The Parish of Maulden in General

Maulden and Clophill from Badgerhill, c.1907 [ref: Z1130/77/6]

Maulden is a village and parish in Central Bedfordshire, 1.5 miles east of Ampthill and 8 miles south of Bedford.

Landscape

Volume III of The Victoria County History for Bedfordshire was published in 1912; at that time the parish comprised 2,604 acres of land, of which 1,149½ are arable land, 759½ permanent pasture and 343¼ woods and plantations. The wooded portion lay to the east and comprised Maulden Wood, Wellhead and Readshill Plantations and Pennyfathers Hills. The parish of Maulden was enclosed in 1796.

Name

Maulden is believed to derive its name from it being a dun (an ancient or medieval fort) marked by a mael or cross. Various versions of the name include "cross on the hill", "high down" and "place of meeting".

• 1086: Meldone
• 1152: Meudon
• 1163: Maldon(e)
• 1179: Maudon(a)
• 1180: Mealdon
• 1195: Meaudun
• 1388: Malden(e)
• 1518: Maldoun
• 1550: Maulden

Administrative History

Maulden is a parish in the Redbournstoke Hundred which includes: Ampthill, Cranfield, Elstow, Kempston, Lidlington, Wootton and others. There are two tiers of local government covering Maulden, at parish and unitary authority level: Maulden Parish Council and Central Bedfordshire Council. From 1894 to 1974 Maulden came under Ampthill Rural District. In 1974 Ampthill Rural District was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972 and Maulden became part of Mid Bedfordshire. In 2009 Mid Bedfordshire was abolished and Maulden became part of Central Bedfordshire.

Population

The Domesday Book of 1086 contains an entry for Maulden showing it had 15 villagers, 1 smallholder and 2 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. The Hearth Tax of 1671 records a population of about 599.

• 1086: 72
• 1671: 599
• 1801: 738
• 1831: 1,331
• 1921: 1,161
• 2001: 2,256
• 2011: 3,130