Stevington

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Stevington
latitude= 52.169
longitude= -0.555
os_grid_reference= SP992535
population=
region= East of England
shire_district= Bedford
shire_county= Bedfordshire
constituency_westminster= North East Bedfordshire
post_town= BEDFORD
postcode_district = MK43
postcode_area= MK
dial_code= 01234

Stevington is a village in the Borough of Bedford in the northern part of Bedfordshire, England, and forms the civil parish of Stevington. It is on the River Ouse four to five miles north west of Bedford. Nearby villages include Bromham, Oakley, Pavenham and Turvey.

The village has a fine Mediaeval Church as well as a number of listed buildings spanning the centuries.The first church on this site was probably a wooden building constructed during the Anglo Saxon period between 886 and 1016; this was later replaced by a stone building.

The earliest surviving part of the present day church of the lowest third of the tower which probably dates from the early 10th century. As the population and wealth of the village grew so too did the church buildings. This culminated in the fifteenth century with the raising of the church roof and the raising of a second stage to the tower. In 1872 the church was re-opened after restoration amounting to £1927.The church has an associated holy well. The Holy Well is to the north of the Church and has never been known to freeze or to fail in times of drought. In the Middle Ages various miraculous powers were ascribed to the waters, particularly in respect to curing ailments of the eyes. It has been suggested by some researchers that the waters may have been the site of earlier veneration, possibly dating back to the Iron Age. The area around the well is protected as there is a proliferation of Petasites Hybridus, a plant commonly known as Butterbur, so named because its leaves were commonly used to wrap butter in times past. [1] The Village appears in the Domesday Book and has been chronicled in a series of publications by the Stevington Historical Trust including "Stevington, The Village History", "Stevington, A village in Pictures", "Historic Walks in Stevington" and a forthcoming study and book about the natural history of Stevington.

The village is also known for being the home of Kathy Brown's garden, a fine landscaped garden open to the public on a number of occasions throughout the year and designed and owned by the landscape gardener Kathy Brown. The gardens are in the grounds of the Old Manor House in Stevington.

Stevington was a location for much non-conformist activity, prominent because it is exactly convert|5|mi|km|0 from Bedford, allowing Baptist activities to occur under the laws of the 17th and 18th centuries. A fine Baptist Chapel is found at the West End of the Village and it is reputed that John Bunyan preached in the field at Meeting Farm

External links

* [http://www.stmarystevington.org.uk St Mary The Virgin, Stevington]
* [http://www.stevington.org.uk The Website of the Parish Council of Stevington]
* [http://stevingtonhistoricaltrust.org.uk Website of the Stevington Historical Trust]
* [http://www.galaxy.bedfordshire.gov.uk/webingres/bedfordshire/vlib/0.digitised_resources/stevington_holy_well] [1]