Langford Church

This page was contributed by Edward Martin 

Langford Church, early 20th century [Z1130/71/4] 

 The parish church of St Andrew dates mostly from the 14th century but the Chancel was remodelled in the Perpendicular style in the 15th century. The Lady Chapel in the South Aisle was abandoned and destroyed, but was restored and rebuilt in 1958. The first four pews on each side of the nave are from the16th century. The tower is, unusually, built over the south porch and there three bells: the tenor (1855), 2nd bell (1780), and the treble (1772). 

There were almost certainly two, if not three, earlier churches on the same site. The site was chosen, we must presume, because of the raised elevation on the river terrace from the banks of the River Ivel. There could well have been a Saxon church on this site. There was probably already a church in 1142, as this is when a church was endowed for the Knights Templar by Simon de Wahull. The Templars then built a new church, which was almost completely demolished later and the basis of the present church was rebuilt in the years after 1312. During the rebuilding only parts of the old Templar church were preserved. The oldest being the north and south walls of the chancel. At that time there would have been no doors or windows in the church. 

St Andrew’s Church, Langford [photo contributed by Edward Martin] 

Langford was part of the Diocese of Lincoln which was the largest diocese in England, extending from the Thames to the Humber. Lincoln Cathedral has choir stalls dating from the 14th century with hanging tablets in them indicating the daily obligation for each new canon, ‘if nothing hinders’, containing the names of villages or towns. Langford has two tablets in the stalls of Saint Hugh’s Choir, one on the North side for Langford Manor, showing the figure of Saint Hugh and the head of a man wearing a circlet, on the left elbow of the stall. The Latin inscription translated to English is: ‘Langford Manor. Remember Langford Manor as far as, even to over the River’. The other one for Langford Church is on the South side. The translated Latin inscription reads: ‘Langford Church, Our God and Great Master has Brought All Peoples to Light’. 

Langford Church, 2024

Reference: the late Ralph W Turner Saint Andrew’s, Langford, Bedfordshire, A History of Church Events and People (2nd edition, 2011). 

Further Research: 

Items held by Bedfordshire Archives which can be used for further research into the ecclesiastical parish of Langford and St Andrew’s Church include:  

• P99/1: Parish registers (copies of the parish registers listing baptisms, marriages and burials up to 1812 can be purchased from Bedfordshire Archives) 
• P99/2/1: Glebe rentals, terriers and inventories, 1851-1987 
• P99/2/2: Items relating to upkeep of the church fabric, 1956-1974 
• P99/8/1: Vestry minute book, 1858-1946 
• P99/12: Overseers account books, 1802-1820 
• P99/25: Langford charities, 1934-1971 
• P99/29/1: Papers concerning establishment of a school board for Langford, 1873 
• P99/30: Parish magazines, 1931-33, 1967-1998 
• P99/32: Parochial church council minutes, 1920-1990 

More information about these and other items relating to St Andrew’s Church, Langford can be found through our online catalogue.