Stevington
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Stevington is a village and
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in the
Borough of Bedford Bedford, or the Borough of Bedford, is a Districts of England, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It is administered by Bedford Borough Council, ...
in northern
Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...
, England. It is on the
River Great Ouse The River Great Ouse ( ) is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the ...
four to five miles northwest of
Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
. Nearby villages include Bromham, Oakley, Pavenham and Turvey. West End lies northwest of the village, and forms part of the same civil parish. The village has a fine Medieval Church as well as a number of
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
s spanning the centuries. The first church on this site was probably a wooden building constructed during the
Anglo Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to Ge ...
period between 886 and 1016; this was later replaced by a stone building.


History

The earliest surviving part of the present-day church is the lowest third of the tower which probably dates from the early 10th century. As the population and wealth of the village grew so too did the church buildings. This culminated in the fifteenth century with the raising of the church roof and the raising of a second stage to the tower. In 1872 the church was reopened after restoration amounting to £1927. The church has an associated
holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, Spring (hydrosphere), spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christianity, Christian or Paganism, pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualitie ...
. The holy well is to the north of the church and has never been known to freeze or to fail in times of drought. In the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
various miraculous powers were ascribed to the waters, particularly in respect to curing ailments of the eyes. It has been suggested by some researchers that the waters may have been the site of earlier veneration, possibly dating back to the Iron Age. The area around the well is protected as there is a proliferation of Petasites hybridus, a plant commonly known as butterbur, so named because its leaves were commonly used to wrap butter in times past. The village appears in the
Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
(1086) and has been chronicled in a series of publications by the Stevington Historical Trust including ''Stevington, The Village History'', ''Stevington, a Village in Pictures'', ''Historic Walks in Stevington'' and a forthcoming study and book about the
natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
of Stevington. The village is also known for being the home of Kathy Brown's garden, a fine landscaped garden open to the public on a number of occasions throughout the year and designed and owned by the
landscape gardener Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructi ...
Kathy Brown. The gardens are in the grounds of the Old Manor House in Stevington. One of England's finest examples of a 'post mill' windmill is another prominent feature of the village that can be seen clearly on entering the village from the east. The windmill is open to the public and may be accessed via a public footpath leading from Mill Farm. Keys to the windmill can be obtained from either public house The Royal George (freehouse), or The Red Lion (Greene King tied). Stevington won the accolade of "Best Kept Village" in 1965,1969,1979 and most recently in 1985. Stevington was a location for much non-conformist activity, prominent because it is exactly from Bedford, allowing Baptist activities to occur under the laws of the 17th and 18th centuries. A fine Baptist Chapel is found at the West End of the Village and it is reputed that
John Bunyan John Bunyan (; 1628 – 31 August 1688) was an English writer and preacher. He is best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress'', which also became an influential literary model. In addition to ''The Pilgrim' ...
preached in the field at Meeting Farm


Windmill

The mill operated commercially, mostly grinding cattle feed, until 1939. It was purchased and restored in 1951 by
Bedfordshire County Council Bedfordshire County Council was the county council of Bedfordshire in England. It was created in 1889 and abolished in 2009. Throughout its existence, the council was based in Bedford. Luton was a county borough independent from the county cou ...
, as part of the county's contribution to the
Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Labour Party cabinet member Herbert Morrison was the prime mover; in 1947 he started with the ...
. Stevington Mill was probably the last windmill in Britain working with four common (cloth covered) sails, which were replaced in 1958 and again in 2004, the latter after a seven-year absence. The sails are turned periodically and the machinery, though requiring constant maintenance, is in rough working order.


References


External links


St Mary The Virgin, Stevington

The Website of the Parish Council of Stevington

Website of the Stevington Historical Trust


{{authority control Villages in Bedfordshire Civil parishes in Bedfordshire Borough of Bedford