Patrick Comerford
In recent weeks, I have been visiting a number of churches in Bedford, including Saint Paul’s Church, the main church in the town centre, Saint Peter’s Church on Saint Peter’s Street in the De Parys area, Saint Cuthbert’s Church in the middle of a traffic island between Castle Road and Mill Street, and the former Church of the Holy Trinity, now part of Bedford Sixth Form College.
But I have also gone in search of a long-disappeared mediaeval church, All Hallows’ Church, prompted by recent town planning developments in the centre of the town, and the delightful scene on a summer afternoon of children playing around a fountain.
All Hallows is home to an array of thriving businesses, homes and public realm space in the heart of Bedford’s town centre. Running from St Loyes through to Silver Street, this central hub is around a quarter of a kilometre long.
It has over 40 retail outlets including cafés, banks and estate agents and provides pedestrian access to Bedford Bus Station and All Hallows car park. In addition, there are a number of businesses on the first-floor level and a number of residential flats along All Hallows.
The revamp of All Hallows and Church Square was completed in 2021, bringing new life to an area that had become quite tired-looking. The £3 million project was designed to breathe new life into the space included improvements to all streetscape elements such as pavements, pathways, roads, protective bollards and street furniture.
The project provided new paving, benches and lighting lifting for this part of Bedford. The existing pavements and roadway were rebuilt and re-laid with high quality granite, and new seating and cycle stands were installed, alongside new lighting.
All Hallows and Church Square lie within a pedestrianised shopping zone in Bedford. Church Square was laid out in the 1960s and improved in 1988. A plaque on the corner Church Square and All Hallows reads: ‘Allhallows and Church Square / Improvements / Opened by Mayor, Councillor W Astle / 13 April 1988 / Client – North Bedfordshire Borough Council / -Contractor - Kimbell Construction Limited.’
The building across the square was built in the early 1960s and originally housed Fine Fare supermarket, the first supermarket in Bedford. Later it was followed by Sainsbury’s and then Marks and Spencer.
Since then, there have been further improvements to Church Square, with a new fountain that delights children and may help scare away the pigeons – Church Square is known to local people as Pigeon Square.
Church Arcade runs from Church Square to Harpur Street. It is home to some independent businesses, including cafés, a small supermarket, a butcher’s, a jeweller’s and more.
All Hallows, Church Square and Church Arcade all take their name from All Hallows’ Church, a mediaeval church that no longer exists.
The first mention of the Church of All Saints or All Hallows, Bedford, is found in 1291, when the Prior of Newnham had a pension of 12 shillings there.
The church was on the north side of the river and appears to have belonged to Newnham Priory. William de Cotherstoke and others received licence in 1406 to grant William Hert, the parson of the Church of All Saints, a messuage in the town for a house for himself and his successors.
Another lost mediaeval church in Bedford was the oratory known as Saint Thomas’ Chapel, which was built on the bridge over the River Ouse by some men of the town ca 1331. A chaplain was appointed to act as keeper of the oratory and the bridge, and to receive alms from passengers for the repair of the bridge.
The right of appointing the chaplain was claimed by the mayor and townsmen. This right was violated by the Sheriff of Bedford in 1332, when he appointed John de Derby in the king’s name and ejected the chaplain elected by the borough. This led to disorderly scenes, in which the Mayor of Bedford, Nicholas de Astewood, and others assembled by ringing of the town bell and assaulted the king’s nominee.
In 1336, the justices were commissioned to inquire about the foundation and endowment of the chapel, whether it was built on the king's soil and all the circumstances of the case.
The town’s candidate, John de Bodenho, petitioned Parliament in 1338, saying the oratory was built by the people of Bedford over water belonging to Lord Moubray and with his permission.
The men of Bedford also complained that same year that the case had dragged on for five years, and in the meantime the bridge was falling into decay.
The dispute appears to have been settled in the king’s favour, and for the remainder of the century the appointments are made to ‘the king's free chapel of Saint Thomas.’ A chaplain was appointed in 1432, but no further mention is made of the chapel, and it seems to have fallen into decay before the Dissolution of the monastic houses at the Tudor Reformation.
Meanwhile, after the Dissolution, the clergy of All Hallows’ Church were the same as those Saint Paul’s Church. However, no reference has been found to the advowson later than 1614, nor to the rectory after 1655.
Later writers make no reference to All Hallows’ parish. Possibly, as with Saint Mary and Saint Peter Dunstable, All Hallows’ became absorbed in the larger and adjacent parish of Saint Paul’s.
The church stood All Hallows Lane – possibly on the site of Church Square – until it disappeared some time in the 17th century.
On a sunny afternoon in Bedford last week, the fountain in Church Square was flowing to the delight of children and busy shoppers, creating a pleasant scene, although there is little greenery in the square and the surrounding area shows clear signs of urban deprivation evident.
The fountain in Church Square, Bedford, in summer sunshine (Patrick Comerford, 2024)
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