Colmworth 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 ...

in the

Borough of Bedford The Borough of Bedford is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Its council is based in Bedford, its namesake and principal settlement, which is the county town of Bedfordshire. The bor ...

in the county of

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 about north-east of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

. The parish, including the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

Duck's Cross Duck's Cross is a hamlet located in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. The settlement forms part of Colmworth civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a terri ...

, had a population of 393 at the 2011 census.

Geography

Colmworth is west of

St Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

, west of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

and north of

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

. The village is separated by Colmworth Brook into two areas. To the north is the larger Church End and to the south is Chapel End. Area The civil parish covers an area of . Elevation The village is about above sea level. The land slopes down to in the southeast of the parish. Landscape The village lies within the Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Claylands as designated by

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

. Bedford Borough Council classifies the local landscape as Thurleigh Clay Farmland with large and open arable fields. Roads are mainly lined with hedges and trees interspersed with open stretches. Geology and soil type The parish lies on Oadby

till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

above

Oxford clay The Oxford Clay (or Oxford Clay Formation) is a Jurassic marine sedimentary rock formation underlying much of southeast England, from as far west as Dorset and as far north as Yorkshire. The Oxford Clay Formation dates to the Jurassic, specifical ...

and Kellaways beds. The soil is highly fertile, lime-rich,

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

y and clayey with impeded drainage. The night sky and light pollution

Light pollution Light pollution is the presence of unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive use of artificial Visible spectrum, lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term ''light pollution'' refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting, during the day ...

is the level of radiance (night lights) shining up into the night sky. The

Campaign to Protect Rural England CPRE, The Countryside Charity, formerly known by names such as the ''Council for the Preservation of Rural England'' and the ''Council for the Protection of Rural England'', is a charity in England with over 40,000 members and supporters. Forme ...

(CPRE) divides the level of night sky brightness into 9 bands with band 1 being the darkest i.e. with the lowest level of light pollution and band 9 the brightest and most polluted. Colmworth is in bands 2 and 3 Roads and footpaths The main road through the village goes north to

Little Staughton Little Staughton is a small village and civil parish located in the north of Bedfordshire. The parish church, All Saints, is set apart from the present village – the previous village having been abandoned following an outbreak of the Bubonic p ...

and

Pertenhall Pertenhall is a small village and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, close to the borders of Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. Its parish council is Quality Parish Council It has recently published its Parish Plan which is available on the ...

and south to

Great Barford Great Barford is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, a few miles north-east of Bedford. It lies on the River Great Ouse at . It is twinned with Wöllstein, Germany. The village is bypassed by the busy A421 road on the way betwee ...

. There is an extensive network of public footpaths in the south and west of the parish. A path runs south from Honeydon Road, Church End and reaches Wilden. Another runs west off Little Staughton Road to

Bolnhurst Bolnhurst is a small village in the civil parish of Bolnhurst and Keysoe, in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire. The village is about north-northeast of Bedford and about west of St Neots. The name is derived from the Old English ''bula- ...

History

Evidence of Middle and Late Iron Age settlement discovered by archaeologists at Colley Hill Farm in 2011 was considered to be "locally and regionally significant". A medieval moated enclosure, fishponds and fowling earthworks are at Manor Farm. The Colmworth

Enclosure Act The Inclosure Acts, which use an archaic spelling of the word now usually spelt "enclosure", cover enclosure of open fields and common land in England and Wales, creating legal property rights to land previously held in common. Between 1604 and 1 ...

was passed in 1834. A

Primitive Methodist The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834). In the United States, the Primiti ...

Chapel opened in 1866. The village hall was built in 1969. In 1995, a new apex roof replaced the flat one and a substantial refurbishment was carried out. Colmworth Golf Course opened in 1991. Colmworth CofE VC Lower School closed in August 2003 and the buildings, built circa 1968, used as a nursery. The ''Colmworth Chronicle'' newsletter shows that the Post Office closed in 2009.

Governance

The parish council consists of 7 elected councillors who serve a four-year term. Colmworth is in Wyboston ward for elections to the

Unitary Authority. Prior to 1894, Colmworth was administered as part of the hundred of Barford. From 1894 until 1974 it was in

Bedford Rural District Bedford Rural District was a rural district in Bedfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It surrounded but did not include the Municipal Borough of Bedford and Kempston Urban District. Evolution The district had its origins in the Bedford Rur ...

and from 1974 to 2009 in

Bedford Borough The Borough of Bedford is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Its council is based in Bedford, its namesake and principal settlement, which is the county town of Bedfordshire. The borou ...

. Colmworth was in the Bedford parliamentary constituency until 1983 and North Bedfordshire until 1997. It is now part of the

North East Bedfordshire North East Bedfordshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2019 by Richard Fuller, of the Conservative Party. Constituency profile This is a mainly rural, professional area, ...

constituency.

Church

St Denys church was built between 1426 and 1430 by Sir Gerard Braybrook. It is dedicated to the patron saint of France in honour of his French wife, Eleanor. The church is part of the ''Wilden with Colmworth and Ravensden'' benefice in the Sharnbrook Deanery of the

Diocese of St Albans The Diocese of St Albans forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England and is part of the wider Church of England, in turn part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese is home to more than 1.6 million people and comprises the hi ...

Community facilities and events

The village hall, owned and managed by a charitable trust, can seat up to 120 and has a wooden dance floor. At the rear of the hall is a playing field with children's play area owned and maintained by the parish council. A mobile Post Office serves the village Wednesday and Friday lunchtimes, and a mobile library fortnightly on Friday mornings. A small country park has been established on land bought by the parish council near to Manor Farm. There is a wildflower meadow, orchard, pond, bird hide and owl boxes. Colmworth Triangle Garden is a community garden established in 2013 adjacent to the Manor Barns and St Deny's Church. Colmworth and North Bedfordshire is an 18-hole, par 72 golf course with a par 3 pitch and putt and 8 bay floodlit driving range. The ''Colmworth Chronicle'' is a quarterly newsletter, first published in December 1986. Delivered to residents in printed form and online, there are updates from Parish Council meetings, St Deny's Church, Colmworth and Neighbours History Society, the Gardening Club and Book Group. The grade II listed Cornfields Restaurant & Hotel dates back to the 17th century and was formerly The Wheatsheaf public house. Since 2016, the Friends of St Denys' Church have held ''Cars and Bikes with Character'' rallies at Colmworth Village Hall, the first Sunday of the month from April to October to raise funds for church repairs.

Public transport

Grant Palmer runs a two hourly bus service, Monday to Saturday, morning and early afternoon to Bedford plus one Thursday only return journey to St Neots. The nearest railway station is

Businesses

Acorn Transport and Plant Hire, based at Duck's Cross was established in 1998 and move bulk materials. Acorn also does groundworks and is a registered waste carrier and processor; supplying recycled aggregates, topsoil, sands, stones and road plantings.

References

External links

Colmworth 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 ...

* {{authority control Villages in Bedfordshire Civil parishes in Bedfordshire Borough of Bedford