Bedford

Bedford, the county town of Bedfordshire, is situated on the navigable Ouse, 49 miles NNW. of London by rail, and in the midst of a broad expanse of rich pasture and corn lands. The Ouse is spanned here by two bridges—a stone one of five arches, 306 feet long, built in 1811 at a cost of £15,000, and an iron one, built in 1888 at a cost of £6000. Bedford itself is clean and well paved, and the drainage and water-supply have been greatly improved. The charitable and educational institutions are mostly due to Sir W. Harpur, Lord Mayor of London (d. 1574). He in 1566 founded a free school, and endowed it with 13 acres of land in Holborn. The enormously increased value of the property (from £150 to £15,000 a year) enables the trustees to maintain grammar, modern, and preparatory schools for boys, the same class of schools for girls, and almshouses. Under the scheme (1874) of the Endowed School Commissioners, the funds are divided thus: One-eleventh to the almshouses; two-elevenths to elementary education; four-elevenths to the grammar-school and high-school for girls; and four-elevenths to the modern schools. The county school was opened in 1869. The chief manufacture is that of agricultural implements. Lace-making is also carried on; straw-plaiting has declined. An embankment beside the Ouse forms a pretty promenade; and a people's park of 60 acres was opened in 1888. Bedford returns one member (till 1885 two) to parliament. Pop. (1851) 12,693; (1891) 28,023. Bedford is of great antiquity, and is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under the name of Bedican-fortha, as the scene of a battle between the Britons and Saxons in 571. The Danes burnt it in 1010. Afterwards its old castle, said to have been built by Edward the Elder, is frequently mentioned in history. Bunyan (q.v.), who was born at Elstow, near Bedford, was for twelve years a prisoner in Bedford gaol, and ministered to the Nonconformist congregation in Mill Lane from 1672 to his death in 1688. His chapel has been twice rebuilt, in 1707 and 1849; but his chair and other relics of him are preserved; whilst a colossal bronze statue of him by Boehm was erected at the cost of the Duke of Bedford in 1874. New buildings for the grammar-school were opened in 1891, and the recreation-ground of 22 acres gifted by the Duke of Bedford in 1894. In 1894 a bronze statue of John Howard (q.v.) was erected.