The place-name 'Marston Moretaine' is first attested in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 969, where it appears as Mercstuninga. It appears as Merestone in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name derives from the Old Englishmersc-tūn meaning 'town or settlement by a marsh'. It was held by the family of Moretaine, from Mortain in Normandy in France.[5] Local roadsigns use either the "Moreteyne" and "Moretaine" spellings inconsistently. The official name of the civil parish was changed in 2018 from Marston Moretaine to Marston Moreteyne following a consultation by Central Bedfordshire Council.[6]
Marston Park was allocated in the Mid-Bedfordshire Local Plan for an extension to the village of Marston Moretaine with a mix of land uses. In 2008, the developers O&H Properties gained outline planning permission for 480 new houses, 3 hectares (7.4 acres) of employment land for offices, a new local centre, a primary school, a community building and a sports ground with cricket field. David Lock Associates were then commissioned to produce a Design Code to guide the development, and this was approved by Central Bedfordshire Council in 2010. David Wilson Homes, Barratt Homes and Bovis Homes have begun[when?] building the houses and the community building, and have created play areas. The land allocated for employment and a local centre are currently reported to be for sale.
The rare feature of a detached tower at St Mary The Virgin in Marston Moretaine - Spring 2007
St Mary's Church
Dating from around 1340, the church of St Mary the Virgin is a 14th-century church with a very rare feature for the East of England, a Grade I listed detached tower to the north of the church located about 70 feet (21 m) from the north wall of the chancel. Grade I listing denotes that the building is of outstanding or national architectural or historic interest.
Though building began c. 1340, the church was more or less rebuilt in 1445. The interior of the nave is very grand. The screen has paintings.[8]
According to legend, the church's detached tower is the work of the Devil, who was trying to steal it. Finding it too heavy, he dropped it where it still remains.[9]
Notable residents
Thomas Snagge (1536–1593), Speaker of the House of Commons, was lord of the manor of Marston Moretaine and his tomb is in the parish church[10]
James Smith (died 1667), poet, was a native of the village[11]
Edward Tylecote (1849–1938), cricketer, was born in the village
Henry Tylecote (1853–1935), cricketer, was born in the village
^Betjeman, J. (ed.) (1968) Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches: the South. London: Collins; pp. 104-05
^Ash, Russell (1973). Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain. Reader's Digest Association Limited. p. 271. ISBN9780340165973.
^P. W. Handler, The House of Commons, 1558–1603: Members, M-Z (1981), p. 410
^Timothy Raylor, Cavaliers, Clubs, and Literary Culture (1994), p. 50: "James Smith was baptized at Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, on 25 July 1605. His father, Thomas Smith, was parson of Marston and a man of some means."
