Houghton Conquest
| Houghton Conquest | |
| Bedfordshire | |
|---|---|
 All Saints' Church, Houghton Conquest | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TL047416 |
| Location: | 52°3’47"N, 0°28’26"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Bedford |
| Postcode: | MK45 |
| Dialling code: | 01234 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Central Bedfordshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Mid Bedfordshire |
Houghton Conquest is a village in Bedfordshire. The parish also includes the hamlet of How End.
The village is in the Redbornestoke Hundred.
Parish church
The parish church is All Saints, which stands in the heart of the village. The Houghton Family Banner hangs in the church. Its east window displays particularly fine stained glass in east window. Its tower was built around 1400 and has been restored more recently.
History
The suffix "Conquest" in the name of the village is from the Conquest family who held the manor and lands in the area from the 13th century to the 18th century. [1]
The Church of All Saints was built in the village during the 14th century, and is today the largest parish church in Bedfordshire.[2] Features of interest include the wall paintings, sculpture, stained glass, benches and stalls.[3]
Manors
The Conquest family owned Conquestbury, a large manor which was left to ruin when the family left the area. The Conquestbury manor house stood near the southeast end of the village on the ground now known as Bury Farm, adjacent to London Lane. Parts of the original house were used to build a house in the 1850s, which today serves as a village shop.[4]
Houghton House was also built in the area in approximately 1615. In 1794, Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford stripped Houghton House of its furnishings and removed the roof. Today, the remains of Houghton House stand as ruins.
About the village
The village has a village shop, post office, Houghton Conquest Lower School, a village hall, and three pubs named The Knife and Cleaver, The Royal Oak</ref> and The Chequers</ref>
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Houghton Conquest) |
References
- ↑ Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; CP 40 / 677; 7th entry; "John Conquest, of Houghton, Beds, gent"
- ↑ "The knife and cleaver bedford pub and guest house". Theknifeandcleaver.co.uk. 2010-06-01. http://www.theknifeandcleaver.co.uk/. Retrieved 2012-10-13.
- ↑ Jones, Lawrence E. (1965) A Guide to Some Interesting Old English Churches. London: Historic Churches Preservation Trust; p. 9
- ↑ Parishes - Houghton Conquest - A History of the County of Bedford: Volume 3 (pp. 288-296)}}
- Eric Meadows (1975). Pictorial Guide to Bedfordshire. Luton, Bedfordshire: White Crescent Press Ltd. ISBN 0-900804-10-6.
