The Parish of Dunton in General

This page was written by Carol Walden

Landscape

Dunton, with its hamlets of Millow and Newton, lies 3 miles to the east of Biggleswade with Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire on the boundary to the south east, separated by the River Rhee. To the south Ashwell Road forms the boundary. The neighbouring parishes, clockwise from the south, are Edworth, Biggleswade, Sutton and Eyeworth. These originally formed part of the Biggleswade Hundred.

The parish parish covers just under 2650 acres comprising 1,854½ of arable land, 263¼ of permanent grass and 2 woods and plantations. The high point of the parish measures 183 feet above sea level and its lowest is 104 feet.

A Bedfordshire Parish Survey report describes the area as comprising mainly gault clay which forms a gently undulating landscape. The underlying greensand outcrop forms a slight ridge running across the parish south to north. The heavy clay topsoil is rich agriculturally, but is poorly drained which is possibly why the main settlement and routes appear to have always been located upon the ridge.

To the west of Dunton the name Clay Pit Furlong suggests the exploitation of the clay. The 1770 map (ref: X1/75/1) records Brickhill Field to the north of Newton which suggests early brickmaking activity in the area.

Names such as Brick Kiln Close, Brick Yard Field and Brick Field indicate brickmaking prior to 1868, but no reference is made to brickmaking on the sales notice (ref: WG2359). Earlier maps of 1799 (ref: MA9/1-2) record Brick Kiln Close as Ten Acres Close (Brick Yard Field and Brick Field are not enclosed) which implies that brickmaking took place at some point between 1799 and 1868 when new farms were being built to the east of Millow in the former open fields. As field drainage was taking place at this time the BPS report presumes that not only bricks were being produced, but also field drainage tiles.

In the east of the parish narrow seams of nodules of phosphate marls (coprolites) run through the gault clay. The seams come to the surface near Church Farm, Millowbury Farm and Dunton Lodge Farm (ref: WG2359) and this is reflected in the field names such as Black Furlong (ref: X1/75/1), Blackwell Field (ref: MA9/1-2) and Black Hill Field (WG2359).These deposits enhance the quality of the land and some were extensive enough to be exploited in the 19th century. A sales notice in 1868 (ref: WG2359) shows that coprolite beds on Dunton Lodge Farm were being worked by the owner.

The area has been designated as part of the Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Claylands by Natural England and categorised as Dunton Clay Vale by Central Bedfordshire Council.

The main source of income in the parish has always been agriculture with the chief crops being wheat, barley, peas and oats in open field rotation. Sheep and cows were grazed on the common land. According to the 1877 Kelly’s Directory, the balance changed little post enclosure with wheat, barley, peas and beans as the main crops.

Early trade directories and parish register entries show employment is directly or indirectly connected to agriculture or the general life of the village.

In 1838 a survey (ref: P51/28/1) shows 10 large farms (between 150 to 450 acres) and 13 smaller farms (1 to 40 acres) in the area. The 20th century saw a trend towards market gardening with the major crop being Brussel sprouts by 1906 and potatoes by 1940. At the time of writing the BPS report (March 1978) cereals only formed a small part of production and the move to larger, more economical units meant that there were only seven large farms in the parish.

Name

Various sources record the evolution of the name Dunton. In the 11th century it is recorded as Donitone and Daintone and by 1185 this has become Duniton. Later versions include Dunton, Donton, Dutton, Dounton and Danton. Its roots appear to come from the Old English dun and tun meaning hill-farm reflecting its location on a ridge. Dunton probably means Duna's Farm.

1086: Donitone
1185: Duniton
1286: Dunton
1242: Dutton
1404: Dounton

The name of the hamlet now known as Millow has undergone its own development. It appears to have been first recorded as Melnho in 1062 evolving through various incarnations including Melehou, Mul(e)nho, Melho, Milcho, Mulho, Miln(e)ho, Milho and Millo.

1062: Melnho
1086: Melehou
1227: Mulho
1276: Milho
1423: Miln(e)ho

Administrative History

Dunton is an ancient parish in the Biggleswade Hundred. It includes the hamlets of Millow and Newton. The parish was inclosed in 1797 by Act of Parliament.

Prior to 1974 Dunton was part of Biggleswade Rural District Council. It then came under Mid Bedfordshire Council following the reorganisation of local government. Since 2009 it has been part of the Central Bedfordshire unitary authority in the Potton ward.

For judicial purposes it was included in the Biggleswade Petty Sessional Division which was created in 1830. Following the introduction of the New Poor Law in 1834 Dunton was one of the parishes which made up the Biggleswade Poor Law Union. At the time of writing (2021) it is part of the Mid Bedfordshire parliamentary constituency.

Population

The Domesday Book of 1086 contains an entry for Dunton listing a total of 16 villagers, 4 smallholders and 3 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. Two members of the parish died of the Black Death in 1348. The parish registers, which begin in 1553 (ref: P51/1), show further cases between 1555 and 1560. The peak appears to have been 1558 with 37 deaths and 1559 with 21.

1086: 92
1671: 276
1801: 336
1851: 467
1881: 477
1901: 392
1921: 390
1951: 450
1991: 604
2011: 696

List of sources at Bedfordshire Archives:

P51: Records for the parish of St.Mary Magdalene, including: registers of baptisms, marriages and burials; records relating to church property; account books of overseers of the poor; tithes; enclosures; settlement and removal papers; apprenticeship indentures;
PCDunton: Parish council records, including: minutes; financial records; documents relating to rights of way, planning and other local matters
PL/AC2/15: Parish Survey
SDDunton: Dunton School Records [National, Public Elementary, VC CPJ, VA CPJ, VA CPI, VC CPI, VC Lower]
Z50/27: Photographs of Dunton
Z1130/37: Postcards with pictures of Dunton
Z1306/37: Postcards with pictures of Dunton