Kempston West End. It was here that William the Conqueror's niece Judith built a little church whose walls still stand; they stand by the river at the end of a lane of white poplars from the main road.

The row of old cottages next to the church were once the parish workhouse, and an avenue of limes leads to a 15th century porch with a mass dial on its walls and a vaulted roof from which quaint heads are looking down. Over the porch is the priest's room, reached by an outside stone stairway. The sturdy tower has massive walls three feet thick which the Conqueror's niece may have seen building; it was the 15th century which raised it to its present height and set the weathercock in its place.

Enter the church by a door which the village worshippers have been opening and shutting for at least 500 years, and find yourself in the presence of a distinctive piece of Norman and medieval England— Norman arches at each end of the nave, 13th century arcades, a 14th century font with saints carved round its sides, and clerestory windows of the 15th century. Near the font is a memorial stone, supposed to be that of an old Crusader, which was found last century under the floor of the porch, with a skeleton beneath it. Both the doorways to the old roofloft are still existing, together with the stout beam which bore up the loft before the Reformation and now helps to bear up the modern loft above the modern chancel screen.

From a tombstone in the church yard you can learn of the Brooks family that held the office of parish clerk for 145 years. Robert Brooks was first held the post in 1726 for 40 years. Then came three Johns; and lastly William, who held the office for 45 years from 1826.

The area has some nice river side walks and there are plenty of footpaths to make for a good day out walking in the surrounding countryside for this church is set in fields next to the Gt. River Ouse.