In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Shefford like this:
SHEFFORD, a small town and a township-chapelry in Campton parish, Beds. The town stands on the river Ivel, and on the Midland railway, 9½ miles SE of Bed ford; consists of spacious, well-paved, cleanly streets; and has a post-office‡ under Biggleswade, a r. station with telegraph, a good inn, an ancient church restored and enlarged in 1850, Baptist, Methodist, and Roman Catholic chapels, and a weekly market on Friday, chiefly for the sale of straw-plait.—The chapelry comprises 1,120 acres. Real property, £2,454. Pop., 1,015. Houses, 216. The manor belongs to the Queen. Many fine Roman relics were found in a field adjoining the town, and were purchased for the Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge. The living is annexed to Campton. The poet Bloomfield died here.
Shefford 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 Shefford has changed, please see our redistricted information for the modern district of Mid Bedfordshire. More detailed statistical data are available under Units and statistics, which includes both administrative units covering Shefford and units named after it.
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