The Community of Chellington in General
Chellington is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Carlton and Chellington. It is situated approximately 7 miles from Bedford town centre.
Landscape
Volume III of The Victoria County History for Bedfordshire was published in 1912; at that time the parish comprised 1,530 acres, of which 692 are arable land, 614 pasture and grass and 23 woods and plantations. Chellington is separated from Harrold and Odell by the River Ouse, and here the land is liable to flood. Chellington received an enclosure award in 1805.
Name
According to Mawer and Stenton’s book ‘Bedfordshire Place Names’, the name Chellington is believed to a womans name derived from Ceolwynne-tun ‘farm of Coelwynn’.
- 1242: Chelinton
- 1247: Cheluinton
- 1273: Chelington
- 1290: Chelwenton
- 1304: Chelwintone
- 1400: Chelvington
- 1765: Chillington
Administrative History
Chellington is an ancient parish in the Willey Hundred which includes: Biddenham, Bromham, Felmersham, Harrold, Odell, Stevington and others. There are two tiers of local government covering Chellington, at parish and unitary authority level: Carlton with Chellington Parish Council and Bedford Borough Council. The parishes of Carlton and Chellington were merged in 1934 and until 1974 were part of Bedford Rural District.
Population
The Domesday Book of 1086 contains an entry for Chellington showing it had 23 households comprising of 14 villagers, 5 smallholders and 4 slaves. As these individuals would have been heads of households, this number should be multiplied by at least four to provide an idea of the actual figure.
- 1086: 92
- 1801: 112
- 1841: 125
- 1881: 97
- 1901: 87
- 1911: 113
- 1931: 78