Ampthill Church Repairs and Additions
There is a brass to Sir Nicolas Harvey (who attended Queen Catherine at Ampthill Castle) from 1532. There are also cornice marble monuments of 1672 and 1681 to Richard Nicholls of Ampthill Park who captured NewAmsterdam in 1664 and renamed it New York. The cannon ball which killed him at Sole Bay is in a steep pediment. There is a monument to the Second Earl of Upper Ossory, (who died in 1818) in the form of a marble column on an inscribed pedestal, in the chancel.
Most of the structural history of the church can be found in detail in Bedfordshire Historical Record Society Volume number 73 Bedfordshire Churches in the Nineteenth Century: Part I: Parishes A to G, put together by former County Archivist Chris Pickford from numerous sources some held by Bedfordshire Archives and some held elsewhere or published.
In 1696 a private pew was constructed for Lord Ashburnham of Ampthill Park in the south aisle. Sir Christopher Wren and his pupil Nicholas Hawksmoor were involved in the design and the pew was built by the King’s joiner, Alexander Fort. The pew was the subject of a heated legal dispute between Lord Ashburnham and Lord Ailesbury of Houghton House and was eventually removed in 1847. Lord Ailesbury had his own pew in the church and there are papers relating to other pews during the 18th century. In 1827 the church was described as being ‘crowded with pews and galleries’. Between 1823 and 1839 Archdeacon Bonney ordered several improvements to the pews and to the church interior.
In 1728 the pulpit was replaced and permission given to take down the chancel screen and alter some of the windows. It was probably at this time that the pulpit was placed centrally in the chancel arch where it stayed until 1847.
The church was restored in 1847-8 under James Tacy Wing of Bedford, who provided new seats and galleries in the nave; renewed the east window, repaired the roof and stonework, and added a small vestry on the north side of the chancel. In 1851-2 the church was lit by gas.
The tracery of the windows in the south aisle was renewed in 1872-3. In 1877 the vestry was enlarged under James Piers St Aubyn. In 1889-91 alterations were made to the chancel under William M Fawcett who was the brother-in-law of the rector. These included the construction of a new organ chamber, alterations to the vestry and the introduction of the stone pulpit on the north side of the chancel arch. A new organ was installed in 1891; in the same year the original 14th century font was replaced by the present one.
A terrier of 1822 gives the dates of each of the five bells as 1725, 1811, 1665, 1768 and 1725. The bells were recast in 1898 and a sixth was added in 1899. In 1980 two more were added to make a ring of eight.
The galleries were removed in 1943. More recent work has included several new stained glass windows by Christine Boyce. A chapter house was built on the north side of the church in 1976.