In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Kempston like this:
KEMPSTON, a village and a parish in the district and county of Bedford. The village stands on the river Ouse, 2½ miles SW of Bedford r. station; and has a postoffice under Bedford. The parish comprises 5, 160 acres. Real property, £10, 868. Pop. in 1851, 1, 962; in 1861, 2, 1 91. Houses, 478. The property is much subdivided. The manor house is the seat of the Williamsons; Hoo House, of Barnard Talbot, Esq.; Kempston House, of Capt. B. Newland; and the Grange, of H. Littledale, Esq. ...
Springfield House, standing on a plot of 18 acres, is a private lunatic asylnm. Roman coins, an ancient spur, and indications of a large Saxon cemetery have been found. Kempston Wood is a meet for the Oakley hounds. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely. Value, £350. * Patron, J. D. Allcroft, Esq. The church is partly Norman; has decorated clerestory, aisles, and S porch; has a tower partly Norman, partly later; was restored in 1864; and contains a decorated font. Another church, St. John's, was erected in 1868. There are chapels for Baptists, Wesleyans, and Primitive Methodists, a national school, and charities £46. An extensive Saxon burying place was recently discovered, containing a large number of skeletons, an ancient British coin, two coins of Constantine, a variety of weapons, a unique drinkingcup, and a great variety of Saxon ornaments.
Kempston through time
A Vision of Britain through Time includes a large library of local statistics for administrative units. For the best overall sense of how the area containing Kempston has changed, please see our redistricted information for the modern district of Bedford. More detailed statistical data are available under Units and statistics, which includes both administrative units covering Kempston and units named after it.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Kempston, in Bedford and Bedfordshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/392
Date accessed: 20th May 2013
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