Eaton Socon, Bedfordshire

Description
Eaton Socon, a parish in Bedfordshire, at the verge of the county, on the river Ouse and the G.N.R., 2 1/2 miles SW of St Neots station on the G.N.R. It contains the St Neots workhouse, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under St Neots. Acreage, 7602; population, 2192. A castle of the Beauchamps formerly stood here, and an Augustinian priory was founded by two of them in the time of Henry II. at Bushmead, 4 1/4 miles W of St Neots. The priory was given in 1537 to Sir William Gascoyne, and only the refectory of it now exists; but a mansion bears its name, and is the seat of the Morrison family. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely; gross yearly value, £285 with residence. The church is a noble building in the Perpendicular style, and has a fine tower. Much of the land in this parish is laid out in market gardens.