Wilden, Bedfordshire

Wilden is a village and civil parish located in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England.

Wilden
Wilden
Location within Bedfordshire
Population399 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceTL096551
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBEDFORD
Postcode districtMK44
Dialling code01234
PoliceBedfordshire
FireBedfordshire and Luton
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament

Heritage

In 1870–1872, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Wilden as follows:

"WILDEN, a parish in the district and county of Bedford; 5 miles NE of Bedford r[ailway] station. It has a post-office under Bedford. Acres, 2,160. Real property, £2,765. Pop[ulation], 501. Houses, 112. The property is subdivided. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely. Value, £400.* Patron, Mrs. Chalk. The church is good; and there are an Independent chapel, an endowed school with £47 a year, and charities £26."[2]

Famous person

The scholar and Bible translator Francis Dillingham died here in 1625.[3]

Amenities

The village has a 14th–15th century Grade I listed Anglican church dedicated to St Nicholas.[4] There is a Baptist Chapel in Great Barford Road, with Sunday services held there three times a month. The chapel was probably founded in 1806, although its old Church Book has been lost.[5]

Wilden churchyard

Wilden Primary School is a Voluntary Aided Church of England school. It recently had 59 pupils, and a pre-school section for 10. It dates back to the 17th century and was rebuilt in the 19th. Additions were made in 1972, 1993, 2004 and 2013. It serves as a lower school within a group of schools called St Albans Cluster.[6][7]

There are five Grade II listed buildings in the village.[4] The single pub is called the Victoria Arms, but it is currently closed.[8] There is also a village hall available for local activities.

Wilsden is served by a daytime bus service: Grant Palmer No. 27S between Bedford and Ravensden. It runs four times a day on Monday to Saturday.[9]

Old photograph of Church Walk Wilden in about 1900, showing Village Farm, the Post Office (later known as Tudor Cottage), and St Nicholas Church

References
  1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  2. Quoted on Vision of Britain site. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  3. Wright, Stephen, "Dillingham, Francis (d. 1625)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
  4. Church site. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  5. Chapel site. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  6. Official school site. Retrieved 15 November 2018.]
  7. Report at the end of the 2017–18 school year.
  8. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  9. Bus company site with timetable. Retrieved 20 November 2018.

Media related to Wilden, Bedfordshire at Wikimedia Commons

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