Chalton and South Mills in General

The flat countryside at Chalton October 2009

Landscape

Chalton is a flat, low-lying settlement with the River Ivel running close to the eastern boundary. Chalton Farm stands at 112 feet above sea level wheeras South Mills is just 70 feet.

The solid, or underlying, geology is Oxford Clay, a mudstone laid down between 154 and 164 million years ago during the Jurassic Period under warm, shallow seas. The top soil at Chalton is till, whereas at South Mills it is alluvium - a riverine mixture of clay, silt, sand and gravel. Further from the river are river terrace deposits of sand and gravel.

Chalton Farm August 2009

Name

The name Chalton is from the Old English "ceorl" (peasant or freeman) and "tun" (farm) - Peasant's Farm. The name is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 and has had a number of variations:

• Cerlentone: 1086;
• Cherleton: 1173-1428;
• Cherlton: 1227;
• Charleton: 1240-1535;
• Chelton: 1242;
• Chauton: 1250;
• Chaltone: 1276-1369;
• Chaulton: 1766.

 
Chalton and Ewelme Terraces March 2007

Administrative History

Chalton is a hamlet of Mogerhanger. Care must be taken not to confuse it with another, bigger, Bedfordshire hamlet called Chalton which is part of Toddington. It was a hamlet of Blunham until 1866 when Mogerhanger became an independent civil parish.