St Nicolas’s Church
This is all that is left of the village of Chellington. The present Church of St Nicolas may have been built away from the village near a manor house that is no longer in existence. The church dates from about 1250 with some 17th century woodwork.

The church stands alone upon a hill, and is approached only by footpaths or a track which is kept closed by means of a locked gate. The tower has a good broach spire, and is a conspicuous sight in the Ouse valley, especially the Harrold & Odell country park across the river. Although small, the church, like that at Carlton, is fully equipped with chancel, nave, and two aisles. The original building was East-East., and is chiefly seen in the chancel and chancel arch, the North. doorway, with dog-tooth ornament, and the cornices of masked heads outside both aisles. The nave arcades were rebuilt at a later period, and have clustered piers on the North. side, and good moulded capitals and bases. The plain round font is E.E., and is supported by a stem and 4 detached shafts. Of note is the doorway and staircase to the rood-loft, and a low-side window inside the chancel arch on the N. side. One of the 4 bells is of the 15th century., and is inscribed, " Sancta Katerina ore pro nobis.".

The church is a beautiful example of the Dec. style, built mainly in red sandstone of the district, with some of the finer work in white crunch. The nave and aisles are a little earlier than the chancel, and the chancel arch and some of the tracery of the windows are modern. The church was made collegiate in 1404, when a College was founded, consisting of a Master, or Warden, and 4 Fellows, to pray for the souls of Sir John Trailby and his son Reginald. In the chancel are still some very good carved stalls with misericords, 4 on one side and 2 on the other, for the use of the collegiate clergy. The community was dissolved in 1547, and its revenues given to Sir Wm. Fitz William. The upper part of the massive West. tower and stair turret are of later date than the rest of the church, and also the interesting South. porch, which is in two stages, the lower vaulted and exhibiting the arms of Trailby on the innermost boss, and the upper a chantry chapel, founded in 1489 for a priest to sing mass for the souls of Wm. Fitz and Wm. Resby, his grandfather. This, the Chapel of St Anne, was reached by a stair turret internally on the W. side. In the church, besides the stalls, notice (I) the triple sedilia and piscine with cinquefoiled heads: (2) a good piscine on the N side of the modern chancel arch: and (3) a curious bier in the tower, inscribed and dated 1663.

Sir Robert Darling, born in Chellington, became Sherriff of London (1776) and Middlesex. He was also a member of Parliment (Wendover 1768). died in 1770 aged 55. His tomb stands in the SE corner of the chancel of Chellington Church. It is said that he kept cows on Chellington hill as a child, following one of the waggons to London and stopped there long enough to amass a fortune.

Although the church is no longer used for services it is locked to prevent vandalism. Public viewing is available on Bank Holiday Mondays

The Legend
During the great plague years of the 15th Century it is said that the villagers burnt down their homes to prevent infection spreading and went to live in the church. After the danger had passed they rebuilt their village on a nearby site and called it Carlton.

The Facts.
Carlton is mentioned in the great audit of the country of 1086, the Doomsday Book. Chellington however does not get a mention although Odell on the other side of Chellington does. This suggests that the settlement of Chellington is later than the 11th Century and so the myth can be discounted.

Other Area Historical Info.
Remains in the area are fragmented and consist of a single, rather degraded hollow-way extending west from the present Hill Farm to a point just north-west of the church, where it becomes a terrace way leading down to the crossing of the river Ouse. No houses are identifiable on the north side of the hollow way through the existing ridge-and-furrow there is apparently a secondary feature and may have destroyed earlier remains. On the south side of the hollow-way is a series of low house platforms set in small crofts, some of which have small embanked closes behind them. These closes have been formed from land once ploughed in ridge-and-furrow, as the secondary headlands of the ridge-and furrow to the south indicate.

The main interest of the site lies not in the actual remains but in the associated earth works and in the parochial setting. At the east end of the village remains, near Hill farm, there once seems to have been a major road junction where at least four and perhaps five tracks meet. One, now a hollow-way, ran north to Felmersham, another, the present road, south west to Carlton. A third ran beneath the present Hill Farm and can be seen south-east of the farm as a deep hollow-way, with well-marked ridge and furrow on either side, climbing the hillside. After 500 metres it reaches the site of another deserted village. This, though badly damaged by later quarrying has an almost rigidly rectangular layout.

The main hollow-way runs on south-east but a subsidiary hollow-way leaves this deserted village in a north-westerly direction, extending down a small valley. When it reaches Lodge Farm 200 metres away, it enters the site of yet another small deserted settlement, marked by well preserved house-sites. This hollow-way passes through the settlement, swings west, and meets the modern road to Felmersham a little north west of Hill Farm. Thus, in an area of 50 hectares are three deserted medieval settlements, their linking track system and extensive ridge and furrow.

The wider parish setting of these Chellington villages is also important. The present parochial arrangement of Carlton-cum-Chellington is relatively recent. In earlier times, three deserted settlements described above all lay in Chellington parish but the boundary between Chellington and Carlton passed along the main street of what is now called Carlton village. In effect Chellington parish contained four medieval settlements, three now deserted and the eastern half of the present Carlton. Carlton parish contained the other half of Carlton village, another settlement which is now the extreme western end of Carlton, a complex moated site and possibly one other place, also now deserted, around the isolated Carlton church.

The complex pattern of medieval settlement in Carlton-cum-Chellington is not unique. Fieldwork in this part of Bedfordshire has indicated that in most parishes there was once a similar arrangements of multiple settlements. The date of the desertion of many of these places is impossible to discover from documentary sources for they are rarely recorded by name and all the surviving population statistics are merely listed by parishes. Even more difficult to ascertain is the origin of such a pattern. In some places the settlements seem to have Roman origins, elsewhere they appear to come into existence in the twelfth or early thirteenth centuries. The remains at Chellington give a tantalizing but vague insight into the complexities of medieval settlement in Bedfordshire.

Althought not used for worship any more Chelllington Church is used for Youth Out Reach projects. Redevelopment with an extension to the north-west of the main building was completed in 2005 with addition accomodation and instructional facilites now available. For full information go to www.chellington.org.uk