Church of All Saints, Houghton Conquest
church in Houghton Conquest, Bedfordshire, England, UK
Church of All Saints is a Grade I listed church in Houghton Conquest, Bedfordshire, England. It became a listed building on 23 January 1961. The parish church, dedicated to All Saints, was built during the 14th century. There are also several monuments. Houghton Conquest's rectory was united with that of Houghton-Gildable in 1637, in the archdeaconry of Bedford, and diocese of Lincoln. It was under the patronage of the Master and Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge.
On 4 October 2018 it was reported that the entire lead roof had been stolen.
Architecture and fittings
The church is spacious, built in the Early English Period and Decorated styles. It consists of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch, and an embattled tower containing six bells. It was repaired in 1845.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Church of All Saints, Houghton Conquest” is church in Houghton Conquest, Bedfordshire, England, UK. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Church, Saints and Houghton, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “church in Houghton Conquest, Bedfordshire, England, UK” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5116785. Authority coordinates are 52.061, -0.479. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1961, 1637, 2018 and 1845.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Church of All Saints, Houghton Conquest”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Church of All Saints, Houghton Conquest primary sources, Church of All Saints, Houghton Conquest archive and Church research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Church of All Saints, Houghton Conquest”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Church of All Saints, Houghton Conquest” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.