Episcopal Visitations & Ecclesiastical Census

Episcopal Visitations for Henlow 1706-1720

Every few years the bishop visited the county to investigate the state of the clergy and parishes and to discover and correct any problems. Until 1837 this was the Bishop of Lincoln, whose diocese covered Bedfordshire. Returns were made by each parish for each visitation answering a series of questions which might include the number of families in the parish, the number who did not belong to the Church of England, provision for education, and so on.

Volume 81 published by the Bedfordshire Historical Records Society (2002) is devoted to returns made during episcopal visitations in the early 18th century, edited by former County Archivist Patricia Bell. It throws some interesting light on the general state of the church in each parish. The returns for Henlow are as follows:

• 1706: The Vicar was Mr Pemberton of Bedford; the Crown was the patron of the Church (had the right to appoint the Vicar). The parish had about 100 families, of which 15 were Dissenters (2 Quakers and the rest Independents). There were also ‘Six Women of the same sort, whose Husbands and families go to church’. There was no licensed meeting house for dissenters in the parish, and no ‘Papist [Roman Catholic], or reputed Papist’ living there. The Vicarage was funded through 1/3rd of the Great Tithes for the parish, and was worth about £80 p.a. There was no school, almshouse or hospital in the parish.

• 1709: The Vicar had been priested by the bishop of Gloucester on 19^th December 1675 and instituted to the parish of henlow on 11^th October 1681. There were 99 families in the parish, representing about 400 individuals, with two families of Quakers and 10 of Anabaptists etc., who met once a month in a licensed meeting house. There was a private school in the parish taught by a Dame. The only public charity was 5 rooms or dwellings called Town Houses, which did not have any endowment. All parishioners were baptised, but half the parish were not confirmed. About 30 parishioners received Communion, though only 20 had received at the previous Easter.

• 1712: The Anabaptists met about once or twice a quarter. The Vicar was resident at his Vicarage*. No one came to Church unbaptised, but several were not confirmed. Divine service was held twice every Sunday. Catechizing (religious teaching) was carried out all through the Summer half year. Communion was given four times a year, with due notice, and about 25 usually received. There had been no penances (religious punishment) or commutations since the last visitation.

• 1717: Of 99 families, 16 were Dissenters, all of them Independents and Anabaptists except for two single persons who were Quakers. There were two dwelling houses licensed as meeting houses where the Independents met occasionally when they could get speakers, but never on a Sunday. There were no charity schools, and only a few were taught by school Dames – they were instructed in the Church of England catechism. The parish had five unendowed almshouses. The Vicar resided in his Vicarage* and there was no curate. All those who came to church were baptised, though some were not confirmed, and no adults had been baptised since the last visitation. Public services were held in the church twice every Sunday, and once on each Holy Day. The youth were publicly catechized in the church, and the Vicar explained the catechism to the best of his knowledge. The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion) was administered four times a year with the required notice given and was received by between 30 and 40 people. No public penances had been performed in the parish, and the Vicar was not aware of any commuted penances.

• 1720: There were now 97 families in the parish with 20 of them dissenters (19 Independents and 1 Quaker) who met in three licensed houses. They had no settled teacher and the meetings were only held when they could find an Independent Brother to speak, and never on a Sunday. There were no endowed schools, and the only charity was the 5 unendowed town houses administered by the Officers of the Parish. The Vicar was still resident and had no curate. There were no unbaptised parishioners. Services continued to be held twice every Sunday and once every Holy Day, unless prevented by sickness or some other emergency. The children were catechised with church catechisms which were explained to them in Lent. The Sacrament of the Lords Supper was still administered 4 times a year, with about 30 communicants, though only about 20 at the last Easter. Two persons had done penance by order of the Ecclesiastical Court.

* At this date it was common for a rector or vicar to not live in the parish he nominally served, often because he had more than one, and so employed a curate to undertake his parochial duties for him.

Ecclesiastical Census 1851

On Sunday 30th March 1851 a census of all churches, chapels and preaching-houses of every denomination was undertaken in England and Wales. The local results were published by Bedfordshire Historical Records Society in 1975 as Volume 54, edited by D.W.Bushby. The return for Henlow was made by the Vicar, H. S. Yates, who noted the following pieces of information:

• There were 286 free seats in the church and 114 others
• The morning congregation was 160 with 122 Sunday scholars
• The afternoon congregation was 236 with 122 Sunday scholars
• These numbers were the same as the average attendance for the church