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LANDOWNERS AND FARMSThe farms have played a major part in the life of the village. When talking of the farms, people often referred to them by the name of the farmer at the time, i.e. Tite’s Farm, Medlow’s Farm. To obtain the framework for these memories the records in the Archives at County Hall were consulted and are summarised here:From Kelly’s Directory 1894Principal Landowners Carlton
Chellington
Cowper, Earl (Francis Thomas de Grey Cowper KG PC) was Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, and had a country seat at Wrest Park, Ampthill. His estate included land in Yorkshire, Leicester, Essex and Bedfordshire. Walfords Country Families of the U.K. 1899 “Thomas Higgins, landowner, played the leading role in setting up the Reformatory School at Carlton in 1857. This institution was only a stone’s throw from his residence at Turvey House.” ‘Villages of the Ouse’ by Peter Grey “The living of Carlton, consolidated with that of Chellington, is a rectory, tithe rent change £8, joint net yearly value £330,including 413 acres of glebe with residence, in the gift of and held since 1876 by the Rev. William Henry Denison, M.A. of St. John’s College Oxford.”Kelly’s Directory 1894 From the Rates Map and Register for Carlton, Chellington & Harrold, compiled in 1910, was gleaned information concerning the ownership and occupation of farms and land. Lord Lucas, heir to the Earl Cowper, had inherited the estate. Together with much of the land in Harrold, including The Mansion, Lucas ownership accounted for Stayesmore Manor and Home Farm, Carlton Hall Farm and wood, and Marsh Farm. W.B. Battams, however, is listed as the occupier. Mr. Battams also farmed Rectory Farm land owned by the Rector of Carlton (which included land to the river down The Moor from the allotments to The Marsh, land now attached to New Barns Farm in The Causeway and farm buildings on the corner of The High Street and The Moor.) George Francis Higgins is shown to be the owner of Nicholas Farm which was occupied by Walter John Leaberry, and Northy Farm, which came under Reformatory management. Hill House Farm was under the ownership of the Trustees of the late Miss Trevor of Tingrith and farmed by John Turney Sanders. Hill Farm, Chellington and Hill Lodge Farm, Chellington were also part of the estate in 1910, with the occupant listed as Sophia Medlow. Another landowner at this time was John Fairey of The Priory Farm Harrold (a holding of over 551 acres and The Slipe and Nunn Woods). The Register shows his ownership of Victoria Farm (occupier John Noble) and Village Farm (occupier F. Medlow). Fishers Farm was owned and run by the Eden family, as was Wykes Farm by William Mole. The Edens also farmed land which went with Piper’s Lodge, which was owned by F. Skevington. As well as the farming land, the distribution of other parcels of land listed in the 1910 Register showed allotments totalling over 26 acres, as follows:
The inclusion of this information from the records illustrates that in 1910 much of the land surrounding Carlton was part of larger estates or owned by the church. Entries in the 1914 edition of Kelly’s showed major changes in land ownership:The principal landowners of Carlton are given as Beds. County Council, Thomas Chas. Reg. Higgins, esq., Mr. Harold Fairey and the Rector. (This was a result of the sale of the Lucas Estate. In 1913 Beds. C.C. bought land in Carlton and Turvey, including Carlton Hall Farm and Stayesmore Manor; which was subsequently split up into smallholdings.) The principal landowners of Chellington are no longer the trustees of the late Miss Trevor, but Medlow Bros. and the trustees of the late John Fairey. Carlton Rectory Farm Estate was sold between 1916 and 1917. It included a brickfield on the Pavenham to Stevington Road, west-side, which still operated in 1898. By the time of sale, operation had ceased. In 1934 Carlton & Chellington became a civil parish, formed under the North Bedfordshire Review Order. In the 1936 edition of Kelly’s Directory, the principal landowners listed are:
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