Place:Riseley, Bedfordshire, England

Watchers
NameRiseley
Alt namesRiselaisource: Domesday Book (1985) p 30
Rislausource: archaic spelling
Riselegsource: archaic spelling
Riselysource: archaic spelling
TypeParish (ancient), Civil parish
Coordinates52.25°N 0.483°W
Located inBedfordshire, England
See alsoStodden Hundred, Bedfordshire, Englandhundred in which it was located
Bedford Rural, Bedfordshire, Englandrural district of which it was a part 1894-1974
Bedford District, Bedfordshire, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area since 1974
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Riseley is a village and civil parish located in the former municipal district of North Bedfordshire and now in the Borough of Bedfordshire. The village name has had alternative spellings in the past such as Rislau, Riseleg, Riselai and Risely, however all these spellings are considered archaic. It had a population of 1,284 according to the 2001 UK census, increasing to 1,286 at the 2011 UK census, and is near the villages of Bletsoe, Sharnbrook, Swineshead, Pertenhall, Keysoe, Thurleigh and Melchbourne. The nearest town to Riseley is Rushden in the neighbouring county of Northamptonshire, approximately 8 miles away to the northwest. The county town of Bedford is approximately 9 miles to the south of Riseley. The village has one watercourse, which is a tributary of the Great Ouse, flowing through it. This watercourse is known locally as the 'Brook' and the village was built around it in medieval times.

During World War 2 Riseley was used by the USAAF as a base to store and fill bombs which were then forwarded to local American air bases.

Brick making in Riseley

Riseley has a long tradition of brick and tile making, dating back to at least 1558, due in part to its clay rich soil. During the nineteenth century the village was home to a brickworks and brickmaking became one of the village's main industries with 12 brickmakers recorded living in the village in the 1841 census and 15 brickmakers living there according to both the 1851 and 1861 censuses. The village also had a history of lace making with 80 of the 118 houses in the village being involved in the activity in 1851.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Riseley, Bedfordshire.

Riseley was originally an ancient parish in the Stodden Hundred of Bedfordshire, England. The ancient parish had no subsidiary chapelries or townships.

It was made a civil parish in 1866 and in 1894 it became part of the Bedford Rural District.

Research Tips

  • The website British History Online provides three chapters of the Victoria County History Series on Bedfordshire. The first covers the religious houses of the county; the second and third provides articles on the parishes of the county. The parishes are arranged within their "hundreds".
  • GENUKI main page for Bedfordshire which provides information on various topics covering the whole of the county, and also a link to a list of parishes. Under each parish there is a list of the settlements within it and brief description of each. This is a list of pre-1834 ancient or ecclesiastical parishes but there are suggestions as to how to find parishes set up since then. GENUKI provides references to other organizations who hold genealogical information for the local area. There is no guarantee that the website has been kept up to date and therefore the reader should check additional sources if possible.
  • Bedfordshire family history societies are listed in GENUKI.
  • The FamilyTree Wiki has a series of pages similar to those provided by GENUKI which may have been prepared at a later date and from more recent data. The wiki has a link to English Jurisdictions 1851. There is a list of all the parishes in existence at that date with maps indicating their boundaries. The website is very useful for finding the ecclesiastical individual parishes within large cities and towns.
  • A Vision of Britain through Time, Bedfordshire, section "Units and Statistics" leads to analyses of population and organization of the county from about 1800 through 1974. There are pages available for all civil parishes, municipal boroughs and other administrative divisions. Descriptions provided are usually based on a gazetteer of 1870-72 which often provides brief notes on the economic basis of the settlement and significant occurences through its history.
  • These two maps indicate the boundaries between parishes, etc., but for a more detailed view of a specific area try a map from this selection. The oldest series are very clear at the third magnification offered. Comparing the map details with the GENUKI details for the same area is well worthwhile.
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Riseley. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.