Totternhoe Vicarages

The site of the 18th century Vicarage January 2010

The earliest reference to a parsonage house at Totternhoe is in 1708. A terrier in the archdeaconry archive [ABE] describes it as being a partly brick, partly timber structure with clay walls and a tiled roof. There were two rooms and a buttery downstairs (each earth floor except one room which was partly floored in brick). Five chambers (all boarded) lay above. A return filled out for an episcopal visitation in 1712 noted that the Vicar lived at Eaton Bray, so the parsonage was, presumably, rented out. The return for the visitation of 1717 noted: "Residence being dispensed with by reason of the smallness of the Living, and its convenience of being supplied by reason of its nearness to other Churches. No residing Curate" however the building was not sold as it was stil llisted as glebe in 1829 (see below). In 1720 it was noted that a curate served the church but lived at Edlesborough [Buckinghamshire].

Elevation of the Vicarage in 1828 [BW885]

The living of Totternhoe was augmented by £200 in 1815 [BW883] and Lord of the Manor the 8th Earl of Bridgewater undertook to build a new vicarage. In the event this was done by his trustees, as he died in 1829 without heirs. Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service has, in the Brownlow archive, a plan and elevation by John Stevens of Woburn for the new Vicarage dated 27th November 1828 [BW885]. A survey of Totternhoe undertaken on the death of the Earl in 1829 [BW1004] notes that the Old Vicarage House was still owned by the church and occupied by Samuel Heles, the site comprised 1 rood, 21 poles. The house lay near the junction of The Ride and Church Road. That same year a faculty was provided for the new parsonage [ABF2 page 150 and ABF3/204-206]. By 1840 the Old Vicarage had been demolished [BW1006].

Ground floor plan of the Vicarage in 1828 [BW885] - to see a larger image please click on the image above

The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 specified that every piece of land and building in the country was to be valued to determine its rateable value. Along with much of Bedfordshire, Totternhoe was evaluated in 1927. The valuer visiting the Vicarage [DV1/C101/61] noted that it stood in just over an acre and comprised three reception rooms, a kitchen and scullery downstairs with five bedrooms above. Outside were a brick and slate garage and two barns with a loft over.

The Vicarage about 1910 [Z1306/127]

Following the decision to have one incumbent to serve three parishes, Stanbridge, Tilsworth and Totternhoe, the vicarage was sold it is currently [2010] a private house called Glebe House. The Vicar of Totternhoe currently [2010] lives in Stanbridge.

Glebe House December 2010