Brief History of the Village from Kelly's Directory 1894

PODINGTON (or PUDDINGTON) is a parish and small village, 3 miles north from Irchester station on the main line of the Midland railway and 14 north-west from Bedford, in the Northern division of the county, hundred of Willey, Sharnbrook petty sessional division, county court district and union of Wellingborough, rural deanery of Felmersham, archdeaconry of Bedford and diocese of Ely.  A small brook rises on the confines of the parish, above the village of Hinwick, over which there is a stone (county) bridge of three arches, built by Mr. Orlebar in 1779.  The church of the Virgin Mary is a handsome edifice of stone, in the Transitional, Early English and later styles, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch and a western tower of Early English date, with crocketed Perpendicular spire, containing a clock and 4 bells: the chancel retains an Early English piscina, and in the north wall are four sepulchral arches, two semi-circular and the others pointed, but now blocked with memorials to the families of Payne and Child: the carving of the porch door, Perpendicular, is unusually rich: in the church is a monument to General Livesay, 1717, a descendant of Sir Michael Livesay, the regicide, and there are many memorials to the Orlebar family from 1658; of the Childs from 1647, and the family of Payne from 1624: in the nave is a brass effigy with inscription to John Howard, 1518, and in the church and churchyard are inscribed stones to the Rev. William Bamford, vicar, 1734, and the Rev. Oliver St. John Cooper M.A. vicar, 1801: the porch has been rebuilt and the south aisle re-roofed at a cost of about £220: in 1883 the church was again restored, at a cost of £330: the font in Norman, and its exterior surface exhibits three designs representing the Trinity: the church plate includes a chalice, presented by Elizabeth Livesay in 1707; and there is a black letter Bible, dated 1613: the church affords 333 sittings.  The register dates from the year 1662.  The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £75, with 130 acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of Richard Orlebar esq. And held since 1890 by the Rev. James Harold Walker B.A. of Trinity College, Dublin.  Pillow lace and boot making is carried on here; also bricks for building purposes.  The poor have £2 10s. Yearly from Goosey’s charity, bequeathed in 1844, and Robe’s charity of £9 per year, which is distributed in blankets and flannel.  Hinwick House, the residence of Richard Rouse Boughton Orlebar esq. J.P., D.L. is a fine rectangular mansion of stone, three stories in height, with Corinthian pilasters dividing the first two stories and balustered parapet; it dates from 1710, and has fine old gardens and attractive grounds of about 17 acres, with fish ponds: the house contains several portraits of the Orlebar family: the staircase is hung with tapestry, and there is a good library, particularly of French and Italian works, and a collection of coins found in the neighbourhood.  The old manor house is now a farm.  About 1850 a small bronze figure was found in a field called “Belham,” near Hinwick, and a Roman funeral urn and graves have been discovered in “Great Close.”  Hinwick Hall, occupied by Lieut.-Col. Fitzgerald O’Shaughnessy, is in part of Elizabethan date; there are terraced gardens and pleasure grounds, with a bowling green and a long avenue.  Richard Orlebar est. J.P. is lord of the manor and chief landowner.  The soil is loam; subsoil, clay and limestone rock in places.  The chief crops are wheat and pasture.  The area is 2,770 acres; rateable value, £3,341; the population in 1891 was 504.

HINWICK is a hamlet, 1 mile south.

Parish Clerk, Frederick French.

POST & M. O. O., S. B. & Insurance & Annuity Office. - John Austin, sub-postmaster.  Letters arrive through Wellingborough at 8.45 a.m. & 1 p.m.; box closes at 4.45 p.m. & 10.30 a.m. on Sundays.  Wollaston is the nearest telegraph office.

WALL LETTER BOX, Hinwick, cleared at 4.55 p.m. week days & 10.45 a.m. Sundays.

National School (mixed & infants), built in 1843 & enlarged in 1868, for 100 children; average attendance, 70; John Edward Prince Evans, master.

Manfield Harry		Podington lodge
Orlebar Richard J.P.		Hinwick
Orlebar Richard Rouse Boughton J.P.,D.L.		Hinwick house
O’Shaughnessy Lieut.-Col. Fitzgerald		Hinwick hall
Walker Rev. James Harold B.A. (vicar)		Vicarage
White Miss		Maple cottage
Austin John	blacksmith	Post office
Brown Jn. Arnold	engineer & machinist
Brown William	farmer	Go Wrong cot
Claridge E. & Son	boot manufacturers (work rooms)
Driver William	farmer	Hinwick
Johnson James	dairyman
Knowlton & Sons	timber merchants
Sanders Owen	farmer	Dungey farm, Hinwick
Sayer Elizabeth (Mrs.)	beer rtlr.	Hinwick
Sargent W. & Co.	boot manufacturers (work rooms)
Scroxton Isabella (Mrs.)	beer retailer
Selby John George	farmer	Hinwick
Stephenson Thos.	farmer	Glebe farm
Talbot George Alfred	farmer
Tye William	baker, shopkeeper & farmer
Tye William	jun. Farmer	Manor farm
Westley Thomas	farm	Hinwick
Young George	farmer	Church farm