Harrowden Maps

The following maps are only a selection of those held at Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service. Cardington, including Cotton End, was inclosed in 1808. The map below accompanied the inclosure award. To see a larger version please click on the image.

Harrowden about 1808 [MA39/2]

Tithes were, originally, a tenth of one’s household produce, usually an arable crop such as wheat or barley but possibly livestock or manufactured produce such as shoes, given to support the local priest. They were divided into great and little tithes. Great tithes consisted of grain or large animals such as cattle. Little tithes were fruit, vegetables or other small crops and smaller farm animals such as poultry. By the 19th century this archaic practice had long been replaced by monetary tithes. The Tithe Commutation Act of 1836 finally made it compulsory to replace these archaic tithes with monetary payments. The payment was calculated on the seven year average of prices for the particular commodity derived from the land in question and was worked out by the parties involved – parson, landowners or tenants if the land was not owner-occupied. The map below dates to 1840 when Cardington's tithe rent charges, as they were now known, was apportioned. To see a larger image, please click on the map.

Harrowden in 1840 [MAT9/1]

The two maps below were produced by the Ordnance Survey. They belong to the 25 inches to the mile series which gives good detail. One map is the first edition of 1883 and the other is the second edition of 1901. Again, to see a larger version please click on the appropriate image

Harrowden in 1883