MILLBROOK

Extracted from The Bedfordshire Magazine Vol. 1, No1, Summer 1947
Millbrook: Village in the Hills by Mary S.F. George

Millbrook stands on the edge of the greensand ridge which stretches from Sandy across the county of Bedford. The situation is the most perfect in Bedfordshire, set among the hills amidst plantations and preserves abounding with bird life.

The most outstanding feature, seen long before the visitor reaches the village, is the Church of St Michael and All Angels, built three hundred and sixty feet above sea level. From its towers parts of several counties can be seen, and there is an extensive view across the vale of Bedford.

Through the centuries the population has varied. In 1831 the village seemed well on the way to considerable expansion when its highest figure of 600 was reached. But it was not to to be, and in 1931 its inhabitants had dwindled to 179. Although many cottages have been demolished there are some picturesque ones remaining, a few in the middles of the village.

Millbrook's inn is called "The Chequers", the heraldic tem for alteration of colour on the field of a coat-of-arms.

The women of Millbrook used to be employed in lacemaking, the industry has now almost died out, A good deal of straw plaiting went on in the village at one time and there was a plaiting school in the parish clerk's house. Little girl plaiters used to climb on to the church porch and then sit on the roof of the south aisle. They let their plait hang down the south aisle wall until it reached the ground; then they knew their task for the day was finished.

Farms surround the village; one of small proportions and delightful design, formerly the "Ossory Arms" inn, stands on the road from Ampthill.

In Saxon days the village was known as Melbroce; later as Mylebroces Ford and then Mulebrok. All these names refer to the mill and the brook. The ancient mill stood some three-quarters of a mile to the north of the parish. It was demolished in the 19th century, the brook having dwindled in size, thus losing power to drive the mill.

The church at Millbrook was granted to the Abbey of St Albans for a cell before the early days of the 11th century. In the 12th century the monks left Millbrook for their newly founded Benedictine Priory Beaulieu (Beadlow) at Clophill.

The earliest identifiable feature of St Michael and All Angels is the small lancet in the south aisle, of the time of King John. The types of two periods of perpendicular design are noticeable in the building, which is mainly of the 15th century. The low embattled tower, so perilously close to the western escarpment, is probably of the 14th century. The modern porch is by Butterfield, architect of St Alban's, Holborn, and follows the old lines. Local sandstone and clunch were used for the building. Inside, the main features are the fine canopied niche in the east bay of the north aisle, of perfect proportion and elaborate 15th century decoration; the lancet in the south aisle; the effigies of William and Mary Huett, the Tudor Knight and Dame, in the Chancel; the arms of the hero of Agincourt, Sir John Cornwall, in a window on the north side of the clerestory; and the Holland monuments executed by Sir Richard Westmacott in the south aisle. The new alter and reredos were designed by Professor Richardson, R.A., and the figures of the Madonna and Child in the 15th century niche sculptured by Mr. P.G. Bentham.

In the 13th century the Knights Templar, and later the Knights Hospitallers, held land called Nether Temple at Millbrook. The headquarters of the Knights Templar was on the site of Solomon'' Temple in Jerusalem, and this connection with the Holy Land may have been responsible for the fact that the cover of the spring called the "Boiling Pot" on the hillside, is exactly like the covers of the wells in Palestine. But the St Amands, Lords of the Manor of Millbrook, were great Crusaders and may have brought Palestinian designs to the village.

In the romantic and wooded surroundings of Millbrook it is not surprising that legends and tales of ghosts flourish amongst the inhabitants. In the mid 19th century, noises sounding like the cracking of whips in the church that were thought to have been the effigies of the Tudor Knight and his dame complaining that their tomb had been moved ceased in 1888 - the roof of the chancel fell in!

In the 20th century a great Knight in armour is said to have been seen riding his horse along the road from Ampthill to Millbrook. The apparition, luminous in the midst, appeared before the eyes of several astonished travellers on the road! Soldiers on sentry duty at the gates of Ampthill Park have declared that such an apparition was seen to descend from the hill where the castle stood, and moved slowly towards the road, where it disappeared in the direction of Millbrook.

The first owners of the Manor of Millbrook were the Norman Barons of Cainhoe Castle, the De Albinis, later known as D'Albini and Daubeney. They were followed by a St. Croix and after him came the St Amands, great Crusaders. The Beauchamps who followed, sold the manor to the renowned Knight of Agincourt fame, Sir John Cornwall, who married the sister of King Henry IV, and became Lord Fanhope, Baron Millbrook, held the Order of the Garter, and built Ampthill Castle in the 15th century. The Earls of Kent of Wrest Park followed, and eventually the Manor passed into the possession of King Henry VIII, and was annexed to the Royal Honour of Ampthill.

The Bruce family, Earls of Elgin and of Ailesbury, were Seneschals of the Honour in the 17th century and Lords of the Manor until the time of the Earl of Upper Ossory in late 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1818 Lord Holland succeeded his uncle, Lord Upper Ossory, and at the time of his death in 1840 the Duke of Bedford purchased it.

The "Great House" on the outskirts of the village was tenanted by the SNAGGE's in the 17th century. In Marston church, a few miles away, is a fine tomb where rest the remains of Sergeant Thomas SNAGGE, Speaker of the House of Commons in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

"Warren House" on the hill was the property of the BRUCES for a very long period. The Earl of Ailesbury, Viscount Bruce of Ampthill, a great loyalist placed a tablet in Millbrook Church to the memory of the Rector, the Reverend George Lawson, who was employed by the Earl in "several messages in order to the King's restoration." Both the "Great House" and "Warren House" have been demolished.

Sir John Chester of Lidlington owned a "Hawkhouse" at Millbrook in 1698 and Lord Ashburnham a "Brewhouse" there in 1712.

In the 16th and 17th century there was a family of humble origin called STYLES in Millbrook. One member sailed to America in the Christian, sister-ship of the Mayflower, with the Puritans who founded the Plymouth colony in Massachusetts. Some few years ago his descendants visited the village to see the home of their ancestors.

Lord and Lady Holland of Ampthill Park took much interest in Millbrook and at their particular wish their bodies were placed in the church beside those of their little ten-year-old daughter.

Other names that have been associated with Millbrook include Henry Richard Vassall Fox, the third Lord Holland; Dr John Allen, Warden of Dulwich College; Lord Ullswater, Speaker of the House of Commons; Emily Lady Ampthill, Ampthill and Millbrook Nursing Association; Rev John Pomfret, Rector and Poet; MEADE, a name found there from 1558 to date; BUNKER, which originated from the French Bon-Coeur.