Carlton and Chellington were originally two separate but closely neighbouring villages in Bedfordshire, each with its own church. The ecclesiastical parishes were united in 1769 and the civil parishes in 1934. The Carlton and Chellington Historical Society was founded in November 1993 and for most of its lifetime has had well over 100 members. They came not only from Carlton and Chellington; many were from neighbouring villages, and some, whose ancestors lived in our villages, were from places much further away.

In recent years it became increasingly evident that the Society was facing a situation familiar to many other long established comparable societies, namely an ageing membership and few willing to take an active part in the management and ‘behind the scenes’ work to develop and maintain our programme of activities. The matter came to a head at a Special General Meeting held in September 2019 when it was agreed that the Committee should take the steps necessary to wind-up the affairs of the Society by the end of the year. This decision was taken with great sadness but there was general agreement that the Society had run its course and had now reached the end of its effective life.