The 1840s were years of rapid change and development in elementary education. There was considerable turmoil not only between the government and the various denominational groups, but within the denominational groups themselves. There were strong differences on the key issue of the amount of control and the degree of intervention that government should have in elementary education. In the Church of England there was a split between the Broad Church/Evangelical groups on the one side and the Tractarians on the other. The former were prepared to co-operate with the state, while the latter wanted total control of elementary education by the clergy. They were ready to accept state aid only if it meant no state interference.

The general election of 1846 brought the Whigs back to power and they were anxious for educational change. They wanted to improve the standard of secular education in elementary schools by introducing additional grants and replacing the old monitorial system with a new system of pupil teachers. Also they wanted to introduce management clauses, which schools receiving grants would have to accept, and these clauses were designed to reduce the clerical dominance of elementary education.

Other important developments exerted pressure. On the nonconformist side the Wesleyan Methodists were beginning to emerge as an important force. By 1843 they had 290 schools nation-wide which were entirely selffinanced. They were anxious to expand their influence and in 1847 decided to become open to inspection and accept government grants. On the other side (although this had little impact on Bedfordshire) Roman Catholic influence was growing, and in 1847 the Catholic Poor School Committee was formed to enable Catholic elementary schools to receive government grants.

It became important to the Church of England, therefore, that it knew exactly what its own position was; how many schools there were and under what conditions they were held; hence the Church School Inquiry of 1846/7. A full copy of the results for Bedfordshire is held at the County Record Office. It is in tabular form, which it has not been possible to reproduce in transcription, but the main details, including the comments, which are often the most revealing part of the whole document, are given in the following section.