Homes to Rent and Buy in Bolnhurst

Bolnhurst is a small village strung along the Bedford to Kimbolton road, about six miles north-north-east of the town. It shares a parish with Keysoe, and the two together had around 700 people at the 2011 census.

The name is Old English for a wooded hill where bulls were kept, and the village is in the Domesday Book. St Dunstan’s Church stands about a kilometre south-west of the houses. It’s Grade II* listed, with a 13th-century chancel and the remains of a large medieval wall painting of St Christopher.

Bolnhurst is best known these days for the Plough, a listed building that’s partly Tudor and Jacobean. It was rebuilt after a fire in 1989 and has been run as an independent pub and restaurant since 2005. Every year since 1984 the village has also hosted the Bolnhurst Vintage and Country Fayre.

There’s no school or hall in Bolnhurst itself; Keysoe’s village hall and primary school are close by. The 28A bus stops on the main road, Monday to Saturday. It’s a good fit for anyone wanting a small rural village with a very good pub.