Felmersham Parish Council

The villages of Felmersham and Radwell are situated approximately 60 miles north of London and 7 miles North West of the county town Bedford. The majority of the Parish acreage is given over to mixed farming and 70% of its boundary is marked out by the meandering River Great Ouse. Access to the Parish is provided by an early 19th Century river bridge to the north and a mid 18th Century bridge to the south.

The first settlers were attracted by the river; there being evidence of Bronze Age occupation in Radwell and Iron Age settlement in Felmersham. The medieval parish church of St Mary’s is regarded as one of the finest Early English Gothic buildings in the region and was probably built on the site of an Anglo-Saxon church. The only other medieval building to survive is the Tithe Barn which was converted into dwellings in the 1980s. The allotments in Town Lot Lane in Felmersham were part of the Enclosure Settlement of 1776 and are still cultivated today. Between 1801 and the Second World War the economy was largely dependent upon agriculture, together with the cottage industry of lace-making. During the last 30 years the mechanisation of farming has resulted in only about 1% of the population living within the community being actively employed in agriculture.

The present day villages have become dormitories for commuters working in other areas. This was encouraged by the 1960s and 1970s housing developments in Felmersham and infill at Radwell. 1974 saw the replacement of the Victorian village school with a joint facility whereby the new school combined with the village hall. Fund raising within the community provided the village share of the building costs for this unique venture.

The natural beauty of the area has attracted visitors for decades, but instead of cruising pleasure boats as in the1880s, fishing and canoeing are now the order of the day. Visitors also enjoy riverside walks and Felmersham Nature Reserve which was landscaped after gravel extraction during the Second World War