St. Mary's church dates back to the Normans. The Parish Records of St Mary, Meppershall, have been published on CD by the Parochial Church Council.[3]
Economy
Before the advent of greenhouses, Meppershall was a poor community with large families living in two up, two down type thatched cottages built of brick with stone floors. However, so many greenhouses were built in the village that it was known as a "glass city," growing salad crops for local markets, which were shipped further afield via the railway.
As well as farming, the village earned its income from coprolite digging. Coprolite is the fossilised dung of pre-historic creatures, which when ground and treated with sulphuric acid produces a superphosphatefertiliser. To extract it, a long trench was dug on one side of a field. The overlaying clay was then dug out until the nodule bed was reached. If the depth of clay to be removed was more than eight to nine feet, the trench was made in two or three steps, and as the nodules were taken out, so the trench was refilled with the earth already removed.[citation needed] The nodule bed was shovelled into barrows and taken to the washing mill. This consisted of a circular iron trough with a pivot in the centre to which a set of travelling rakes was attached, these being dragged round by horses, and a constant stream of water was kept running through the trough until the clay washed off. The dirty water then was drained off and the nodules carted away. The coprolite was worth about £3 a ton in 1890, yielding some 300 tons per acre. A good fossil digger could earn as much as £2 a week. This industry has also died out.
