Bedstone

At the time of the Domesday Book it was known as ‘Betieteune’.

Holding of Picot under Earl Roger……..in Leintwardine HundredBedstone.

Fulk holds from him. 3 hides and 3 virgates [a fraction of a hide notionally 30 acres] which pay tax.

Land for 8 ploughs.  In Lordship 1 plough, with 2 ploughmen.
Value 6s.
Woodland, 1 league
It was and is largely waste

From the Domesday Book

Noted for it’s two magnificent houses – Manor Farm, an H-shaped timber framed building built in 1775 and Bedstone Court designed by Thomas Harris and built around 1884 for Sir Henry Ripley, MP for Bradford.

Manor Farm and many of the cottages were part of the Ripley estate.  The original farmhouse was built about 1350.  It has a cruck hall with added box-framed cross-wings.  The central truss of the hall survives to this day.

The Rilpleys moved to Bedstone from Yorkshire in 1870.  Bedstone Court, built for them was a calendar house having 365 windows.  This was one of the first houses in the area to have electricity.  There was an estate saw yard, and a wheelwright and a blacksmith in the village.

Bedstone field layout – taken from the Tithe Apportionment Map dated 1839
[Original Image courtesy of: Shropshire Archives Donor Ref: ' S48 (161/4878)']

Bedstone 1888 – maps courtesy of Old Maps Co

Bedstone 2000 from the air – courtesy of Getmapping plc & Multimap.com

There was a chapel erected at the time of Edward the Confessor.  The present church, St Mary’s is a small Norman church having a Saxon font.  The tower, more recently added to the structure is partly timbered.

There was once a school in the village, which opened in 1750 and was closed in 1947.  It is now a private house.

Bedstone Court

Bedstone Court c1910

Bedstone Court was designed by Thomas Harris for Sir Henry Ripley – MP for Bradford. It was completed in 1882. It is a typical Victorian style building and is one of the very few Calendar Houses in Britain having 365 windows, 52 rooms and 12 chimneys.