Harrold is a village,

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 authorit ...

and electoral ward 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 borou ...

within

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, around nine miles north-west 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 village is on the north bank of the River Great Ouse, close to the county boundaries of Buckinghamshire ( Milton Keynes) and

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

(

North Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire is one of two local authority areas in Northamptonshire, England. It is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area forming about one half of the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Northampto ...

) and is the site of an ancient bridge, linking the village with Carlton with Chellington on the south bank. Immediately to the east of the village is Odell. Across the bridge is Carlton. The buttermarket in Harrold has often been an iconic image in Harrold, along with the bridge. It also used to be the logo for one of the schools in Harrold. Harrold also has a

village lock-up A village lock-up is a historic building once used for the temporary detention of people in England and Wales, mostly where official prisons or criminal courts were beyond easy walking distance. Lockups were often used for the confinement of dru ...

that was used to detain drunks and suspected criminals. It is no longer in use. Harrold Primary Academy is a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

located in the village. The Church of St Peter is also located in the village.

History

Harrold was 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 manus ...

of 1086 as a parish within the

Hundred of Willey The Hundred of Willey is a historical land division, a hundred in the northwest corner of Bedfordshire, England. Its northwestern boundary is the county border with Northamptonshire, and its southwestern boundary the border with Buckinghamshire. So ...

. An early medieval sword mount was unearthed by a metal detectorist in 2006. It is believed the tiny phallic decoration could have adorned the sword belt of a high-ranking Saxon warrior. There are two public houses in Harrold. The Muntjac and the Oakley Arms.

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

reputedly gave the first live performance of " Hey Jude" in the Oakley Arms in Harrold on 30 June 1968. The village was struck by an F1/T2 tornado on 23 November 1981, as part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day.

Electoral ward

Today an electoral ward within the

, it contains four civil parishes within its boundaries. Civil parishes and settlements within the ward (from south to north) are Harrold CP, Odell parish,

Podington Podington is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, United Kingdom. The village is within the electoral ward of Harrold in the Borough of Bedford. Podington lies around northwest of Bedford and is about east of the county border ...

CP including Hinwick and Farndish, and Wymington CP including Little Wymington. Harrold itself is near the southern boundary of its ward which follows some of the River Great Ouse. The ward extends northward from Harrold and fills the northwest corner of Bedfordshire, bordering

.Harrold Ward Profile
/ref>

Twin towns

Sainte-Pazanne Sainte-Pazanne (; br, Santez-Pezhenn) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department, western France. Population Twin towns * Harrold, Bedfordshire Transport Gare de Sainte-Pazanne is served by train services between Pornic, Saint-Gill ...

, Loire-Atlantique

Notable people

* W. T. Godber (1904–1981), English agriculturalist; worked in Harrold. * George Le Fevre (1848–1891), surgeon and politician in colonial Australia; born in Harrold. *

Leslie Prentice Leslie Roff Vincent Prentice (30 November 1886 – 13 August 1928) was an Australian-born English cricketer. A right-handed batsman and right-arm slow bowler, he had a brief first-class cricket career for Middlesex in the early 1920s. Biogra ...

(1886–1928), Australian-born English cricketer; died in Harrold. * Ashley Walker (1844–1927), English amateur cricketer; died in Harrold.

Gallery

Image:Harrold-Bridge.jpg, The bridge at Harrold Image:Harrold buttermarket.png, The picture of Harrold Buttermarket, before the new roof tiles. Image:HarroldFireStation.jpg, Harrold Fire Station Image:The Lock-up, Harrold - geograph.org.uk - 1252177.jpg, Harrold lock-up

References

External links

Harrold Community WebsiteHarrold Parish CouncilBedfordshire Archives and Records on Harrold
{{authority control Villages in Bedfordshire Civil parishes in Bedfordshire Borough of Bedford