Parish church:
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1641
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1602
Nonconformists include:
Parishes adjacent to Elstow
- Kempston
- Cardington Bedfordshire
- Wilshamstead
- Bedford St Mary
Historical Descriptions
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
ELSTOW, a village and a parish in the district and county of Bedford. The village stands on a branch of the river Ouse, near the Bedford branch of the North-western railway, 1¾ mile S by W of Bedford; and has a post office under Bedford, and fairs on 15 May and 5 Nov. A Benedictine nunnery was founded here, in the time of William the Conqueror, by Judith, the Conqueror’s niece, the Countess of Huntingdon; is said to have been very beautiful; and was called Helenstow, ultimately Elstow. John Bunyan, the author of the Pilgrim’s Progress, was a native of this village; and his cottage, in a renovated condition is still standing. The parish comprises 1, 522 acres. Real property, £3, 187. Pop., 618. Houses, 118. The property is all in one estate. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely. Value, £75. Patron, S.Whitbread, Esq. The church belonged to the nunnery; is Norman, with a steeple; has two brasses of 1427 and 1530; and includes a chapter-house. There are an Independent chapel, and charities £45.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850
Elstow, 2 m. S.W. Bedford. P. 562
Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850
Parish Registers
Elstow Parish Registers 1602 – 1812
Elstow Parish Registers 1602 – 1812
Elstow Baptisms 1602 – 1812
Elstow Marriages 1602 – 1812
Elstow Burials 1602 – 1812
Administration
- County: Bedfordshire
- Civil Registration District: Bedford
- Probate Court: Court of the Archdeaconry of Bedford
- Diocese: Pre-1837 – Lincoln, Post-1836 – Ely
- Rural Deanery: Bedford
- Poor Law Union: Bedford
- Hundred: Redbornestoke
- Province: Canterbury