Stevington Marsh

Pavenham is a small village and civil parish on the River Great Ouse in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England, about 6 miles (10 km) north-west of Bedford. Village amenities consist of St Peter's Church, a pub, Village hall, tennis Club, Cricket Club and golf club. The village is home to many clubs and societies including an active WI. The village has two nature reserves, Stevington Marsh, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and Pavenham Osier Beds, which is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Chellington is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Carlton and Chellington, in the Bedford district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England, situated approximately 7 miles (11 km) north-west of Bedford town centre. In 1931 the parish had a population of 78.Chellington was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a parish within the Hundred of Willey. On 1 April 1934 the separate parishes of Chellington and Carlton merged to become one parish named "Carlton and Chellington".

Odell is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford, north Bedfordshire, England, approximately 7 miles (11 km) north-west of Bedford town centre, near the villages of Harrold, Felmersham, Sharnbrook and Carlton.

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.

Odell Castle was an 11th-century castle in the village of Odell, in the county of Bedfordshire, England. The land where Odell Castle stood was originally owned by Levenot, a thegn of King Edward the Confessor. At the time, the land and village were called Wahull. After the Norman invasion, William the Conqueror gave the lands, manor, and title, to Walter de Flandrensis (circa 1068). Walter was titled the Baron of Wahull, and was thus recorded as Walter de Wahul. De Wahul built a motte-and-bailey castle, with a stone keep, on the land. The family lived here for some 400 years. In 1542, the title died out with the absence of a male heir and came into the possession of 17-year-old Agnes Woodhall, a descendant of de Wahul's. Upon her death in 1575 it passed to her son Richard Chetwood, who sold it to William Alston in 1633. The family were later created Alston baronets of Odell. By the time of the sale, the castle was already in ruins. Alston built a new residence, incorporating the remains of the keep, the oval motte of the old castle still held up by a retaining wall. Alterations were made by his descendants in the 18th century. It stayed as thus until 24 February 1931, when the manor burnt down. A new manor house was built on the site in 1962; it is currently owned by Lord Luke. The old stones were used in the construction of the new manor, but otherwise there is little left of the original castle. Only cropmarks and earthworks remain.