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Radwell Bridge
Radwell bridge was the first of the two parishes bridges to be
built and was constructed by Thomas Morris of Pavenham in 1766 at
a cost of £292 10s 0d, using local lime-stone.
An engraving by Thomas Fisher, a local artist, dated 1816
shows only 4 arches.
Felmersham Bridge
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Prior to the building of the bridge in 1818 the main route to
Sharnbrook was via The Old Road and Pinchmill Islands. There was a ford,
to the west of where the bridge now stands, but it was not suitable for
wheeled traffic and there was no road connecting the ford to the Odell
road. The requirement to build a new road from the proposed bridge to the
Odell road was the cause of heated exchanges between the parishes of
Felmersham and Sharnbrook. The dispute started in 1809 and became
protracted with Sharnbrook refusing to pay for a road that would only
benefit Felmersham. Even after the bridge was built the dispute still
rumbled on and it was not until January 1820 that the road was finally
certified for use.
John and Samuel Bell of Radwell built the bridge from local materials,
they used sand found near the bridge and limestone quarried from within
the parish. Edward Arpin, parish clerk, grave digger and agricultural
worker records the building of the bridge in his diary as follows:
1818 February the 16 Begin to Cutt stone May the 20 the
Begin to bild Felmersham New Bridge 1818
August the 22 turned the 4 Arch of the Bridge
June 6 1818 Thos Eyels of Carlton went over the Bridge with a cart
Octr the 8 1818 turnd the 5 Arch of the Bridge
November the 14 1818 Finished the Bridge
Arpin records that
Feb 24 [1919] part of the First And Last Arch Fell down
After 1 years and 19 weeks Labour the Fineched the Broken Bridge July 8
1820
After the repairs of 1820 the bridge has survived without a weight
restriction, a tribute to John and Samuel Bell’s work.
Photograph shows bridge repair work in 1993 when it was repaired and
strengthened. >>>
Header Photo (by Geoff Hall): Edward Arpin's
Bible dated November 29th 1818 and inscribed as follows:
Edward Arpin his Book
I'll Writte My Name
For to be tray the
Thief that steals my
Book Away
This i Give to my Daughter Hagar if She is the longest lives
if not to John underwood my Grandson |
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Felmersham Enclosure Act 1765
During the Middle Ages the fields were open, very large and divided into
strips, which the landowners rented to tenant farmers and others. Farmers
and cottagers also owned strips in their own right. Prior to enclosure,
Felmersham had 8 large fields divided into strips. Each strip would have
been farmed on a simple 3-year crop rotation, two years of cultivation and
one year lying fallow. By the middle of the 18C half the acreage in
England had been enclosed, that is to say the fields were made smaller
with boundaries defined by hedges, fences and ditches and they were
cultivated by a single farmer.
An application was made
in 1765 to have the parish of Felmersham enclosed by Act of Parliament.
Two parliamentary commissioners were appointed and their task was to
divide the parish into smaller fields and to then re-allocate the land in
proportion to previously held acreage. The vicar was allocated 70 acres of
land (land that had belonged to others) in lieu of tithes. Parsons Barn
was built by the commissioners (opposite Brook Farm) for the vicar’s
use. Inevitably there were winners and losers and in some cases
smallholders, cottagers and squatters ended up with no land, except for an
allocation in the enclosure allotment at the top of Town Lot Lane (Town
meaning village and Lot meaning allotment). Understandably there was
discontentment and dissatisfaction, with some refusing to sign the
Enclosure agreement.
So why enclose? Enclosure meant that tenant farmers and landowners could
farm more efficiently, which eventually led to England having the most
technically advanced and productive agriculture in 19C Europe. It also
gave us our unique chequered countryside with small fields, footpaths and
bridleways.
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