Clophill
Clophill is a village and civil parish clustered on the north bank of the River Flit, Bedfordshire, England. It is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Clopelle". "Clop" likely means 'tree-stump' in Old English. However, it also has cognate terms for clay, with which the soil of mid Bedfordshire is rich. Extent and demography. In the 1851 census, the men of the parish numbered 560; of these, 238 were agricultural labourers; women numbered. In the 2011 Census the population was 1,750. Church. St Mary's old church. The old St Mary's Church was built around  1350, and replaced by a new church in the 1840s (250 m SSW). It gradually fell into ruin, and as an inactive church, had restoration carried out for secular purposes in the early 2010s. Active churches. The new St Mary's church is in the High Street, built 1848–1849. The current rector is Dean Henley. It is the only church of the Church of England parish, which reflects the civil parish having the A6 Bedford Road as its western limit. Clophill Methodist Church has an active congregation, social meetings on site and in the schoolroom and was built in about  the year 1930. It joins with St Mary's Church in some major services. Sports and Leisure Facilities. The Greensand Ridge Walk and the Greensand Cycle Way pass through Clophill. The village has a youth football club called Clophill United FC. The 2020/21 season has five teams (U15s to 11s) playing in the Beds Youth Saturday League and the Chiltern Junior 7s.