Kempston Hardwick is a small village on the edge of the town of

Kempston Kempston is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. It had a population of 19,330 in the 2011 census. Kempston is part of Bedford, Bedford's built-up area and is situated directly sout ...

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 ...

, England. Historically it was one of 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 ...

s or "ends" scattered across the parish of Kempston. It is served by

Kempston Hardwick railway station Kempston Hardwick railway station serves the village of Kempston Hardwick in Bedfordshire, England. It should not be confused with the nearby town of Kempston. The station has two platforms next to a half-barrier level crossing. Kempston Hardw ...

on the Marston Vale Line, which was one of the least-used stations in the UK railway network. For many years Kempston Hardwick was technically part of Kempston town. This is a consequence of the division of the old larger Kempston parish in 1896 into Kempston town and Kempston Rural. However, modern boundary changes have meant that Kempston Hardwick is now part of the rural

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 o ...

of Stewartby (where the 2011 Census population was included).

Hardwick Preceptory

Hardwick Preceptory was a priory of the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

from 1279 to 1489. The first mention of this property occurs in 1279. In 1287, and 1330, the Prior claimed to hold a view of frankpledge from four tenants in Kempston. In 1338, this estate comprised a messuage with a garden worth 4s. per annum, a dovehouse valued at 3s. 4d., a water-mill 26s. 8d., 370 acres of land worth £6 3s. 4d., 32 acres meadow worth 44s., 8 acres of pasture worth 8s., and pasture for 200 oxen worth 20s. After the Dissolution, the property, called the manor of Hardwick, was bestowed upon Sir Richard Longe in 1540.

References

External links

BBC News article about Kempston Hardwick

Kempston Hardwick 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 ...

Villages in Bedfordshire Borough of Bedford Kempston {{Bedfordshire-geo-stub

Hardwick Preceptory

See also

References

External links