BEDFORDSHIRE. The article, in the original work, on this county, is almost exclusively confined to its ancient history, and its antiquities, and in the short notices which it gives on other points, it is by no means accurate. In this article, therefore, we shall attend to what is omitted or incorrect in the former.
This county possesses no natural limits, except the Ouse for a short space on the east and west sides, and a rivulet on the south-west border. It is situated between the parallels of 51.47 and 52.17 north latitude, and between 0.17 and 0.46 west longitude from Greenwich. According to the report to the Board of Agriculture, it contains 307,200 acres; according to the returns to Parliament of the poor-rates, drawn up under the inspection of Mr Rose, 275,200; and according to Dr Beeke, in his Observations on the Income Tax, 293,059. Nearly the whole of this county is situated on the eastern side of the grand ridge of the island, and consequently nearly all its waters drain off in that direction.
The face of the country is, in general, varied with small hills and valleys, and affords few extensive level tracts. The highest range of hills are the Chiltern, which cross a part, and skirt the remainder of the southern extremity of this county. This ridge frequently projects abruptly into the valleys in a striking manner. Under it is a large tract of hard, sterile land, which gives this part a dreary and uncomfortable appearance. The next most considerable range, in point of height, is of clay, crossing the county near its northern end. The next range is of sand, and enters the county on its western side, near Apsley-
Guise, and passes on in a north-eastern direction. The other ranges are for the most part of alluvial clay.
Four-fifths of the surface of this county are covered with alluvial soils, which consist principally of yellow and dark coloured clays. Fuller, speaking in general terms of its soil, gives a pretty just description of it, by saying, that it is a deep clay with
a belt or girdle of sand about, or rather athwart the body of it, from Woburn to Potton. This soil prevails in the north-west parts. From the south-eastern corner to the middle of the county, light loam, sand, gravel, and chalk predominate. The western part is, for the most part, flat and sandy. In the south-west, about Woburn, are large tracts of deep barren soil. Upon the gravel, in the bottoms of the vales in the sand district, there is a considerable quantity of peat, which contains a large quantity of sulphuric acid.
The uppermost stratum in Bedfordshire is a thick body of chalk, with numerous layers of flints. This advances no farther northward or north-west than Luton and Dunstable. Hard chalk, without flints, succeeds. Near the bottom of this is a very durable freestone. The upper and lower chalk strata are together about 400 feet thick. Chalk-marl succeeds the chalk. To the northward of Hockliff there are thick masses of alluvial clay. The ferruginous sand stratum of Woburn crosses the county, as has been already mentioned, from Woburn to Potton. It is about 170 or 180 feet thick. Near the bottom of it are beds of fuller's earth. This substance is found from five to seven or eight feet thick, between beds of sand or sandstone, over several hundred acres on the north-west of Woburn, both in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Formerly, the most extensive workings were in Apsley-
Guise parish, in the former county; but, at present, the only pit that is used is in Buckinghamshire. The site of Bedford is formed of a stratum of clunch clay; it is the thickest of the Bedfordshire strata, and extends for several miles to the south side of the county town. In some parts of this stratum, there are beds of argillaceous schist, so impregnated with a bituminous substance as to burn like bad coal. In the immediate site of the town of Bedford are several strata of grey compact limestone, which are probably the lowest strata in the county. The strata of Bedfordshire have a pretty regular dip towards the south-east, at the rates of 1 in 50 to 1 in 80.
Amongst the most rare of the indigenous plants of this county may be enumerated Lythrum hyssopifolium, grass-poly, or small hedge-hyssop, which grows plentifully in the fields between Oakley and Clapham; Campanula latifolia, giant throat-wort, and Eriophoron polystachion, cotton grass, near Dunstable; Geranium phaeum, spotted cranes-bill, near Eversholt; Hyoseris mincma, small swines' succory, near Apsley and Amphill; and Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, spiked star of Bethlehem, near Eaton-Locon. Dr Abbot, who has published a very ample Flora of the indigenous plants of this county, found the Euphorbia cyparissias, considered as a doubtful native plant, growing wild in Barton-
lect woods.
According to meteorological observations made at Leighton-Buzzard, the monthly mean for four years, ending the 1st of January 1804, of the barometer, was 29.520; of the thermometer, with a northern aspect, observed at eight o'clock in the morning, without the house, 47.2, within the house, 49.6; of rain, 1.93 inches; and of evaporation, 1.05. The most prevalent wind, during that period, was south-west by west.
Bedfordshire.
Rivers. The principal rivers in this county are the Ouse, the Ivel, and the Ouzel. The circuitous course of the first has been much exaggerated. As it is described on Jeffries's map, which was made by a trigonometrical survey, its course does not appear to be more than 45 miles. It enters this county from Buckinghamshire, in the parish of Turvey, and, taking a winding course through fertile meadows, passes the town of Bedford, from which it becomes navigable, and makes its exit into Huntingdonshire. Its stream is remarkably slow, except in time of floods, when it is liable to great inundations. Its average depth is about ten feet. The fish of the Ouse are pike, perch, bream, chub, bleak, cray-fish, eels, dace, roach, and gudgeon. The eels are of a very large size, in great abundance, and very fine. The Ivel enters Bedfordshire near Stodfield. At Biggleswade it becomes navigable, and at Tompsford falls into the Ouse. It is particularly famous for gudgeon. The Ouzel separates this county from Buckinghamshire, in its course to Leighton-Buzzard. The Lea rises in Bedfordshire, and runs through the whole extent of Luton parish. The Grand Junction Canal touches the borders of this county for about three miles, near Leighton-Buzzard.
Landed Property. There are several very large estates in Bedfordshire, the principal of which belong to the Duke of Bedford, the Marquis of Bute, the Earl of Upper Ossory, Lord St John, Earl Spencer, and Mr Whitbread. The principal agricultural products are corn and butter. Much of the former is sent down the Ouse to Lynn, and the latter goes principally to London by land-carriage. This county has been long noted for its abundant produce of fine wheat and barley. The vale of Bedford is one of the most extensive corn districts. The rich dairy ground principally extends in a line, from the middle of the county to the south-east corner. In some parts of Bedfordshire, especially in the parish of Sandy, garden vegetables are raised in considerable quantities for the supply of the neighbouring towns. The agriculture of this county, it is well known, was extremely indebted to the judicious and liberal patronage and example of the late Duke of Bedford. His favourite pursuits were experimental agriculture and the breeding of cattle. For these purposes, he kept several farms in his own hand. The principal farm-yard is in Woburn park. The buildings of every kind are upon the most extensive scale, and abound in every convenience. One of the most remarkable is the room constructed for showing the sheep at the annual shearing. On the farm at Woburn is a mill for malting, thrashing, winnowing, &c. The cultivation of woad, mentioned by former writers as carried on to a considerable extent in Bedfordshire, has long been laid aside. On what are called the "woodland soils," and on the colder parts of the alluvial clay, particularly the steep sides of the hills, in the northern and middle parts of the county, there are between 6000 and 7000 acres of very old wood. There are also about 500 acres on the sand, where also large plantations of fir have been made. A considerable part of the timber that is felled is sent to the sea coast by the Ouse.
Woburn. The principal manufactures are the plaiting of
straw, and making it into bonnets, &c. and thread-lace. The straw manufacture prevails, and latterly has much increased, in the neighbourhood of Dunstable and Toddington, and on the borders of Hertfordshire. The employment is deemed more healthy than that of lace-making, as the straw may be plaited by persons standing or walking. The earnings, even of those who make the coarse plait, are higher than those of the lace-makers; and the profit of making the fine plait is very considerable. Thread-lace, formerly known by the name of bone-lace, was for a long time the staple manufacture of this county; but latterly it has given way to the manufacture of straw; and has farther declined in consequence of the general introduction of cotton-lace. It is now made only in a very few villages in the neighbourhood of Buckinghamshire, and in the town of Bedford. It is not so fine in its texture as the lace made in some parts of Buckinghamshire. The average day's-work of an adult, when the manufacture flourished, was rather more than a shilling a-day; the children earning from threepence to sixpence. The posture in which the manufacturers sit, the sedentary nature of the employment, and the habit of working together in crowded rooms, ill ventilated, give the manufacturers a weak and sickly appearance. In the neighbourhood of Dunstable, there is a whiting manufactory, which employs a few people.
Bedfordshire.
Population. In the year 1377, the number of persons in this county who were charged to a poll-tax, from which the clergy, children, and paupers were exempted, amounted to 20,239. This tax was levied not long after a fatal pestilence. In the year 1700, the total population was estimated at 48,500; in 1750, 53,900. By the returns to Parliament, in 1801, the number of inhabited houses was 11,888; of uninhabited 185; the number of families was 13,980; the number of persons chiefly employed in agriculture was 18,766; the persons chiefly employed in manufactures, trade, and handicraft, 13,816; and persons to whom no occupation was assigned, and children, was 28,789; the total number of resident inhabitants was 63,393; of whom 30,523 were males, and 32,870 females. The population, in 1811, had increased to 70,213; of whom 33,171 were males, and 37,042 females; the number of inhabited houses was 13,286; of families 14,927; of houses building 139; of houses uninhabited 219;—the number of families employed in agriculture was 9431; and the annual value of the land at rack-rent was nearly L.280,000. The number of families chiefly employed in trade, manufactures, &c. was 4155; and the amount of annual profits was rather more than L.94,000. The number of people to a square mile was 171; the annual proportions of baptisms was 1 to 32 persons; of burials, 1 to 56; and of marriages, 1 to 126.
Poor-rates. In the year 1776, the amount of the poor-rates raised in this county was L.18,193; in the year 1784, L.22,638; and in the year 1803, L.47,484. This was at the rate of 8s. 9½d. in the pound, on a rental of L.248,600, or 14s. 9½d. a head, on the whole population. The total expenditure for the poor, in 1803, was L.38,070; nearly L.10,000 being ex-
pended in law-suits, county-rates, &c.; L.37,944 was distributed to 7276 persons, or 1 in every 8th of the whole population, the average allowance being 2s. a week. Of these paupers, 674 were wholly maintained in work-houses, at the average expence of L.12, 10s. 5½d. each annually, or 4s. 9½d. per week. There were at that time 2370 persons associated in 75 Friendly Societies: eight parishes in the county had schools of industry, in which 196 children were taught to work. Only an incomplete return has as yet been made to Parliament of the poor-rates, or other rate or rates raised in Bedfordshire, in the year ending 25th March 1815; six parishes out of the 140 having made no return; but it appears, from the return actually made, that 134 parishes paid, at that time, L.69,464, 6s. 3½d.
Remains of the earliest style of Gothic architecture are to be seen in this county, in the nave of Elstow church, in the west part of Folmeisham church, and in the west end of Dunstable church. Of the succeeding style of Gothic architecture, which prevailed during the fourteenth century, few examples are to be met with in Bedfordshire. Wymington church, however, though small, is an elegant specimen of it, and appears never to have been altered. Several of the Bedfordshire churches are in the latter style of Gothic architecture, which prevailed during the fifteenth, and the beginning of the sixteenth centuries. The churches of Northill, Wymington, Mayton, Eaton-Socon, Odill, Biggleswove, and St Paul's at Bedford, are in this style.
In the original work, there are notices of the history of this county till the time of Alfred. Nothing important occurred in it for several centuries afterwards. During the civil wars between the houses of York and Lancaster, it presents no remarkable events, probably in consequence of the destruction of its castles by King John, in his march northward. But Bedfordshire was one of the first counties that associated against Charles I.; and Lord Clarendon observes, that this was one of the counties in which the King had not any visible party, nor one fixed quarter.
To the notice of the town of Bedford, in the original work, some particulars may be added. It is 50 miles north-west by north from London; the latitude of St Paul's church, according to the government trigonometrical survey, is 52, 8, 8, 8, north; and its longitude 0, 27, 43, 3, west of Greenwich Observatory, or 1°, 50', 9, in time. The right of election is vested in the burgesses, freemen, and inhabiting householders not receiving alms; their number is about 1400. Besides its parish-churches, its public buildings, are a county-infirmary, a county-jail, and bridewell, a town-jail, and a county-hall. It is situate rather to the north of the centre of the
county, and in the midst of a very rich tract of land, called the Vale of Bedford. The Ouse is navigable from the Eastern Sea to this town. By its situation, on this river, the inhabitants carry on a considerable trade in forwarding the corn of the adjacent fertile country to Lynn; and in importing from thence coals, timber, wine, and groceries. The inundations of the Ouse have been more frequent and destructive latterly than they used to be, in consequence, it is supposed, of the many newly inclosed parishes, which drain into the river. There is sometimes a stagnation of water in the meadows of the Ouse, near Bedford, to the depth of 12 or 14 feet.
Thread-lace is the principal manufacture of the place. According to the Parliamentary returns of 1801, of 3948 inhabitants, which it then contained, there were 2236 females. This great disproportion between the sexes has been justly ascribed to the will of Sir William Harper, who, in the year 1561, bequeathed 13½ acres of land in the parish of St Andrew, Holborn, to the corporation of Bedford, for the support of a grammar-school, and the apportioning young women of the town upon marriage. The rent of this estate being now between L. 4000 and L. 5000, it may well be supposed that young women from the vicinity of Bedford are drawn into the town in the hope of getting apportioned and married. In 1811, the population of the town consisted of 2057 males, and 2548 females; the inhabited houses were 940, and the families inhabiting them 1099.
The principal market at Bedford, held on Saturday, on the north side of the river, is a considerable mart for corn. The Monday market, on the south side of the river, is chiefly for pigs. There are six annual fairs, besides a fair held in the vicinity at St Leonard's Farm.
It is generally supposed that Bedford is the Bedford of the Saxon Chronicle, where the battle was fought between Cuthwulf and the Britons in 572; it is said to have been the burial place of Offa, king of the Mercians. According to Doomsday-book, it was taxed as half a hundred, both for soldiers and shipping. Before the Conquest, there was a collegiate church here, dedicated to St Paul. The celebrated John Bunyan was porter of an independent meeting-house in Mill Lane, from 1671 till his death in 1688. His memory is much revered by the congregation, and the chair in which he used to sit is preserved as a relic in the vestry. The Moravians have had an establishment at Bedford ever since the year 1745.
See Bachelor's Agricultural Report of Bedfordshire; — Beauties of England and Wales, Vol. 1.; — Lyson's Magna Britannia, Vol. 1.; — Smith's Map of the Strata of England, with a Memoir. (c.)