Pavenham

Pavenham Osier Beds is a 1.3 hectare nature reserve south of Pavenham, on the banks of the River Great Ouse, in Bedfordshire. It is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.This is a wet meadow next to the River Great Ouse, which has the uncommon flower meadow-rue. Osier is a type of willow which is continually cut, stimulating its growth and supplying material for basket weavers. The Trust is continuing the tradition by planting more osiers.An osier bed is an area where willows were formerly planted and coppiced to produce withies which were used for basket making, fish-traps, and other purposes. The willow species salix viminalis was typically grown for this purpose. Willow rods (cuttings) would be planted, which root easily in moist ground, and the growth of the willow withies would be cut every one or two years.There is access by a footpath on the left of Mill Lane. There are no footpaths in this small site.

Pavenham Manor was a country house in Pavenham, Bedfordshire, England. The house was demolished in 1960.

Church of St Peter is a Grade I listed church in Pavenham, Bedfordshire, England. It became a listed building on 13 July 1964.The church has some good examples of 14th-century canopied work. The carved panelling and rich woodwork is mainly of Jacobean date; it was installed in the 19th century by Thomas Abbot Green of Pavenham Bury.

Stevington Marsh is a 7.5-hectare (19-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Pavenham in Bedfordshire. It was notified in 1987 under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the local planning authority is Bedford Borough Council.The site is marshland along the banks of the River Great Ouse. The river, marshes and pastures form varied habitats. The marshes are floristically rich, with the largest one being dominated by great horsetail. The wetland communities and Jurassic limestone grassland are rare habitats in eastern England.There is access by a footpath from Mill Lane.

Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed church in Stevington, Bedfordshire, England. It became a listed building on 13 July 1964. It is the Anglican parish church of Stevington, and is part of the Diocese of St Albans The first church on this site, as recorded, was started in about 880 AD and the tower is the surviving part of this; the rest of the building was added later, and completed in about 1480. The church underwent significant rebuilding in 1872, sponsored by the Duke of Bedford who was Patron until 1971. The church has been without permanent clergy since the early 1980s and has relied upon Non-Stipendiary ministry ever since. It is currently in interregnum, the last Priest In Charge, Rev David Hunter, a New Zealander having resigned the post in 2006. It is believed that the body of Napoleon Bonaparte's valet from his exile on St Helena is buried in the churchyard, however, parish records are incomplete and the brick vault is too weathered for identification. The interior of the church boasts some particularly intricate Tudor carved pew ends as well as a fine rood screen now moved to the tower.

Stevington is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford in northern Bedfordshire, England. It is on the River Great Ouse four to five miles northwest of Bedford. Nearby villages include Bromham, Oakley, Pavenham and Turvey. West End lies northwest of the village, and forms part of the same civil parish. The village has a fine Medieval Church as well as a number of listed buildings spanning the centuries. The first church on this site was probably a wooden building constructed during the Anglo Saxon period between 886 and 1016; this was later replaced by a stone building.

The Church of St. Mary the Virgin is a Grade I listed church in Felmersham, Bedfordshire, England. Its foundations were laid in about 1220, and it was completed about 20 years later; some modifications were made in the 14th and 15th Centuries, but it remains largely in the style of its original form. The church is known for its West Front, having finely carved arcades and a heavily moulded doorway, and is of unusual scale and decoration for its type. It became a listed building on 13 July 1964.

Felmersham Gravel Pits is a 21.6-hectare (53-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest between the villages of Felmersham and Sharnbrook in Bedfordshire. It was notified under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in 1986 and the local planning authority is Bedford Borough Council. The site is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.The site has flooded gravel pits which were worked until about 1945. Other habitats are neutral grassland, scrub and broadleaved woodland. It is one of the best sites in Bedfordshire for dragonflies and damselflies.The road called Causeway goes through the reserve, which is open at all times.

Radwell is a hamlet in the Hundred of Willey in North Bedfordshire, England, on the River Great Ouse, about 7 miles (11 km) north west of Bedford. Administratively, it is often included with the neighbouring village of Felmersham, and the civil parish is sometimes known as Felmersham with Radwell. Excavations of the gravel pits to the north of the settlement showed evidence of occupation during the Roman period, with a field and ditch system and the remains of two timber buildings, probably a farmstead.The hamlet was mentioned in Domesday as Radeuuelle, listed with a population of 18 households, under two landowners.The hamlet has no church, but is part of the parish of St. Mary's, Felmersham. A chapel dedicated to St James was first recorded in 1204, but had fallen out of use by the 17th century. A Methodist chapel in Moor End Road, built in 1807, has been converted to a residence. A public house, the Swan Inn, was first recorded as an ale house in 1728, but it has recently closed due to economic problems. To the south, there is a stone bridge across the river. Built in 1766 by Thomas Morris, it originally cost £292-10s-0d. As it was not maintained by the county, by 1775 it was "ruinous and in great decay", but was taken over by the county in 1805. The bridge was Grade II listed by English Heritage in August 1987. The road leading into Radwell from the south is Radwell Road and frequently floods after heavy rain. Between the two world wars, there was a privately run miniature railway, the Radwell Manor Railway, to the north of the settlement, which was occasionally open to the public. It was abandoned around 1940, and dismantled later, possibly in the 1960s. At the end of Moor End Road is a riding stable, and further on are Radwell lakes, a popular fishing spot with many swans.

Felmersham is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England, on the River Great Ouse, about 7 miles (11 km) north west of Bedford. As a civil parish, it includes the hamlet of Radwell, and is sometimes known as Felmersham with Radwell, and has a population of about 800, and is circumscribed by the Great Ouse on the north, east and south. Other nearby places are Sharnbrook, Odell, Pavenham and Milton Ernest. Felmersham with Radwell was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a parish within the Hundred of Willey. John de Burnham, later Lord High Treasurer of Ireland, was parish priest here in the 1330s. The Church of St Mary is located in the village. The village gave its name to HMS Felmersham, a Ham class minesweeper. Felmersham has no shop or Post Office but does have one public house, The Sun. Two previous pubs closed in the 1990s; The Plough in 1991 and The Six Ringers in 1995. Felmersham supports a primary school. In 2017, Pinchmill Lower School changed to Pinchmill Primary School when the local education system changed from three tier to two tier. The school caters for children aged 5–11 (previous to 2017 it was 5–9). After leaving, most children move on to Sharnbrook Academy. The school building was opened in 1974 and took its name from the Pinchmill Islands in Sharnbrook. Felmersham Gravel Pits nature reserve is North of the village, just over the River Great Ouse. It is understood that the pits were created by extracting sand and gravel to build local airfields in World War Two.

West End is a hamlet located in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. The settlement is close to Carlton, Pavenham and Stevington. West End also forms part of the wider Stevington civil parish.

Oakley is a village and civil parish located in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England, about four miles northwest of Bedford along the River Great Ouse. It has a population of 2,493 and is near the villages of Bromham, Milton Ernest, Clapham, Radwell and Felmersham.