, their employment being for the most 

 part that of straw-platting. Bedfordshire is one of the very 

 few counties which has maintained, relatively to other 

 counties, the same position as regards the employment of 

 the people at each of the enumerations of 1811, 1821, and 

 1831. The proportions in which the inhabitants were em- 

 ployed at e^ch of those dates were as follows : 



1811. 1821. 1831. 



AgricuUure . 



Trade, manufactures, &c. 

 Other classes . 



63' 1 



27-9 

 9- 



61'9 



27'8 

 10-3 



56'8 



2.5 ' 7 

 17-5 



100 



100 100 



The proportions for all England were: 

 Agriculture . 34' 7 33' 27'7 



Trade, manufactures, &c. 45'9 47'6 43'1 



Other classes . 19'4 19'4 29"2 



100 



100 



100 



The diminution in the proportion of families in Bedford- 

 shire engaged in agriculture in 1831 was not sufliciently 

 great to place the county in this respect after any other. 



The population of Bedfordshire at each of the four enu- 

 merations made in the present century was as follows: 

 1801 . 63,393 



1811 . 70,213 increase 10'75 per cent. 



1821 . 83,716 19-23 



1831 . 95,483 13'93 



showing an increase in the course of thirty years of 32,090 

 souls, or 50$ per cent. 



The ages of the population were ascertained in 1821, at 

 which time there were in Bedfordshire, 



MMes. Females. Total. 



Under 20 years old . . 20,967 20,955 41,922 



Between 20 and 40 . . 10,085 12,461 22,546 



Between 40 and 60 . . 6,298 6,725 13,023 



Above 60 years . . . 3,031 3,175 6,206 



Ages unknown ... 4 15 19 



40,385 43,331 83,716 



The following summary of the population, as it stood at 

 the last enumeration in May, 1831, is taken from Mr. 

 Rickman's abstract of the returns, and exhibits a suffi- 

 ciently detailed account of the number and occupations of 

 the inhabitants of the county: 



NO. 223. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



VOL. IV.-U 



