Licence for Mrs Okely’s barn

This is to Certifie whom it may Concern That Thomas Craner of Blunham in the County and Archdeaconry of Bedford and Mathew Basterfield of the Town and Archdeaconry of Bedford aforesaid Tayler have on this sixteenth day of October in the Year of Our Lord 1740 Certified to the Worshipfull Thomas Reynolds Esqr Master of Arts Commissary and Official of the Archdeaconry of Bedford that the Bam of Mrs Anne Okley scituate within the Parish of St Paul in the Town and County of Bedford aforesaid is intended to be made Use of for a place of Publick Worship for Protestants dissenting from the Church of England as by the Act of Toleration made in the first Year of the Reigns of King William and Queen Mary is allowed of Witness my hand the day and Year abovewritten.

William Frank Registrar

[BRO, MO 42]

Licence for the Bedford Chapel

To all to whom this may concern This is to Certify That George Tranker and William Vowell produced and filed a certificate to the Justices of the Peace Assembled at the General Quarter Sessions of the Peace held at the Town of Bedford in and for the said Town on Monday in the first week next after the Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel that is to say the first day of October in the Thirty third year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith etc. and in the year of our Lord one Thousand seven Hundred and Fifty nine Reciting that in the year of our Lord one Thousand seven Hundred and Fifty two the Chapel situated in the parish of St Peters in the said Town of Bedford was Registered in the Archdeacons Court of the said Town as a place appointed for the Religious Use of those of his Majestys Protestant Subjects known by the name of Unitas Fratrum And that a large Room had since then been Built adjoining to the said Chapel on the East side in the Ministers House on the second story And certifying that the said Room is appointed solely for Religious Uses and as a Vestry Room to the said Chapel

I have enormous admiration for people who with a rare mixture of tenacity, scholarship and flair are able to open up the past so that it enriches the present. Chris Pickford is one such person.

He has been researching the churches of Bedfordshire for very many years but has done so with a lightness of touch which belies the underlying hard work. We now have the result of this in front of us.

Yet again he has shown us the eccentricities, the skills, the dedication that each generation has put into the care of their church buildings and has reminded us that these buildings are treasure-houses of the spirit as well as places of prayer and service.

The rootlessness and restlessness of contemporary society is counterpointed by the stillness and centredness of many of our churches - and that is a significant part of their importance for us; but to be able to enter those churches accompanied by Chris Pickford's researches is to be even more fully enriched.

It is a great privilege to have been invited to write this Foreword and I do so in the belief that the churches of Bedfordshire will continue to be uniquely important resources for the well-being of mind and spirit for the life of our communities in the years ahead

SALFORD

The list of incumbents at Salford goes back to 1229, but the present church is entirely of later date. The nave and south aisle were built in the late C13th and the chancel in the early C14th The timber-framed north porch includes a beam with C13th dogtooth ornament. The nave roof dates from the C15th and there are some C15th pews. The church also has monuments to the Salford, Polein and Peddar families.

In 1552 it was noted that “the said churche and steple coveryd with lede and the chancell and porch tyled”. The inventory also lists the mediaeval plate, ornaments, and three bells one of which still hangs in the open bellcote over the west end of the church. In 1617 the church was reported to be out of repair. One of the bells was recast in 1626 and another (now lost) in 1661. Dates of 1632 on a beam in the nave roof and 1633 in the porch clearly relate to repairs at that time. A new chalice and paten were obtained in 1638. The plate was later supplemented by the gift of a salver (hallmarked 1763) in 1771 and a flagon in 1802.

In 1750 the benefices of Hulcote and Salford were united, and from this date the churches share a similar history. Salford Vicarage was demolished when the Rectory at Hulcote was repaired and enlarged in 1824.

At some time around 1760, the original “steeple” over the west end of the church was taken down and replaced by a new tower of brick with comer pinnacles, pyramid roof and weathervane. When William White reported on the condition of the church in 1866 he considered the tower to have been built about a hundred years earlier. He also noted that it was built from the oak beams which carried the original bell turret. There was also a west gallery under the belfry. At about the same time, c.1760, the chancel was partially rebuilt and a plaster ceiling erected. Visiting in 1827, Boissier described Salford as “a small poor Decorated church with low tower & N porch”. Some repairs were ordered by Bonney in 1823 and 1833.

In 1836 the church was re-pewed, the south doors stopped up and other improvements carried out at the expense of the parish. Hulcote church was also repaired after the work at Salford had been completed.