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All Saints, Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire

Location
(51°54′18″N, 0°31′17″W)
Houghton Regis
TL 018 240
pre-1974 traditional (England and Wales) Bedfordshire
now Bedfordshire
  • Hazel Gardiner

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Feature Sets
Description

A large, mainly 14thc. to15thc. church, with nave, chancel, N and S aisles of five bays and a W tower. The only 12thc. carved feature is the font

History

The church is one of only four in Bedfordshire mentioned in DS which records that it was held by William the Chamberlain, who also held Luton Church. Houghton Regis itself was held by the King. Henry I gave Houghton Regis to Earl Robert of Gloucester, his illegitimate son. Earl William, son of Earl Robert, granted the church to St Albans Abbey in 1153. Henry II seized the church early in his reign, but returned it shortly afterwards!

Features

Furnishings

Fonts

Comments/Opinions

The font is one of a number of fonts known collectively as the 'Aylesbury Group' after a particularly fine example in the parish church at Aylesbury. There are many similar examples in Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire. The Houghton Regis font has many features in common with that at nearby Dunstable (although the Dunstable font is substantially restored).

There is an etching by Thomas Fisher of the font dated 1836, showing severe damage to the rim. Fisher also has a general view of the church, dated 1812.

Bibliography
Domesday Book: Bedfordshire, Ed. J. Morris, Chichester, 1977, 1, 3.
The Victoria County History: A History of the County of Bedford, London, 1912, 3:389-93.
T. Fisher, Collections, Historical, Genealogical and Topographical for Bedfordshire, London, 1812-36.
Malcolm Thurlby 'Fluted and Chalice-Shaped: The Aylesbury Group of Fonts', Country Life, January 28, 1982, 228-29.
N. Pevsner, Bedfordshire and the County of Huntingdon and Peterborough.The Buildings of England, 1968, 102–103.