RIDGMONT
Segenehon (xi cent.); Segenho cum Rugemound,
Ridgmont (xiv–xviii cent.); Rydgemounde-cumSegenow (xvi cent.); Brakebergh (xiii cent.); Brockeborowe (xiv–xvi cent.); Brogborough (xvi–xvii cent.);
Bekeryng (xiv cent.).
The parish of Ridgmont has an area of 2,308 acres,
of which only about one twenty-fourth is taken up
by woods and plantations, while the remainder is
almost equally divided between arable and permanent
grass. (fn. 1) The soil is part sand, part clay, with a subsoil
of sand and clay. The chief crops are wheat, barley
and beans.
The land is well over 350 ft. above the ordnance
datum in the north and south, but slopes to 266 ft.
in the valley which crosses the centre of the parish.
The Bedford branch of the London and North-Western railway runs through the parish; the station
of Ridgmont is just over the boundary in Husborne
Crawley.
The village of Ridgmont lies on high ground
400 ft. above the ordnance datum in the south of
the parish, near the north gate of Woburn Park.
With the exception of its castle, Ridgmont has only
come to the fore in comparatively recent years: the
parish was generally known as Segenhoe or Ridgmondcum-Segenhoe (usually the former) before the 18th
century.
The ancient church of Segenhoe stands apart in
the south of the village, and is reached by a path
which skirts the park surrounding Segenhoe Manor.
The church is now used only as a mortuary chapel,
as the modern church of Ridgmont has no graveyard.
Ridgmont is built along the high road from
Ampthill to Leighton Buzzard. At the northern
entrance is a Wesleyan Methodist chapel erected in
1853, and at the Woburn Park end is a Baptist
chapel with the date 1811 upon a stuccoed front,
which evidently dates from comparatively recent
years. The buildings of the Bedford Agricultural
Institute (known also as the Ridgmont School Farm)
abut upon the high road at about the middle of its
course through the village. This Institute was
founded by the Bedford County Council in the year
1896, and courses for men and women are given in
the winter and summer respectively. There are
some thatched cottages erected here in 1799 by the
fifth Duke of Bedford, two of which have been thrown
together to form a parish hall.
Three public wells constitute the principal water
supply of Ridgmont, though some of the houses
possess private wells.
A short distance to the north-east of the village is
Beckerings Park Farm, a 17th-century building with
later additions. Fox is said to have preached here.
Adjoining is Beckering Manor Farm. There are
distinct traces of the moat which must have originally
encircled the former manor-house of the Beckerings.
Just to the west of Brogborough Hill, at an
elevation of 300 ft., is Brogborough Park Farm,
locally known as Brogborough Round House. It is
a square brick house with a central chimney stack and
large windows with central mullions and transoms
of stone, dating apparently from the first half of the
17th century. The exterior is in a fine state of
preservation, but nothing noteworthy remains of the
interior. East of the house and adjacent to the
earthworks marking the site of the castle Roman
remains have been found at various times. (fn. 2)
The priory of Dunstable was a large owner of
property in the parish, and it may be inferred that
the convent was not beloved in the neighbourhood,
for in 1234, upon the prior's acquiring a small
portion of land in Segenhoe, 'a quarrel arose and some
wounds were received.' The prior's men retaliated
by damaging buildings in the neighbourhood, 'for
which reason,' the chronicler complains, 'about
forty of our establishment were summoned for robbery
and for breaking of the peace.' (fn. 3) Again in 1264,
'twenty men and more, with arms and horses, broke
into the house of the prior and of Henry de Nortwode
his friend, and of William Bevan (Beywin). And
whatever they found they carried off. On being
pursued by the hue and cry of all the country,
seventeen of them were taken near Beaulieu on the
same day, with all their spoils. But these the prior
foolishly allowed to go away.' (fn. 4)
In 1279 there is an entry to the effect that the
'hall' of the prior at Segenhoe with the solar annexed
was burnt. (fn. 5) In the light of the two preceding
episodes it seems more than likely that the cause of
the fire was other than Providence. In 1246 a
case of serious trespass had been committed in
Segenhoe by the prior's men, (fn. 6) a state of things which,
judging by the episode of 1264, was probably becoming
chronic.
Besides these 13th-century scenes, the parish books
of Ridgmont will prove of interest. Thus in 1617
one Thomas Glenister was to be cited 'for usually
sleeping in service tyme at Ridgmond.' (fn. 7) At this
period also 'they have not a sufficient churche bible'
in the parish. (fn. 8) In 1605 there had been 'two notified
recusants in Ridgmont,' (fn. 9) and in 1700 'there were
born this yeare eight males and two females, and
buryed ten' (fn. 10) in the parish.
Ridgmont parish is peculiarly lacking in interesting
field or place-names. We find two mentions of
'Brogborough Pastures' in the 16th century, (fn. 11) in
connexion with which was Hercothe Gate. (fn. 12) These
were held by Thomas Stone in 1607 at a valuation
of £200. (fn. 13) Again in 1578 a complaint was lodged
about the ownership of 'Ladie Close' and 'Mixhulls.' (fn. 14) Great, Long and Little Chaltons, Calffields
and Coughfields are mentioned, too, at this period. (fn. 15)
The only interesting document in connexion with
these place-names is one in which 'the extent of
the hamlet of Ridgmont' is given, dated 1606. It
is described as 'beginning at Brayne Corner to the
King's Way leading to Crawley, by the Park, for
one mile: and then to Darkland for one mile: then
to Wintroe Corner for one mile; then to the Park
of Sir Thomas Snagge for one mile: then to Crosse
Ash for one mile to the gate in the meadow of
— Stanton, gent., for one mile.' (fn. 16) In the next
year 'the vicar's House' (fn. 17) is mentioned, and a little
later a messuage called 'Tilcocks.' (fn. 18)
CASTLE
To the east of Brogborough Park
Farm well-defined earthworks consisting
of mound, fosse and outworks mark the
site of RUGEMONT CASTLE. (fn. 19) This castle was
the stronghold of the de Greys and their predecessors
the Wahulls in this parish, but no mention of it
has been found before the 12th century. (fn. 20) In 1276
Walter Beywin is described as holding 7 selions
'above the castle of Rugemont.' (fn. 21) Extents of Brogborough Manor, to which it appears to have been
attached, contain no mention of it, though it may
have been the 'capital messuage' found in earlier
accounts of the manor. (fn. 22) Cromwell is said to have
slept at Brogborough during the Civil War and to
have made use of the entrenchments to repulse an
attack of the Royalist troops. (fn. 23)
MANORS
In the Domesday Survey it is entered
that Walter the brother of Seiher holds
Segenhoe, assessed at 10 hides, at a
value of £6. This 10-hide manor includes the manors
which were ultimately formed in the parish. It was
parcel of the barony of Wahull, (fn. 24) and the principal
manor proceeding from it was BROGBOROUGH
MANOR. The first mention of this manor as distinct from the 10-hide manor of Domesday is in
1311. (fn. 25) Previous to this Brogborough is described
as a hamlet, though it included a capital messuage,
pleas and perquisites of court and rents of assize (fn. 26) ;
but now it is definitely stated that John de Grey
held the manor, (fn. 27) which follows the same descent as
Wrest (q.v.) until the 15th century. (fn. 28) In 1388 it
was proved to be worth £24. (fn. 29) In 1524 the manor
became Crown property, and some years later was
annexed to the honour of Ampthill, (fn. 30) and remained
in the possession of the Crown for some time. In
1530 William Brown was appointed bailiff. (fn. 31) In
1564 part of the park was leased to Peter Gray for
a certain term of years. (fn. 32) In 1628 the manor was
finally alienated from the Crown, and was granted
to Edward Ditchfield and others, trustees for the
Corporation of London. (fn. 33) They sold Brogborough
Manor previous to 1676, in which year it belonged
to John Stone, (fn. 34) who suffered a recovery of the manor
in 1703. (fn. 35) It was about this time that the Stones
sold their property to Ralph Radcliffe, (fn. 36) who suffered
a recovery of the manor in 1728. (fn. 37) The family of
Radcliffe were still holding in 1801, (fn. 38) and in 1825
Henry Delmé Radcliffe was in possession. (fn. 39) In 1828
this property was sold to the Duke of Bedford. (fn. 40)
Standing back about 200 yds. on the west side of
the road from Marston Moretaine to Husborne
Crawley, on a hill to the north of the crossing of the
road from Ridgmont to Holcot, is Brogborough Manor
House, a late 17th-century brick building having a
tile roof and now used as a farm-house. The house
faces north and south and is symmetrically planned,
taking the form of a rectangle on the ground floor.
The rooms are grouped round a large central staircase having moulded and twisted balusters, which is
approached through central vestibules from the front
and the back. On either side of the front vestibule
are living rooms which adjoin the staircase. On the
west is a large kitchen and on the east another living
room. At the back of the staircase is a passage leading to another kitchen, on the west a lavatory, and a
pantry being to the east. The fireplaces are placed
across the corners of the rooms against the east and
west external walls, and are carried up in two brick
stacks having copings of the same material. The
elevations were designed with the same regard to
symmetry as is shown in the plan; the windows
were originally divided by wood transoms or mullions
and filled in with iron casements, but in most cases
wooden casements have been substituted, while in
many instances the windows themselves have been
bricked up.
A second manor in this parish is that of SEGENHOE or SEGENHOE-CUM-RIDGMONTMANOR,
which belonged to Dunstable Priory and probably
originated in the grant made in 1189 of the church
of Segenhoe by Simon de Wahul to the Prior and
convent of Dunstable. (fn. 41) Smaller grants of land made
during this and the ensuing century (fn. 42) helped to form
the manor. By 1283 the prior was holding a court
at Ridgmont. (fn. 43) At this time the manor was reckoned
as being 3 carucates, (fn. 44) and the lord had the right of
free warren in Segenhoe. (fn. 45) After the Dissolution the
manor was granted in 1566 to Peter Gray, (fn. 46) who
still held it ten years later. (fn. 47) By the end of the
century it had come into the possession of the Stone
family, (fn. 48) for in 1593 William Stone died seised of it, (fn. 49)
and in the following year his son Richard suffered a
recovery of it. (fn. 50) Richard died in 1611, his eldest
son and namesake inheriting his father's property. (fn. 51)
This was conveyed about the time of the Restoration
to Elizabeth Dodsworth, (fn. 52) in whose family the property remained (fn. 53) till they sold their estates, about
1667–70, to Francis Lowe. (fn. 54) In 1747 Thomas
Potter, M.P., acquired this estate by marriage with
the daughter of Francis Lowe, a descendant of the
above. (fn. 55) One of the daughters by this marriage
married Malcolm MacQueen, M.D., who succeeded
in 1759, on Thomas Potter's death, to the family
estates. (fn. 56) In 1829 Dr. MacQueen was still in possession of the manor, (fn. 57) which was sold in 1833 by
the trustees of T. Potter MacQueen to the Duke of
Bedford. (fn. 58)
Potter. Sable a fesse ermine between three cinquefoils or.
MacQueen. Vert a pegasus argent and a chief or.
A third manor in this parish was BEVANS
MANOR. It was held as of the barony of Wahull
of the De Greys. The manor undoubtedly derived
its name from the family of Bevan (Bevin, Beywin or
Beyum), a member of which, named Richard, in the
middle of the 13th century, held one-seventh and
one-twelfth of one knight's fee. (fn. 59) Part of this property, described as land above the castle of Ridgmont,
was held in 1276 by Walter, (fn. 60) then by William, (fn. 61)
and in 1346 by Thomas Bevan. (fn. 62) This land
reappears in 1593, when William Stone, who also
held Segenhoe Manor (q.v.), died seised of two-thirds
of Bevans Manor, (fn. 63) which follows the same descent
as Segenhoe (q.v.) till 1738, (fn. 64) in which year it was
the property of Simon Taylor, (fn. 65) who suffered a
recovery of it in 1772. (fn. 66) By 1801, however, the
manor was again following the same descent as that
of Segenhoe (fn. 67) (q.v.), and was finally absorbed in the
greater holding. (fn. 68)
Much akin to the history of Bevans Manor is that
of BECKERINGS PARK. Though never a manor,
like the former, it owes its origin to a grant by the
de Greys, and was held of the barony of Wahull.
Before the middle of the 14th century Reginald de
Grey had granted John de Bekering one-fifth part of
a knight's fee. (fn. 69) No further mention of the family is
to be found, and this property appears to have
returned to the Greys and followed the same descent
as their manor, eventually passing to the Crown. In
1541 we find that £100 10s. was paid for the carting
of '201 quyk [live] deares red' into the park. (fn. 70) The
Crown still owned the park in 1571, (fn. 71) and in 1613
Thomas Viscount Fenton was appointed 'master of
the deare hounds in the Park of Bickeringe.' (fn. 72) In
1634 Sir William Crayford, of a well-known Ampthill
family, (fn. 73) who had been knighted by James I in 1621, (fn. 74)
was living there. (fn. 75) During the reign of Charles I
the park was granted to John Ashburnham, (fn. 76) a grant
which was confirmed by Charles II. (fn. 77) John, grandson
of the above John Ashburnham, held Beckerings Park
in 1670. (fn. 78) He, who was created Baron Ashburnham,
died in 1709–10. (fn. 79) The park was owned by the
Radcliffes in this century, Lady 'Farnaby' Radcliffe
holding it in 1801. (fn. 80) It was purchased by the Duke
of Bedford in 1828. (fn. 81) Beckerings Park Lodge Farm,
together with the park itself, is mainly outside the
parish of Ridgmont.
Similar to the history of Beckerings Park is that of
BROGBOROUGH PARK, which must be distinguished from the manor of Brogborough. The
first mention we have of it is in 1246, when the
canons of Dunstable were accused of trespass there. (fn. 82)
It was then in the possession of one Walter Wynum, (fn. 83)
and was held of the de Greys as of the barony of
Wahull, (fn. 84) just as the manor of Brogborough was. (fn. 85)
Its extent in 1326 was 30 acres. (fn. 86) In the reign
of Henry VIII it became Crown property, (fn. 87) and
followed the same descent as Beckerings Park (fn. 88) (q.v.)
till the middle of the 17th century, about which
period it was in the hands of Mr. Johnson. (fn. 89) In 1654
it was bought by Thomas Okey, (fn. 90) who had started
life as a drayman in Islington and rose to hold the
command of a regiment under Cromwell. He was
present at all but three meetings of the court which
sat to try the king, and his name is amongst those
who signed the death warrant. (fn. 91) At the Restoration,
therefore, his lands were sequestrated, and he himself
beheaded a few years later. (fn. 92) The Crown granted
the park in 1661 to John Ashburnham, (fn. 93) after which
both parks follow the same descent (q.v.).
Though the details of the property are very vague,
there is still another tenement, mention of which
must not be omitted in the history of the parish.
The family of Northwood during the 13th and 14th
centuries were intimately connected with Ridgmont.
For example, in a riot which took place in 1264
Henry de Northwood was one of those against whom
the villeins rose. (fn. 94) Mention of the Northwoods' land,
however, is very scarce, though from their position
they must have been leading people in the parish.
We know that John de Northwode held a tenement
which was one knight's fee (fn. 95) in Segenhoe in 1277, (fn. 96)
that in 1333 Henry de Northwode alienated 3½ acres
of land in two parcels, (fn. 97) and by 1346 the property
was diminishing in size. (fn. 98) Seven years later the
same man was on the jury for the Inquisition of the
Ninths (fn. 99) —a position in which he would not have
been found had he not held considerable property in
the parish.
The Northwoods must have held their property
from the de Greys, just as was the case with other
holdings above mentioned, for in an Exchequer
Inquisition of Elizabeth's time mention is made of a
'Close called Norwood' which belonged at some time
to the de Greys Earls of Kent. (fn. 100) No subsequent
mention has been found of this property.
CHURCH
The church of ALL SAINTS is entirely modern, and consists of a chancel,
north organ chamber and vestry, nave,
side aisles and west tower and spire. The old church,
situated some distance away at Segenhoe, is now derelict, and consists of a chancel, nave, south aisle and
porch and west brick tower with round-headed 18th-century windows throughout the church. The whole
church is so plastered over and modernized that it is
only possible to say that a north chapel was added to
the nave in the 13th century and in the 14th century this was extended westward as an aisle, the present arcade being in four bays, of which the east bay is
13th-century work, with a half-round east respond, and
the others of the 14th century, with two sunk wavemoulded orders on short and heavy quatrefoiled shafts
with rolls in the angles and moulded capitals and
bases. The pier at the junction of the two dates is
octagonal. On the east wall of the aisle is a pretty
15th-century niche, to which a painted canopy and
shafts have been added. The south porch has single
15th-century lights on the east and west, but in
the chancel all evidence of mediaeval date is hidden,
the chancel arch being a plain semicircle with a chamfered string at the springing, which is continued along
the north and south walls. The braces of an old
roof, however, show through the plastered ceiling.
The font, although scraped and painted, is a good
15th-century specimen, with crocketed arches on
each face of the octagonal bowl, springing from corbels
at the lower angles.
There is one old bell in the tower of the old church
by Newcombe, 1615.
The plate consists of a cup, date mark 1689, and
a modern cup, two patens and a flagon.
There are five books of registers previous to 1812:
(1) all entries 1539 to 1680; (2) 1678 to 1761,
marriages ceasing in 1754; (3) baptisms 1762 to
1800, burials 1762 to 1788; (4) marriages 1754 to
1812; and (5) burials 1789 to 1812 and baptisms
1801 to 1812.
ADVOWSON
The church of Ridgmont was
granted in 1189 by Simon de Wahull
to Dunstable Priory, (fn. 101) which retained it till the Dissolution. In 1534 the vicarage
was worth £9. (fn. 102) After the Dissolution the advowson
followed the same descent as the manor of Ridgmont (fn. 103)
(q.v.), diverging in the 18th century, when it was
purchased by the Duke of Bedford in 1794 from the
Rev. T. B. Burnaby. (fn. 104)
CHARITIES
Charity of Arthur Wichalse (see under Maulden).
The share of this
parish is represented by £188 8s. 6d.
consols, with the official trustees, producing £4 14s.
a year, which is applied in putting out children to
some honest trade or employment.
The Town or Charity Lands, the origin of which
was unknown, formerly consisted of 35 acres awarded
on the inclosure in lieu of open fields and other lands.
The property was sold in 1869 to the Duke of Bedford, and proceeds invested in £2,630 11s. 2d. consols
with the official trustees, producing £65 15s. a year.
By an order, 16 October 1903, made under the
Board of Education Act, 1899, the sum of £876 17s.
consols, being one-third of the endowment, was
determined to be applicable for educational purposes
in connexion with the school. (fn. 105)
The remaining two-thirds under scheme 28 June
1861 are applicable in moieties for the maintenance
of the parish church and in distribution of articles in
kind or money to deserving poor.