Clophill is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

clustered on the north bank of the

River Flit The River Flit is a short river in Bedfordshire, England. Its name is not ancient, but rather a back formation from Flitton which originally meant that the river was spelt with as ''Flitt'' rather than ''Flit''. Course The river rises as a sma ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

, England. It is recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 as ''Clopelle''. "Clop" likely means 'tree-stump' in

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

. However, it also has cognate terms for clay, with which the soil of mid Bedfordshire is rich. Oldrectory clophill

Extent and demography

In the 1851 census, the men of the parish numbered 560; of these, 238 were agricultural labourers; women numbered. In the 2011 Census the population was 1,750. Clophillsign

The contiguous housing of Clophill Road and its side streets falls into the civil and ecclesiastical parishes of

Maulden Maulden is a village and civil parish located in the county of Bedfordshire. The village is located 1.5 miles east of Ampthill and about south of Bedford. It has about 1,250 homes and 3130 residents. Maulden is referred to in the Domesday Book ...

Church

St Mary's old church

The old St Mary's Church was built around 1350, and replaced by a new church in the 1840s (250 m SSW). It gradually fell into ruin, and as an inactive church, had restoration carried out for secular purposes in the early 2010s.

Active churches

The new St Mary's church is in the High Street, built 1848–1849. The current

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

is Lynda Klimas. It is the only church of the Church of England

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

, which reflects the civil parish having the A6 Bedford Road as its western limit. Clophill Methodist Church has an active congregation, social meetings on site and in the schoolroom and was built in about the year 1930. It joins with St Mary's Church in some major services.

Public houses and restaurants

;on the Green/High Street * ''The Flying Horse'' * ''The Green Man - La Stalla (restaurant)'' - closed August 2020 ;on Back Street * ''The Stone Jug''

Notable residents

* Boss Meyer, educator and cricketer. Founder of

Millfield School Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding scho ...

. * David L. Englin, politician *

Jimmy Husband James Husband (born 15 October 1947) is an English retired professional footballer who played in England and the United States as a striker. Club career Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, Husband began his career with the youth teams ...

, (born 15 October 1947), retired professional footballer *

John van Weenen John Van Weenen (born 26 August 1941, Enfield, Middlesex, England)Van Weenen, J:''In Funakoshi's Footsteps'' John van Weenen, 2004 is an 8th Dan karateka and humanitarian. Van Weenen was graded to 1st Dan by Moss Hollis in 1966, (his diploma ...

, OMT MBE, (born 26 August 1941, Enfield, Middlesex), 8th Dan karateka and humanitarian * Sir Douglas Frederick Howard, KCMG, MC, (15 February 1897 – 26 December 1987), diplomat

Sports and Leisure Facilities

The

Greensand Ridge Walk The Greensand Ridge Walk is a long-distance walk of that traverses the county of Bedfordshire in England, with brief sections in the neighbouring counties of Cambridgeshire and Buckinghamshire. Its southern endpoint is at Leighton Buzzard and ...

and the

Greensand Cycle Way (Greensand Cycleway) Signs for this route appeared in the first half of 2014. It covers roughly 40 miles (64 km), using minor roads and runs roughly in parallel with its sister walk, the Greensand Ridge Walk. The route traverses Bedfordshire ...

pass through Clophill. The village has a youth football club calle
Clophill United FC
The 2020/21 season has five teams (U15s to 11s) playing in the Beds Youth Saturday League and the Chiltern Junior 7s.

Notes and References

External links

Official Clophill Parish Council WebsiteClophill pages
at the

Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service is a county record office, holding archival material associated with Bedfordshire and Luton. Established in 1913 by George Herbert Fowler (1861-1940) as the Bedfordshire Record Office, it wa ...

Official Clophill Village Church Website
*British History article on Clophill, excerpt from 'A History of the County of Bedford Vol 2', written 1908 by William Pag
Clophill HistoryOfficial Clophill United FC Website (Youth Teams)
{{authority control Villages in Bedfordshire Civil parishes in Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire District